by Marcus Errico
Call it the clash of the teenybopper titans.
In one corner: the Backstreet Boys, a prefab, Florida-based pop quintet that regularly churns out bubble gum tunes the kiddies love.
In the other: 'N Sync, a prefab, Florida-based pop quintet that regularly churns out bubble gum tunes the kiddies love.
Okay, so it's not up there with, say, the Beatles vs. the Stones, but this battle of the boy bands is getting pretty nasty.
The first salvo was fired last year when the Boys purportedly split with their managers because the company also represented the upstart 'N Sync.
Now comes word that BSB are looking to dump their label, Jive Records, after it signed 'N Sync to a pop-laden roster that also includes Britney Spears. ('N Sync had been recording for RCA.)
According to Billboard Online, the Backstreet Boys' legal team sent a letter to Jive founder Clive Calder saying the label has breached its contract with the group, freeing the Boys to take their multiplatinum voices elsewhere.
Quoting an anonymous source close to the group, Billboard says the Boys were supposedly ticked off when they learned 'N Sync was joining Jive. It was apparently the last straw in a contentious relationship. "They're tired of being exploited," the source says. "Their unhappiness [with the label] is rooted in their feeling of betrayal and deceit."
A Backstreet Boys publicist had no comment on the report, and a Jive Records spokeperson did not immediately return calls.
As the label fight heats up, the chart battle is a wash--for now. While the Backstreet Boys' Millennium at No. 2 ranks higher than 'N Sync's self-titled debut down at No. 46 (which, to be fair, has been out longer), both discs have been certified multiplatinum at 7 million-plus in sales.

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