sell outs

[xKALEBx]

alot of bands are called sellouts for many reasons. what bands do you think are sell outs and why?

i think one of the bigest sellouts are dimmu borgir who gave their merch and musical talent to corps like hot topic

[xKALEBx]

just one question to all the hating on me cause i use sellout as a classification.

What does the word sell-out mean then from your point of view?

[MaliceBlackhart]

That may make them pretty messed in your eyes, but you have to think of it from their perspective. Number one, it gets their name out (even if it isnt necessairly to a market you feel is reasonable). Number two, it's cash in the bank. And, as the old argument goes, everyone got to pay the mortgage. Besides, it makes their band happy, and if it's making some fans happy, then you can't call them sell outs because they wanna hit a different market. That's like saying that mcdonalds sold out once they stopped selling just the big mac and started selling chicken. It's just development. It happens over time.

To quote Dave Grohl, "Some people call it selling out. I call it having responsiblities"

[Louie]

If the music is always exactly the same then some people call a band boring, but when the music is different they call it selling out. Not surprisingly, even bands need a break from the same old crap once in awhile. I say let them experiment a little, sell clothes wherever the hell they want, and whatever else you call selling out.
As Metallica says "We did sell out... at every single concert".

[GITTER]

OK kids, gather round ye olde tree of sagely wisdom...
...this 'selling out' business has plenty of validity. The people who have become truly successful in life -- materially, spiritually, etc -- do it with the ability to wake up and look themselves in the face. If they are accountants, dammit, they are great accountants! If they are metal musicians, they are great ones (or at least try to be).
I've been lucky enough to be around this kind of music for years and years and truth be told, the only times my luck goes awry is when I know what I'm doing is utter horseshit. Please check out records I've made with the likes of Boiler Room, Downer (sorry guys!) and stack 'em against the likes of Opeth and KsE...get what I mean? Don't do something simply because you think it's expected when it goes against every fiber of what you know is right -- on your terms, not anyone else's. That's "selling out"....success usually springs from there.
"We will not do what they want or do what they say - oh no!" -bad brains

[Ogre]

Clearly, if a band is making the music that they truly want to make (and most do), they cannot be categorized as a sell-out, regardless of what they did in the past. If a fan does not like the latest release from a band he previously followed, he needs to be a big boy and go spend his money on something else that he does like.

Example: everyone's favorite punching bag on this topic, Metallica. I liked Metallica in the 80's. I wasn't an avid fan, I preferred faster, heavier music, but Metallica's 80's material was damn good and I bought their cassettes/cd's. I halted all plans to purchase anything further from Metallica the moment I heard Enter Sandman. I didn't consider Metallica sell-outs, I simply didn't care what they did, anymore. Does that mean I can no longer bang my head when I hear the opening to Metal Militia? Of course not. Does that mean that what the band did to push the thrash movement in the early 80's and open doors for many other bands is now unimportant? Of course not. I simply decided that my money was better spent elsewhere, so I spent it elsewhere. And that was that.

I confess, I have a problem with youngsters who begin conversations such as this and are simply ignorant and uninformed. Example: If one is going to criticize band affiliation with outlets such as Hot Topic as the be all, end all of selling out, and then praise bands such as Kataklysm for remaining true, one should know that the current Summer Slaughter Tour -- which features the aforementioned Kataklysm, as well as other death metal stalwarts such as Vader & Cryptopsy -- is being sponsored by, wait for it.....yes, Hot Topic. It's a matter of credibility and the TS has none.

[GITTER]

Incidentally. Metallica "Black" remains one of the great metal/rock albums of our time. Was it a calculated move to shift units and fill stadiums? Metallica was at the cusp at that anyway. To me, it was the logical next step. What I find more frustrating is watching a band NOT push their boundaries -- deftones being the perfect example.
As far as movements go, the only movement I subscribe to is my post coffee bowel movement.

[Ogre]

That's pretty much my point. Bands are free to pursue whatever musical goals they wish, it's up to the consumer to spend his/her money in the way he/she wishes. Black did, what, 12 million copies? That's great, it's clearly one of the great metal/rock albums of the decade in the eyes of, oh, 12 million rockers. But, with rare exception, I don't like metal/rock. Generally, I like death metal. Therefore, I simply chose against purchasing Black. I wasn't compelled to, like many, spit venom at Metallica, call them sell-outs and impune their integrity because I don't like their new material. They're doing what they want to do, more power to them. I'm going to do what I want to do, and that's buy music that I like. It's a really simple process that doesn't involve slagging others for doing what they want.

Sounds like a lifetime subscription, to me, old feller. Don't strain yourself.

[DLOR]

Blah

[xKALEBx]

why would you just add blah if you don't have anything to say then don't say anything it just makes you look pretty stupid you should make a point like all the rest of these good people have even thought I don't agree with most of them they still don't add idiocries like blah so please let's be a little more intelgent and prove that we are not that of a fifth grader at least take a fricken side

[Stabitha]

[Matt]

A sell out is defined as "a band or artist who changes their music style to make more money". An excellent example of this is Metallica, who went from straight Thrash Metal to their current Radio-friendly fare.

Other offenders include the a majority of the Nu-Metal genre, who all went Hard Rock when they didn't know how to write songs heavier than those featured on their first releases.

[Matt]

Having said that, it's a music "business". Being a musician is a job and bands/artists have to do what they have to do to be able to provide for themselves, their families, while doing what they can to provide a quality product to their fans.