Artists 'SELLING OUT' - can we discuss?

this thread has brought back a memory from when i was stationed in japan from ~'82-85. there was a brief japanese television commercial i remember seeing with either dustin hoffman or deniro schlepping whiskey or something in which he spoke three words--"i'm a boy!" well, you can bet he walked away with an enormous check. btw that very thing (hollywood doing ridiculous-yet high-paid japanese TV commercials) was nicely parodied by bill murray in "lost in translation." i never really thought about that commercial until now. funny how little buried memories can pop up like that.

I put 'selling out' in quotes for a reason. For me, selling out is when an artist who has made a living purporting certain values, who has created a fan base who share those values, suddenly for nothing more than another paycheck goes against those values and betrays their fans.


There are plenty of artists who I believe will never sell-out.

1. Tom Waits

2. Neil Young

OK, that's not plenty but it's a start.

Kubla- I agree with you. Selling, is not the same as selling out. If Neil Young sells the rights to use "The damage done" in an anti-heroin commercial, more power to him; if he sells the rights to "Bluebird" to a company that had named its latest attack fighter plane "Bluebird" that would be selling out!!!!!

swampwalker, this is what started me off again thinking about the subject of this post. Chan Marshall (Cat Power) sings about isolation, the fear of reaching out for love, etc... and now she is on a commercial singing some song promoting diamonds. first of all, nobody should be lending their music to sell diamonds, imo, but least of all chan marshall. so she's really disappointed me.

I need to add this to my list:

3. John Coltrane (had he lived past 40 he would never have sold out. Never. Not for anything.)

i would humbly submit that to purport to know what is in the heart and mind of another in terms of how they choose to apply their art is a flawed premise. not trying to pick a fight. freewill + human nature + democracy = shit happens. sorry it bothers you so.