The Pentatonix story begins in Arlington, Texas, where there lived three best friends: Scott, Mitch, and Kirstie. They attended Martin High School and called themselves "the Trio" because they loved to sing together. The day came that Scott and Kirstie graduated and the Trio split up. Scott went to the University of Southern California (USC) to major in Popular Music. Kirstie went to the University of Oklahoma to major in Musical Theater. Mitch was a high school senior and remained in Arlington (until his graduation in 2011). The Trio was dispersed, but life went on for its members. Kirstie dreamed of moving to New York City to look for a role in a musical theater production. Mitch dreamed of making a name for himself in Austin's music scene. At USC, Scott joined an a cappella group called SoCal Vocals.
On NBC TV a talent show called The Sing-Off was beginning auditions for its third season. On The Sing-Off, a cappella groups competed to win a prize of $200,000 and a Sony Music recording contract. At USC, another member of SoCal Vocals urged Scott to enter the The Sing-Off competition. Scott liked the idea and contacted Mitch and Kirstie and asked them to join him. Entering the competition meant dropping out of school -- a big decision considering the seeming long odds of winning. The Trio friends decided to go for the prize because success could mean the launch of their recording careers. Another friend advised Scott to add a bass and a beatboxer to round out the group's sound. Scott found Avi (their bass) through that same friend, and he found Kevin on YouTube where a video of him beatboxing while playing his cello was going viral.
Scott thought "Pentatonix" would make a good name for the group, because the pentatonic scale is a popular five-note music scale, and the new vocal group had five members. He replaced the final letter with an "x", he said, "to make it cooler." (A network executive advised the group to change the name, warning them they would regret the name because it was too hard to remember.)
Because of their schedules and the fact that they resided in different states, the five members of Pentatonix were not able to meet until the day before the audition. The new group was competing with thousands of singers for one of 16 slots in the competition, and they had only 12 hours to rehearse. For a new vocal group with members who have just met, 12 hours is not a lot of time to "jell" and find their sound. But this new group was special, and this audition was, as they say in Texas, not their first rodeo. They nailed their audition and won a spot on the show.
With only five members, they were the smallest group in the competition. Three of them, the former Trio, were 19 years old, making them also the youngest group in the competition. Nick Lachey, the host of The Sing-Off, would later describe Pentatonix as "five unknowns that came out of nowhere to set our stage on fire." Week after week they walked onto the Sing-Off stage and delivered performances that were professional and polished, with arrangements and vocals that wowed audiences and received standing ovations. One Sing-Off judge said, "Pentatonix is freakish. These guys are making it hot with five! That's hard to do." Another judge said, "Every one of those kids packs a punch in a big way." That they had talent is a given, but there was more: all five of those "kids" had impressive music résumés.
The "five unknowns" won The Sing-Off season 3 competition and, with a new recording contract in hand, relocated to L.A. to pursue their recording careers. One week later, their label (Epic Records) dropped them. A cappella was too different from what was on the radio. Undaunted, the group signed with Madison Gate Records, a small label that distributes movie soundtracks. The group maintained contact with their Sing-Off fans through music videos they made and posted on YouTube (they shot their first video on an iPad) and through social media such as Facebook and Twitter. They gave interviews to anyone who would point a camera at them, and their fan base grew. Soon they were a "phenomenon" on the radio talk show circuit, giving interviews and singing in small radio station studios and on a myriad of Web-based shows.
In 2012, their first EP, Pentatonix Vol. 1, climbed to #1 on the iTunes pre-sales chart and entered the Billboard 200 at #14 and the digital chart at #5. Their first holiday EP, PTXmas, became the 6th highest-selling Christmas album of 2013. Also in 2013, their third EP, Pentatonix Vol. 2, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #10 and on the Independent chart at #1. In 2014, their fourth EP, Pentatonix Vol. 3, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #5. Their full-length album, That's Christmas to Me, released in October, 2014, peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum in December, 2014. It became the #1 holiday album and the 4th best selling album of 2014 by any artist of any genre. Their first full-length album of original music, released in October, 2015, and titled Pentatonix, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #1.
Pentatonix began their first national tour in 2012, selling out venues in all 30 cities. A second national tour took place in 2013 followed by a third tour in 2014 that included the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Japan and South East Asia. In February, 2015, Pentatonix began their fourth tour of North America, the UK and Europe, Japan and South East Asia, plus a North American summer tour with Kelly Clarkson. They ended the year with performances at several awards shows plus a number of holiday-related performances.
Success does not go unnoticed. It wasn't long before RCA Records (a flagship Sony Music label, as is Epic) began calling Madison Gate Records in an effort to buy their contract with Pentatonix. At first the Madison Gate executives said no, pointing out that Epic had their chance and dropped the group. But RCA was persistent and when they called for the 11th time, they succeeded. Pentatonix now has a contract with RCA Records.
At this point, Pentatonix have over 10 million YouTube subscribers and their videos have racked up over a billion views. They've won a Grammy and have been invited to the White House. They’ve performed at the Kennedy Center. They were presenters at the 2014 American Music Awards and co-presenters at the 2015 Grammy Awards. They made a cameo appearance in the movie Pitch Perfect 2. They were presenters and performers at the 2015 American Music Awards and at the 2015 Country Music Awards.
They're a phenomenon and yet, if you watch a few of their many interviews that are available online, you will see five very nice, very genuine young people who live to sing and perform, who love their fans, and who -- while they always hoped for it -- are as surprised as anyone at their sudden success. Pentatonix have caught lightning in a bottle and their fans can only wait to see where it leads them.
Were the members of Pentatonix merely lucky? Was their success due to being in the right place at the right time? Certainly, they have worked hard and they have made good decisions. Perhaps luck is in the mix, as well. But two thousand years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca had this to say about luck: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
That is a great description of the Pentatonix story.
