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Worst sell out?

Paul Wesley

By Paul Wesley
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Helobious

Helobious 9464

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

“selling out” is the dumbest critique of any artist. Specifically, it is an imaginary and arbitrary judgment of artists for monetizing their work. Every artist sells out on some level, the only difference is what level is acceptable to each individual fan. It’s an ever moving stupid target. Every single band in history has sold out to make the radio. If you’ve heard a song, then the artist has made creative concessions to the man to get on the radio. So you’re not actually mad at an artist selling out, your mad at the level of work. I can name a bunch of songs that were artists fully selling out but yet the songs were amazing, so they are accepted. 
 

 

Back in the day maybe, but nowadays with Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, bandcamp lots of independent artists are getting followings just playing original non-record label influenced music. 
 

My personal list includes Sum 41, Bring me the horizon (they almost switched genres their sound changed so much), and Blake. 

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Rimbo

Rimbo 26067

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

“selling out” is the dumbest critique of any artist. Specifically, it is an imaginary and arbitrary judgment of artists for monetizing their work. Every artist sells out on some level, the only difference is what level is acceptable to each individual fan. It’s an ever moving stupid target. Every single band in history has sold out to make the radio. If you’ve heard a song, then the artist has made creative concessions to the man to get on the radio. So you’re not actually mad at an artist selling out, your mad at the level of work. I can name a bunch of songs that were artists fully selling out but yet the songs were amazing, so they are accepted. 
 

 

Tool beat you to the punch with this observation by 25 years.

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VolenteHawk

VolenteHawk 495

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Posted (edited)

The Black Eyed Peas first two albums were really good, kinda A Tribe Called Quest or Jurassic 5 vibe.  That doesn't really sell or get airplay, so they added Fergie and immediately started sucking.

I doubt they would trade their big pile of cash for me to have a few more records I enjoyed, though.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31534

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Well, there's selling out where a song just gets licensed, and that might not even be wholly up to the artist, depending on who controls the rights.

Then there's gross participation in the commercialization, like U2 above.

As to the first, there's this, that never bothered me much.  I suppose once Yoakam licensed the song, Queen had nothing to say, but hard to know.

 

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tbone_

tbone_ 14157

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I don’t consider letting a commercial or TV show use an awesome song for a shitload of money a sellout.

I consider going from White Rabbit to We Built This City, or from Roll With the Changes to I Can’t Fight This Feeling, a sellout.

You know Seger made a shitload of money on that Chevy commercial. I just hope he took care of whoever played that bad ass iconic slide riff they used a billion times in it.

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28798

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On 1/31/2022 at 6:27 PM, tbone_ said:

I consider going from White Rabbit to We Built This City (...) a sellout.

You’re talking about two different bands. And skipping a band in between. That’s not a sellout. A band called Starship making a hit in 1985 with We Built This City is not an example of Jefferson Airplane, who made a hit with White Rabbit in 1967, selling out. There was a whole lot of change in time and personnel in between.

Of all the psychedelic bands to come out of the Haight-Ashbury scene in the 60’s, the Airplane was already the most commercial. They even wrote original music to sell Levi’s jeans. But they went through their own evolution between Surrealistic Pillow and Bark (like anyone can name a hit from that dog). And you don’t lose Jorma and Jack without it impacting your sound. But if you think about it, given all the changes between ‘67 and ‘85, from Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship to Starship, from war and politics and radio and the music industry, is there really that big of a gulf between Somebody to Love and We Built This City?

Also, Miracles - released by Jefferson Starship in 1975 - was a great song. Red Octopus is in my collection. Also not an example of Jefferson Airplane selling out because it was as a different band with a different name at a different time.

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46118

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On 2/1/2022 at 1:31 AM, jetsfan76 said:

Early Goo was punk / hard-core.

https://youtu.be/mZKTXc0tk6E

Then to the schlock that all the wine moms love.

Goo Goo Dolls wanted to be The Replacements from the jump.  They even had Paul Westerberg write the lyrics to their first hit.  Problem was, they weren't created enough to continue to ape Westerberg as he guided the 'mats from bar punk to nearly pop and beyond when he went solo, so the Goos ended up writing songs for Meg Ryan wannabes.  They didn't lack hooks, they were just really safe.

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28798

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54 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

Same singer. Had to be other commonalities as well. Great song to worst drek ever recorded. I think it counts.

One singer. Grace Slick. No Marty Balin or Paul Kantner. So you’re saying Grace Slick sold out. Grace Slick who sung the advertisement for White Levi’s with Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick who left the Great Society to join Jefferson Airplane for their second album, replacing Signe Anderson, and who brought with her Somebody to Love and White Rabbit which would be the band’s biggest radio hits. She sold out? There might have been some hippies in San Francisco who thought the Airplane sold out when they added Grace.

