Biggest sellout in 'music' history?

pink1969

Brain Of E wrote:

anyone remember that Robert Plant Cocacola commercial?

I was just going to say that! I love Plant and Led Zep, but when that came out, I thought he was so lame for doing it. Definetley a big sell out!!

Skitch Patterson

pink1969 wrote:

I was just going to say that! I love Plant and Led Zep, but when that came out, I thought he was so lame for doing it. Definetley a big sell out!!

Nope.
Selling a song you wrote in an attempt to write a good song (failed or not) that caught the ear of someone in marketing to fit a product does not make you a sell out. You have not changed the art you are making to make more money. You are just profiting from a song you've written. Especially if you support the product on some level personally.

Also, some bands, like Nickelback and Matchbox 20 have not attempted to be anything more than they are- bands that can write the occasional catchy song for the masses. How are they selling out? Perhaps you can say they wernt artists in the first place, but ultimately they are still staying true to what they set out to perform initially.

Sugar Ray? Any band that admits they sold out is fine by me. They made an honest choice- and dont hide behind anything about it.

To me? The biggest sellouts are the people that are well respected for their music, and try to move and evolve into new things.... only when their fans dont react as well as anticipated, they return back to their tried and true formula- even if it is in stark contrast to where they want to progress to as artist. Im thinking of U2 and DMB.

Strangest Tribe

Anyone that plays the Superbowl

Aerosmith
U2
Prince
Tom Petty
Rolling Stones

mattcozea

drlovemonkey wrote:

Before I even read your post, my 1st thought was Mark McGrath. Sugar Ray started out sounding like a Rage/Bizkit rip-off (and how bad is it when you are a pale comparison to Limp Bizkit!) But when "Fly" hit it big, they totally abadoned their initial style to make pop-rock fluff. That to me is the definition of selling out - not being true to yourself because of fleeting success.

Exactly, he was a major sellout long before Extra.

Evacuation Rules

The most blatant...Aerosmith signing a gagillion dollar contract and teaming up with "professional" songwriters, circa 1987. They proceeded to embarrass themselves for two decades.

Ledbetterman10

JWBusher wrote:

The most blatant...Aerosmith signing a gagillion dollar contract and teaming up with "professional" songwriters

See Pearl Jam would never sell out like that. and to prove it, Eddie co-wrote a song with a rapist/murderer. nothing "mainstream" about that.

Evacuation Rules

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

See Pearl Jam would never sell out like that. and to prove it, Eddie co-wrote a song with a rapist/murderer. nothing "mainstream" about that.

The Beach Boys recorded a Charles Manson song, so I suppose anything is possible.

drlovemonkey

JWBusher wrote:

The most blatant...Aerosmith signing a gagillion dollar contract and teaming up with "professional" songwriters, circa 1987. They proceeded to embarrass themselves for two decades.

I totally agree.

weekapaug19

JWBusher wrote:

The most blatant...Aerosmith signing a gagillion dollar contract and teaming up with "professional" songwriters, circa 1987. They proceeded to embarrass themselves for two decades.

i was gonna post this yesterday, but thought I was one of the few who think they are the biggest sellout in music history

Red Burrito

Gene Simmons & KISS

ajedigecko

markymark550 wrote:

I don't see how McGrath is a sellout. He and Sugar Ray never claimed to be the most important band in the world. They never held to the belief that they had to keep pure indie cred in order to be a good band. They were just a band that wanted to make music and entertain people. When your band quits selling a lot of records, you've gotta go do something else to pay the bills.


And I am no Sugar Ray fan. I really couldn't stand a lot of their music. I just feel that the term 'sellout' is over used and abused.

well said.

petrocs

didnt the bassist from Nirvana become a politician?

Coming back to life

The hypocritical, right wing, spit on 52 graves that was live earth

LukinFan

Papa Roach
Creed
Limp BiZcuit

pink1969

Skitch Patterson wrote:

Nope.
Selling a song you wrote in an attempt to write a good song (failed or not) that caught the ear of someone in marketing to fit a product does not make you a sell out. You have not changed the art you are making to make more money. You are just profiting from a song you've written. Especially if you support the product on some level personally.

Also, some bands, like Nickelback and Matchbox 20 have not attempted to be anything more than they are- bands that can write the occasional catchy song for the masses. How are they selling out? Perhaps you can say they wernt artists in the first place, but ultimately they are still staying true to what they set out to perform initially.

Sugar Ray? Any band that admits they sold out is fine by me. They made an honest choice- and dont hide behind anything about it.

To me? The biggest sellouts are the people that are well respected for their music, and try to move and evolve into new things.... only when their fans dont react as well as anticipated, they return back to their tried and true formula- even if it is in stark contrast to where they want to progress to as artist. Im thinking of U2 and DMB.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.......
Didn't realize you were the authority on who's who of sellouts. Next time I'll check with you first before I post.

LavaLamp_GuitarTramp

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

See Pearl Jam would never sell out like that. and to prove it, Eddie co-wrote a song with a rapist/murderer. nothing "mainstream" about that.

Damien didn't kill or rape anyone moron.

eyedclaar

Red Burrito wrote:

Gene Simmons & KISS

You can't sell out if you have no integrity in the first place.

jamie uk

Ozzy Osbourne :(
terrible shame all that business.

NCBRI

I would throw in a vote for Def Leppard. Prime piece of evidence: A couple of years ago, they played a few songs at the opening of a Wal Mart Supercenter in Fayetteville, NC.

PearlJamaholic

ratm. i cant think of a single band that has talked so much about evil corporations and yet have stuck their name on everything. shirts, hats, video games, movie soundtracks, a cd of just covers, mtv videos, what a joke. how many dvd releases do they have anyways.

atleast bands like kiss and aerosmith were all about making money and being famous from the beginning.