Thank You, Lou Pearlman - Epilogue

First things first, my apologies to those who have been checking the site regularly. I've been trying to sort out a bunch of things in the last few weeks, and the blog has suffered as a result. The good news is that things look to be clearing up a bit, and I'm hoping to start posting again on a regular schedule very soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to point out that Lou Pearlman was sentenced today to 25 years in prison. I'm ecstatic. A few months ago, I wrote a piece about Pearlman when he initially pleaded guilty to charges of fraud. I lamented that the plea bargain would likely spare him extensive jail time. Apparently, I was wrong - 25 years is quite a long while.

Granted, they're not going to stick Lou in real prison. He, like most white-collar criminals, will not be subjected to the cell-block beatings and "man love" that he so deserves. I'm also certain that he'll be paroled sooner rather than later, leaving him plenty of free time to attempt his next artistically-bankrupt endeavor. The difference is that this time around, nobody in their right mind will trust him. Everyone - from the talent he solicits to the consumers and businessmen to whom he peddles his product - will be acutely aware that they are dealing with Lou Pearlman, the convicted swindler. Furthermore, the major label system under which Pearlman made the bulk of his money should (fingers crossed) have collapsed entirely by the time he finds himself a free man.

Today's 25 year sentence will not erase "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" from the 1998 Billboard charts, nor will it prevent "Summer Girls" from appearing on a television-advertised Hot Hits of the 90s compilation some ten years from now. It should, however, put a damper on Pearlman's ability to take any of his future projects to the mainstream. And that, as far as I'm concerned, makes all the difference.