We Built This City was a big hit. I don’t think you can pick one song from ‘67 and one from ‘85, given the entire history of all the bands and musicians and singers and writers and producers, and say look at that, that (one) “band” sold out.

Just how much did Starship have in common with this band?:

 

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26005

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Posted
On 1/31/2022 at 3:27 PM, tbone_ said:

I don’t consider letting a commercial or TV show use an awesome song for a shitload of money a sellout.

I consider going from White Rabbit to We Built This City, or from Roll With the Changes to I Can’t Fight This Feeling, a sellout.

You know Seger made a shitload of money on that Chevy commercial. I just hope he took care of whoever played that bad ass iconic slide riff they used a billion times in it.

ferris bueller alert:  

I know a woman very well who's sister was married for many years to Seger's sax guy, "Alto Reed".  I have it on good authority that the band was taken care of quite well.  Seger spread it around pretty generously, from what she tells me. 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54414

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6 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Goo Goo Dolls wanted to be The Replacements from the jump.  They even had Paul Westerberg write the lyrics to their first hit.  Problem was, they weren't created enough to continue to ape Westerberg as he guided the 'mats from bar punk to nearly pop and beyond when he went solo, so the Goos ended up writing songs for Meg Ryan wannabes.  They didn't lack hooks, they were just really safe.

I still kinda love the Goo Goo Dolls.  Long Way Down is what I think the 90s should have sounded like.  

And this is still the greatest commercial MLB has ever created:
 

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46118

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27 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I still kinda love the Goo Goo Dolls.  Long Way Down is what I think the 90s should have sounded like.  

And this is still the greatest commercial MLB has ever created:

Peak "we wanna be The Replacements" Goo Goo Dolls, from the guitar progressions to the vocal stylings to the harmonies. 

I mean, I don't blame them, I'm a huge 'mats fan too, but they're pretty much a karaoke band that rewrote the words.

Plus, Johnny tried to move in on my date at Cannibal Club circa "Superstar Car Wash".  Asshole.  He didn't succeed, but it's a great mystery as to why he didn't.

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17058

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I can’t recall if I already replied to this or not, but (for me anyways) it is very simple:

If a band stops making the music they love just to make music that can be marketed and sold easier, that is a sell out.

When I owned a record label with a friend back in the early 2000’s, we would never ask a band to change the kind of music just so we could sell more. First, we found bands that were making music we liked. Our job was not to change them, but get it out there to more people that liked that music. The other part of it was trying to get them paid for making the music they liked to make by finding tv shows or movies that wanted to license their music as is.

But that is not how the real “music industry” works.

So we were not very profitable. But that wasn’t the point. And the bands were happy.

So if say Metallica starts making music that I don’t like, but they like and millions of other still like, that isn’t selling out. It just means I think their new direction sucks (and it most certainly does). But if they do it because they think it will sell better, get their music licensed more, etc…well, fuck those sell outs.

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horn4life

horn4life 3783

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Posted

Worst sell out... Rod Stewart. Ask his many generations of kids.

 

But I want to nominate a "Best sell Out!"

I nominate Iggy Pop with his anthem "Lust for Life."  Because it's an awesome song, and I always laugh when I hear the only "clean" part of the record played for Iggy's mail box money!

Lust for Life

Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And a flesh machine
He's gonna do another striptease
Hey man, where'd you get that lotion?
I've been hurting since I bought the gimmick
About something called love
Yeah, something called love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
Been on a lust for life
'Cause of a lust for life
I'm worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a G.T.O.
Wear a uniform
All on a government loan
I'm worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With the liquor and drugs
With the liquor and drugs
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in my ear before
'Cause of a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause of a lust for life (ooh)
I've got a lust for life (ooh)
Got a lust for life (ooh)
Oh, a lust for life (ooh)
Oh, a lust for life (ooh)
A lust for life (ooh)
I got a lust for life (ooh)
Got a lust for life
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in my ear before
'Cause of a lust for life
'Cause of a lust for life
Well, here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And a flesh machine
I know he's gonna do another striptease
Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick
About something called love
Oh, love, love, love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
And I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause I've a lust for life (lust for life)
Got a lust for life
Yeah, a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Oh, a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Yeah, a lust for life
I got a lust for life
A lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
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Rimbo

Rimbo 26067

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Bigbend1812 said:

We are all sellouts.

 

 

Dax Shepard Money GIF

Yeah, this is the truth. The minute you sell your art, you're a sellout. Doesn't matter if you're trying to make yourself happy or someone else. Doesn't matter if you're an independent artist or writing a commercial's jingle. You're a whore one way or the other and all that's up for negotiation is price.

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