Our story:Trans Continental Records is a privately held record label based in Orlando, Florida (USA). The label releases music from mostly younger recording artists working in the genre of Pop, and it is currently distributed worldwide, exclusively, by Rocket Records, the top record label distributed globally by Cheiron Music Group.
Trans Continental Records has a very storied history, with some great, and some not so great, but certainly a very storied history indeed. Having been founded in Orlando, FL in early 1992 by late "boy band guru" Lou Pearlman, Trans Continental Records was home to famous boy bands such the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and O-Town, as well as other notable pop music recording artists. For nearly fifteen years, the label was recognized globally as "THE" premier pop music label inside of the music industry until shuttering a few weeks after Lou's arrest by the U.S. FBI in February 2007, an arrest that occurred due to Lou's direct involvement in a now infamous Ponzi scheme he was ultimately convicted in U.S. Federal court of having created and run for over twenty years that defrauded over $1 Billion USD combined from numerous innocent and unsuspecting investors. Sadly, this criminal behavior by Lou, most of which he undertook through a few of his other "Trans Continental" branded business entities and not the Trans Con record label itself, severely damaged the label's name and reputation due to the label's direct association with the Trans Continental name/brand, along with the brand's attachment to the now infamous criminal Ponzi scheme. Besides his criminal legal troubles related to the Ponzi scheme, Lou also had a few business-related civil legal battles over the years with Trans Con acts such as the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and a few others that were signed to the label, a lot of which stemmed from the very same financial greed that drove Lou to create and run the Ponzi scheme for over twenty years, a scheme that sadly destroyed the financial lives and well-being of many innocent victims. Lou passed away on August 19, 2016, and while he was certainly guilty of hefty financial crimes and some other bad deeds throughout the course of his life, he is the individual directly responsible for the creation of Trans Continental Records, as well as for numerous positive aspects of the label's storied history. There are a bunch of notable recording artists who will always be indebted to Lou for giving them their professional starts, which in turn helped some of them achieve tremendous fame and fortune through unprecedented levels of commercial success in the music industry. Lou, directly through Trans Continental Records, is also highly responsible for what is universally regarded as some of the greatest pop music ever recorded throughout all of history, pop music which brought countless joy (and still does to this day) to tens of millions of music listeners throughout the entire world, especially by way of the numerous classic hit Pop songs from both the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC in the late 1990's and early 2000's. On January 1, 2025, after having been inactive for nearly eighteen years, the label is officially relaunching and commencing active business operations once again in Orlando, FL, albeit under the new ownership who acquired it. The label's new ownership has brought in mostly brand-new management who will be responsible for overseeing its daily business operations, but of which does include a few key individuals who were a part of the label's global success in varying capacities during its first go-round from 1992 to 2007, and who were completely unaware of, and also harmed financially by Lou's criminal behavior, which he somehow managed to keep completely hidden from all those who knew and/or worked with him in some capacity until finally being exposed to everyone in early 2007. The new ownership of Trans Continental Records is grateful to the have the opportunity to continue building upon the iconic pop music legacy of the label's former recording artists, while also forging a new legacy for the next generation of young recordings artists set to join the label over the coming months and years. During this process, it is the new ownership's aim to help restore the "Trans Continental" name/brand, not by simply just forgetting and refusing to acknowledge the negative things associated with its past due to Lou's incredibly harmful actions, but rather by building upon the many positive aspects of its storied pop music legacy, and most especially by creating some fantastic new pop music true to the label's musical roots for the entire world to enjoy listening to. |
Lou Pearlman (third in from left) poses with O-Town, a boy band that he created during the first ever season of the hit television show, "Making the Band", which aired nationally in the USA on the ABC television network during the Spring and Summer of 2000. Following the conclusion of O-Town's season on the show, the band was signed to Trans Continental Records and quickly found fame and commercial success in the music industry for a few years shortly thereafter.
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