Sold Out

[metalife]

Sold Out is a term we often hear when a band hits the mainstream and surpasses their peers that they created a 'scene' with.

I'm interested to know people's opinions on this term.

What does it mean to you?
What bands have 'sold out' and when?
Is 'selling out' really that bad a thing?

To me, if you're able to progress your career in music you'd be crazy not to. If your skills as a musician develop and you venture into other forms music, inspiration why hide it. Although, in some cases it may be better to do a solo album.

Life is constantly changing, as is music. You have bands that are happy to release the same album over and over (Ac/Dc), and that's cool, but there are also bands who like to experiment a bit, which is also cool. I've read comments of Youtube and other sites where fans say they're not going to listen to a bands old music cause of where they're at now in their career? Why. How does any new music from a long standing band take away anything from what is already recorded?

 

[LG]

"Sold Out" to me means I can't get a ticket to a show...

 

[Black Dahlia]

Selling out , to me, means disregarding (giving up on) your artistic aims to do the "easy" thing.

Everyone wants to be successful, but everyone measures success differently. These two bands from the 70's are the first to spring to mind:
Journey, depending on who you talk to, came from a very successful stint with Santana. The bar for succeeding had been set, and Greg Rollie and Neil Schon wanted to achieve that on their own. After three albums, and threats of being dropped by the label, they threw their arms up, accepted Steve Perry against their will, and the rest is history.

Heart also sold out. They had achieved huge success, and were on the way out, as a has-been band from the 70's. After years of fighting the "cheesecake" image the business wanted to portray them in, the Wilson sisters caved in and did whatever they were told to do (different look and sound) and once again they were at the top and were able to release an additional 3 top-selling albums.

First, selling out isn't a bad thing, necessarily. People may have different reasons for doing this. I see it as a self-preservation move. Artistic integrity is all-well-and-good, but the reality is that you still have to pay the bills. "Selling out" enabled these two bands to carry on decades longer than they otherwise would have.

 

[Jonny Come Lately]

I tend to agree with Black Dahlia, I'd also suggest that selling out can involve a band or singer allowing their music to be excessively influenced by 'label interference' or public expectations of what their music should sound like.

A good example of the former can be found on the latest Coldplay album Ghost Stories, the album is baldly a breakup album and eight of the nine tracks are appropriately sad, slow electronic songs, but the album contains one upbeat EDM track, A Sky Full Of Stars. This song is painfully out of place and totally of its time due synth sound used - I cannot seriously believe that there was a creative need to include a dance track on the album, and it reeks of either outside interference demanding a 'mega-hit', or a desperate attempt by the band to keep up with current trends.

A good example of the latter would be post-2000 U2, who have been trying to recreate their old 1980s sound rather than continuing their 1990s experimentation. However, in some cases bands have made music that fits the public's expectations by simply sticking to what they do best (AC/DC fit into this category), I don't think these bands have sold out. You can argue that bands should try to get out of their comfort zone, but not every band necessarily wants to experiment.

I would contrast this with Neil Young in the early 1970s, who followed up the hugely successful mellow country rock of Harvest with three darker rock albums (Time Fades Away, On The Beach and Tonight's The Night, i.e. the Ditch trilogy) - he took a highly risky creative path with no guarantee of commercial success. Selling out and changing your musical style are far from synonymous.

 

[gcczep]

Not so black...

Metallica's untitled black album. I didn't think their hard core fans cared for it. To me "sell out" means being all of a sudden mainstream being that their songs are now part of a public friendly playlist at tame radio stations.

 

[metalife]

"Sold Out" to me means I can't get a ticket to a show...

Artistic integrity is all-well-and-good, but the reality is that you still have to pay the bills.

That's true. When it comes down to it, you have to maintain your career. Your band is your business and to make a living you need to do what's best for your livelihood. Regardless of what tough decisions need to be made.

Selling out and changing your musical style are far from synonymous.

Good point. Though I guess some people will easily label a band as selling out if they change their sound slightly. Die hard thrash fans hated the acoustic intro to the Ride The Lightning album - not to mention Fade To Black.

Neil Young's Harvest is one of my favorite all time albums, BTW.

Metallica's untitled black album. I didn't think their hard core fans cared for it.

I knew Metallica would quickly make it to this discussion. I'm sure there are different fans who cry sell out after every album released by the band. (to each their own)

 

[Johnny-Too-Good]

To me 'Selling Out' is a very '70s term. In the current musical environment I don't think it exists. Many bands 'licence' their music through various channels to fund themselves. The big money is gone now for rock bands and they have to find other ways of raking a bit of money in.

 

[Musikwala]

"Sold Out" to me means I can't get a ticket to a show...

Best definition ever!

Selling out , to me, means disregarding (giving up on) your artistic aims to do the "easy" thing.

I agree with that.

First, selling out isn't a bad thing, necessarily. People may have different reasons for doing this. I see it as a self-preservation move. Artistic integrity is all-well-and-good, but the reality is that you still have to pay the bills.

True.

A good example of the latter would be post-2000 U2, who have been trying to recreate their old 1980s sound rather than continuing their 1990s experimentation.

Yup. They could have gone down a different path altogether with the 00s. Nobody was asking for a repeat of the 90s either. From 1980 to 1997 they explored and experimented every now and then with no guarantee of success. 1984's The Unforgettable Fire was atmospheric and quite lean on the fast-paced rockers of the previous 3 albums. It was a risk. 1991's Achtung Baby was a total risk. It sounded nothing like the Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum. The album has been famously described as "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree". 1993's Zooropa, 1994's Passengers project with Brian Eno and 1997's Pop took them to the greatest heights of weirdness and experimentation that they have ever scaled! Then in 2000, they come crashing down to earth with the plain vanilla of All That You Can't Leave Behind. To make things worse, 2004's Atomic Bomb was even more safe! At least 2009's No Line was a slight recovery.

But don't get me wrong. I have nothing against bands changing their sound. Aside from the noisy tin can sound of St. Anger, I had no problems every time Metallica changed their sound with the Black Album, Load, Reload etc. The quality of the songs didn't suffer, IMO.

Whereas with U2 in the 00s, the quality of songs/lyrics seems to have been sacrificed for a more crowd-pleasing sound. That is I think closest to my understanding of the term "selling out". That said, I don't like to use this term and try to avoid it if possible. I only use it how LG used it in this thread.

 

[Riff Raff]

Selling out is the most annoying term in music. Fans use such a cop out term to justify bashing a band for doing their own thing. Bands do not owe fans a ****ing thing regarding their sound. Selling out would if anything be pandering to the fans even if the music is not what they wanted to do.

Fans should stop expecting or putting pressure on bands to do what they want. If anything respect bands wanting to expand their horizons a bit. Selling out could also mean sacrificing artistic integrity for money but if the band wants to make that type of music then its not selling out anyway. People use it as a bandwagon statement.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Selling out is the most annoying term in music. Fans use such a cop out term to justify bashing a band for doing their own thing. Bands do not owe fans a ****ing thing regarding their sound. Selling out would if anything be pandering to the fans even if the music is not what they wanted to do.

This!