What’s a “Sell Out”?

July 9th, 2007

fergie-liveearth.jpg
Last week, it was rumoured that Fergie had accepted several thousand dollars to wear a certain clothing brand in her next music video and the blogosphere was crying “sell out”. This week, it turns out the rumour was untrue. But what if it was true? Does that make Fergie a sell out? No.

“Sell Out” has to be the most misused term in music. Wikipedia defines selling out as a term “used to imply that an artist has compromised their artistic integrity in order to gain radio airplay or obtain a recording contract”. I would extending this to agreeing to something you morally disagree with for payoff. The key thing to note here is the person has to have disagreed with it to start.

So, if an artist says, “I hate credit- I think it’s evil” then sells their song to Visa for a commercial, that’s selling out. If the artist never cared one way or another about credit cards and then sold it- it isn’t selling out. Neither is if they make an album that is more appealing to a larger audience after a very indie debut- so long as the artist never cried foul over popular music to begin with.

We need to stop hating on bands just because they got popular or because you heard their song on a car ad. It’s just 1 more way to make a living for them and making a living does not equal selling out.

Photograph Courtesy Getty Images

Posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 11:12 am by Unknown and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture.

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5 Responses to “What’s a “Sell Out”?”

  1. Sell Out in Courtney Love’s definition: Everybody bought a ticket

    By Jess on July 9, 2007 at 4:35 pm |

  2. give me a break. Popular music is nothing but a plastic industry of mindless drones. Fergie is a text book answer of a sell out. Who uses Wikipedia as a reference anyways? I can post on wikipedia. Let’s try some new resources and see what we come up with! I understand trying to sell records to make money, but wasn’t black eyed peas doing that before Fergie astonished us all with her debut solo album? Fergie allowed us to see how easy it is to hate music created simply for making money and nothing else. And record companies blame downloading music for their lack of sales.. how about pushing garbage onto shelves in hopes that it will sell before the next act comes to town.

    Thats it.. i’m out

    By matthew on July 9, 2007 at 5:07 pm |

  3. Fergie got paid by Candies to put their products in her lyrics.

    Also, doesn’t a performer have to have some artistic integrity to begin with the even get to “sell out”? She was the eye candy for the Black Eyed Peas, and now she’s just a solo pop act. How about saying Fergie is a great brand, which you can buy into through albums, concerts, or products she endorses. That’s just how the music business is if you want to make money.

    Personally, I’m a fan of indie music, and I don’t really like when it goes too mainstream or artists do commercials. I think when a band changes their sound to appeal to a pop audience, they do turn their backs on the old fans who liked their indie sound. Is it a better career move for them though, but I guess it says they cared more about money than art, and indie people hate that lol.

    Also, when I hear some of my favorite music in commercial (aka every time I watch TV), I start to get kind of sick of the songs. I also, personally, start to only think of the products in the commercials when I hear the song, and not about how it makes me feel, what I like about it, or whatever my original impression of it was. I’m sure this is what the advertisers absolutely want, but for the bands sake, it makes me not want to listen to their music anymore. When Justices’ “Cross” was first played for me, I fell in love. I played it over and over again. A few months later, the music started slowly appearing in tons of commercials. Now when I listen to the album, I just really wanna drive around in a Cadillac, listening to music from Rhapsody, and get home quickly to watch “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew”. But that’s just one fans opinion. :p

    By Tanya on August 25, 2008 at 11:37 am |

  4. The fact is, selling out only exists on the scale of COMPLETELY compromising your beliefs or artistic intentions to become famous/make money. Beyond that, the term ’sell out’ is vastly misued in the music industry. Its thrown around like any other mindless slur. Just signing with a major label can earn you the ’sellout’ branding from today’s music listeners. Record labels have forced the industry into a corporate one and if any indy labels get wind beneath their wings the major ones pick them up anyway! So an artist has no choice but to shoot for a mainstream market (at least to some degree), if they want national or world attention. Not to mention the fact that some of these people do this as their career… they work their asses off, and they get paid. So what if they take in some advertisements for some extra money?

    Not everyone got into it to be a starving artist. The greatest artwork in history (e.g. the Sistine Chapel) were all highly paid commisions to artists that weren’t necessarily interested in or devoted to the subject-matter.. but they did it anyway, because it was a job.

    Fergie is a businesswoman, and a musician. And as such, I don’t think ’selling out’ can be a negative tag for her. Her JOB is to sell.

    By Matt on March 31, 2009 at 5:43 pm |

  5. I really hate it when my favorite indie bands earn enough money so that they can buy food, pay their rent and pay for expensive studio time, or buy gear so they can record in their basement, maintain their instruments and go on tour so I can see them live. I really hate that. I find that the music is way better when they all have day jobs at Wallmart, (wait a minute, isn’t that a big corporation…) and can tour for only two weeks a year. Wait, not everyone in the band was able to get the same two weeks off this year? Oh well.

    Most people do things that they aren’t thrilled about, like get a job, to make money so that they can live and afford to do things that they do like. So the next time you start putting a band down for making money, take a look at how you earn your money. If it helps you, when you hear your favorite song in an ad think of it as a artist getting a job so they can continue to do what they and you like (as well as eat).

    Being a starving artist may seem all romantic when you’re 21, but trust me, it gets old real fast and after 10 or 15 years of barely getting by, when an opportunity presents itself that doesn’t involve completely prostituting yourself it is usually welcome.

    By Voidoid on July 28, 2009 at 2:22 am |

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