I remember some 20-30 years ago you would sometimes hear about an artist (usually musician, or a group thereof) being sellouts, or having sold out. This of course in a pejorative way, as this was the most heinous of crimes an artist could ever commit against their fan base.
However, I can’t recall having heard this term for at least a couple of decades. Has the term been replaced with something else? Is it more accepted? Or is it simply so hard to make it nowadays that the concept of “selling out” is basically just synonymous with making a living?
Are there any modern examples of this and I simply missed the online chatter about it?
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Because selling out is the standard in America now.
It’s not noteworthy to sellout anymore. It’s expected.
Does Snoop Dogg performing for the Trump crypto ball or whatever the shit that was count as selling out?
Absolutely yes it does.
When He didnt Show up on Kendricks Pop out I got curios. When He showed up at the olympics I knew something was afoot.
Now everything is clear.
Oh God, I did not hear about that one. God dammit.
If your idols are youtubers and tiktokkers, their business model is selling merch.
So opinions had to change.
Can’t sell out when everything is a sellout.
I think the plot was lost when the piracy/drm wars reached a peak and set new norms. The ‘talent’ that emerged steadily became performers rather than artists and put out disposable, largely formulaic pop made with protools.
Nearly all the mainstream now are what many would have called sellouts prior to all this.
Maybe there will be a move back to quality over quantity. Granted quality music is still being made, but by and large the current listener just wants to jump from the current sensation to the next after the staleness sets in.
Long story long the internet changed a lot of things, attention spans are eroded, and we’re still learning how to deal with all of it.
we do hear about ‘industry plants’, however…
Came here to mention industry plants, too. There’s no “selling out” for the most part because most major artists are controlled from day one by the industry, versus back in the day when they needed to scrape their knuckles on their own to appeal to a major label. Social media and The Algorithm lets the labels build careers out of nothing.
Because artists need to eat too.
“I didn’t sell out son, I bought in“
‘Only posers die!’
Sellout would be what I’d call snoop doggy lapdog after his recent performance
When I was younger I’d frown upon artists making a pop record. Now that I know most working bands often barely scrape by and often get screwed over by labels and promoters, etc., I can’t really fault them for it. And usually they’ll keep making what they want on the side anyway.
From what little I know about them, that tracks. They just happen to have a song that was pretty in line with what was (became) popular at the time and made it big. Everything else by them is A LOT more punkish.
To quote Tool:
I’ve got some bad advice for you, little buddy
Before you point your finger, you should know that I’m the man
If I’m the fuckin’ man, then you’re the fuckin’ man as well
So you can point that fuckin’ finger up your assAll you know about me is what I’ve sold ya, dumb fuck
I sold out long before you’d ever heard my name
I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit
And then you bought oneAll you read and wear or see and hear on TV
Is a product begging for your fat-ass, dirty dollar
Shut up and buy, buy, buy my new record
And buy, buy, buy, send more moneyI suppose the bands / artists that were accused of “selling out” back in the day have weathered that criticism and inspired multiple generations of subsequent bands / artists that have also gone in to inspire multiple bands / artists.
Take Green Day for example. For me they were the canonical sell out band for my generation. But now nobody cares about that. And bands that rode the wave of their success don’t care. And bands that were inspired by Green Day don’t care either. Neither do the fans, neither does the press.
So I think it’s just less and less of a thing these days. So people don’t care as much when you leave your small indie label and join a major. In fact quite the opposite. Good on you for winning against the system.
So people don’t care as much when you leave your small indie label and join a major. In fact quite the opposite. Good on you for winning against the system.
That’s integrating with the system, not winning against it. Which may be taken how one will.
FWIW there are still loads of people/bands in the punk scene who loathe Green Day specifically for how commercial they went. No clue about the press or fans, but plenty of venues around here where I’d be laughed out of for mentioning Green Day in a serious punk context
Because most people recognize “selling out” is the end goal for many acts. Why shouldn’t the act that can make enough to retire young on not go for that option if that is what they want for themselves?
A lot if the people bitching about selling out and authenticity in the 1990s were kids who did not have bills to pay.
Many social media influencers nowadays try to get big with the goal of “selling out”, or getting sponsored. From what I understand, ad revenue on its own hasn’t paid well for years, so they take on sponsors in order to fund their channels and pay their bills. You then have influencers like MrBeast and Logan Paul living large and shouting out their sponsors, making it look glamorous to their (often younger) audience.
