BECK/SMITH HOLLYWOOD EXCLUSIVE

Long Frustrated, Hanson Now Ready to Tour

Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson are setting off on a month-long acoustic tour Aug. 9. It's their way of saying "Thank-you" to fans who've been hanging in there waiting for a new record from them -- and letting the world know they're still very much around.
"We have not waited three years to have a record released because of a lack of material," Isaac Hanson, 22, makes it clear.

His and his brothers' tale of frustration, to hear him tell it, is a common one among many acts in the troubled record business today.

Signed by Mercury Records, for which they became a 15 million record selling success with their "MMMBop" monster hit of 1997, Hanson found itself on the Island Def Jam roster after a series of corporate mergers.

According to Isaac, years have gone by with himself and his brothers insisting "We have a record," completed and ready for release, and Def Jam executives arguing, "'No, you don't.'

"There are massive differences between people who sign you because they like what you've created -- and those who get you after a giant corporate merger. They have no vested interest in you, often very little understanding of your music, your style. That's unfortunately part of the trouble with the industry now -- so much corporate consolidation. Because of that, the identity of artists on some labels is inherently being lost."

So earlier this year, Hanson negotiated out of its contract and regained its autonomy. The tour is "the appetizer," says Isaac. The main meal will be the album release they're putting in motion for early 2004. "It's a huge amount of work, but I'm okay with that," he tells us.