Pentatonix has earned success on its own terms

Except when it’s not.

For two decades now, the internet has mostly been demonized as the troll beneath said industry’s bridge, ostensibly devouring royalties and an artist’s ability to make a living.

That characterization — along with similar broadsides against music streaming services — may be rooted in reality, but it’s since grown into a legend as mythic as Jack’s beanstalk.

Yes, we’ve heard plenty about how the digitalization of music, downloading, streaming and various online outlets have made it challenging, if not impossible, for most artists to monetize their art, while ignoring the fact that only a fraction of artists signed to major labels even recoup the costs of making records, much less profit from them.

What we’ve heard far less about is that this new era also allows artists to disseminate their music on their own like never before. They can eschew industry gatekeepers and reach audiences directly, taking their careers into their own hands and controlling their art and how they present themselves.

All of these developments can be far more lucrative for artists than losing revenue streams that few of them ever had.

Few acts have taken better advantage of this than coed vocal quintet Pentatonix.

Self-made success

Sure, the a cappella music group may have a throwback sound, but it has cut a path to success via distinctly modern means: first by winning the third season of reality-TV singing competition “The Sing-Off” in 2011, then via YouTube.

“It’s still such a new concept to my brain,” Pentatonix singer Mitch Grassi says of the power of the video-sharing platform in question, “but the proof is in the pudding.”

Said proof: 16 million subscribers and 4 billion views of Pentatonix’s various videos.

“YouTube has been an integral part of our career trajectory,” Grassi says. “In fact, I would argue that it’s the biggest reason for our wide reach. It’s been a game-changing way for us to share our music and miscellaneous content with the world. It’s really humanized us as real, working musicians that are passionate about their jobs.”

YouTube has been crucial for Pentatonix, because the group’s first bite of the music industry apple resulted in a mouthful of worm chunks.

Sure, its exposure and success on TV got the group signed, but it didn’t last long — at least not initially.

“We won a record deal because of our victory on ‘The Sing-Off’ but were immediately shelved — and then later dropped,” Grossi recalls. “Obviously, the music business is just that, and I think the fact that we were on the brink of creating our niche really scared a lot of the record executives.”

Then Pentatonix took its career into its own hands, creating clips for the group’s covers of songs such as Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and Psy’s “Gangnam Style” that went viral. When the record companies came calling again, Pentatonix had established itself on its own terms and was able to use this to its advantage.

Now the group is a bona fide success, having won a trio of Grammys, sold millions of copies of its seven studio albums and become a consistent arena filler.

Full-throated fame

Grossi is still trying to wrap his head around this level of success, even though the 26-year-old Texas native has been in the spotlight since he was kid, performing in various singing competitions.

“In certain ways, it is different than I imagined,” he acknowledges. “When I was younger and a little less worldly, I assumed public notoriety would come with self-assuredness and would make me feel like I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish. While that is slightly true, I think it’s mostly given me confidence that my art is valid and can bring people true joy.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever feel totally ‘accomplished,’ ” he adds, “but I’d argue that the best artists are always pushing themselves to become better and better.”

It’s worked, even if there wasn’t much contemporary precedence for Pentatonix’s rise to the top of the charts. But the fact that the group didn’t have many a cappella peers in the music mainstream when it debuted nearly a decade ago has arguably worked in its favor.

With much of what you hear on the radio these days becoming increasingly electronic music-based, no matter the genre, building a songbook around the warm, organic, decidedly corporeal appeal of the human voice has set Pentatonix apart.

The major label suits might not have gotten it once upon a time, but that’s OK. Instead of being accepted by the industry at the time, Pentatonix became an industry instead.

“I think we all felt like we had something special when ‘The Sing-Off’ first debuted,” Grossi says. “Obviously, we had no idea of bigger things to come. But from the very beginning, we had a sense that our music really resonated with a lot of people in a really profound and beautiful way.

“I’m always reminded of it when we hear stories from fans of how our music helped them through an emotionally trying time,” he adds. “That, to me, is the biggest accomplishment: to be able to help people heal.”

Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @JasonBracelin on Twitter.