There was a time when B5 was poised to be the next great singing boy band. The quintet—made up of five brothers—signed to Bad Boy Records in the early 2000s and in 2005, they released the self-titled debut album. Their Jackson 5 cover "All I Do" remains a fan favorite, but unfortunately, B5 never truly reached the successes that their admirers had hoped for.
Days ago, B5 celebrated the 15-year anniversary of their debut, so group member Bryan Breeding took a moment to reflect on the album that changed his life. However, he called memories of that time in his life "bittersweet" because he learned a hard lesson about what goes on behind the scenes in the industry. "After being exposed to the deep levels of politics and agendas quickly helped me realized that the music business is less about music and more about the 'business," Bryan wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
He also lamented about "snakes" who are "cleverly hiding behind contracts" that only benefits the person who penned the document itself. "We made about 99.9% of all our income 💸 from live performances & merchandise and till this day I’ve never seen a PENNY from any of our B5 commercial albums. 🤷🏽♂️," he added. Bryan Breeding further claims that he's attempted to share B5's story with networks and has even reached out to lawyers and advisors but no one will work with him.
"So here I AM! telling my story, my truth and not from a 'woe is me' perspective but as an example for the next generation of young artists to WRITE and OWN your content! READ your contracts and create new sounds for the LOVE of music, as a expression of who YOU ARE!" Bryan added that artists shouldn't feel the need to "compromise for the bag." Check out his message in full below.