#27
On Selling Out
I have noticed a good deal of discussion lately on the boards revolving around the general concept of this Web site selling out. There seems to be a general feeling among some of the old skool members that the expansion of the site will have the effect of dumbing it down and creating a more vanilla environment that is different than it was back in the good old days. All-in-all, this is probably true. But I think the larger question is, can it be any other way? I think not. Selling out is inevitable and unavoidable. It is the nature of life. As much as we may try to rage against the dying of the light, we will all follow the same inexorable path.
In my younger and more idealistic (and energetic) days, I formed a band with some friends. We thought we were good (or had the potential to be good). A crossroads was reached when someone we knew who had previously had a record deal (but had been dropped before any record came out) decided he wanted to join our band. This certainly would have given us a much needed infusion of professionalism to go along with our ideas and enthusiasm. The others were in favor of going in this direction.
This caused me to very seriously consider the nature of the music business and life in general, at least as it pertained to me. What I ultimately decided was that there is an inherent paradox that I could not then, and still cannot, get around. It goes something like this:
I only wanted to play music because I loved it. I had no commercial expectations and had not made any artistic decisions based on perceived market acceptance.
I believed (and still believe) that music (or any art) that is made with an eye toward commercial success is not as good as that which comes solely from the creative vision of the artist.
In general, music that comes solely from the creative vision of the artist and is not commercially focused, is unsuccessful in the marketplace.
Artists who are unsuccessful in the marketplace make no money, cannot support themselves and are unable to sustain an artistic career for very long.
Faced with the reality of not being able to sustain an artistic career without giving in to commercial demands, nearly all artists eventually end up compromising their artistic vision to suit popular demand.
As a result, all musicians are destined to sell out.
Since I figured I would end up hating what I was gonna do anyway, I decided I would do something else for money and not turn the thing I loved into my means of commerce. Its a decision I have not often regretted, not the least reason probably being that I have now come to believe we sucked anyway (I can never be accused of being self-deluded).
As years have passed I have seldom seen the above paradox be disproved. In other areas of experience the same holds true. A successful enterprise of any type cannot be maintained in a stagnant state. Dylan said, he who is not busy being born is busy dying. A truer statement would be hard to come by. Its the expanding universe theory in practice. Everything has to grow and get bigger or else it will die. As things grow and get bigger, they change, evolve, morph, turn back upon themselves and ultimately may even become unrecognizable for what they originally started out being. Compare Rolling Stone magazine today with what it started out being back in the late 60s. Is Spooky Sean the new Jan Wenner? I dunno, but I dont think it will be entirely unentertaining finding out.
The good news is that we all have the free will to get off the ride were on at any time and get on a new one. Its like when youre flying cross-country and the plane is landing and they start calling out gate assignments for the connecting flights of everybody on-board. I always find it amazing how many different ultimate destinations are represented. Were all flying together for the moment but, in the end, were all going someplace different. The same is true here. At the point in time somebodys needs arent met, theyll be gone, only to be replaced by two or three others who have different needs at that point in time. Thats healthy. Thats as it should be. Bring on the change. I cant wait to see SG really sell out and do an IPO. After all, capitalism is the new socialism, right?
On Selling Out
I have noticed a good deal of discussion lately on the boards revolving around the general concept of this Web site selling out. There seems to be a general feeling among some of the old skool members that the expansion of the site will have the effect of dumbing it down and creating a more vanilla environment that is different than it was back in the good old days. All-in-all, this is probably true. But I think the larger question is, can it be any other way? I think not. Selling out is inevitable and unavoidable. It is the nature of life. As much as we may try to rage against the dying of the light, we will all follow the same inexorable path.
In my younger and more idealistic (and energetic) days, I formed a band with some friends. We thought we were good (or had the potential to be good). A crossroads was reached when someone we knew who had previously had a record deal (but had been dropped before any record came out) decided he wanted to join our band. This certainly would have given us a much needed infusion of professionalism to go along with our ideas and enthusiasm. The others were in favor of going in this direction.
This caused me to very seriously consider the nature of the music business and life in general, at least as it pertained to me. What I ultimately decided was that there is an inherent paradox that I could not then, and still cannot, get around. It goes something like this:
I only wanted to play music because I loved it. I had no commercial expectations and had not made any artistic decisions based on perceived market acceptance.
I believed (and still believe) that music (or any art) that is made with an eye toward commercial success is not as good as that which comes solely from the creative vision of the artist.
In general, music that comes solely from the creative vision of the artist and is not commercially focused, is unsuccessful in the marketplace.
Artists who are unsuccessful in the marketplace make no money, cannot support themselves and are unable to sustain an artistic career for very long.
Faced with the reality of not being able to sustain an artistic career without giving in to commercial demands, nearly all artists eventually end up compromising their artistic vision to suit popular demand.
As a result, all musicians are destined to sell out.
Since I figured I would end up hating what I was gonna do anyway, I decided I would do something else for money and not turn the thing I loved into my means of commerce. Its a decision I have not often regretted, not the least reason probably being that I have now come to believe we sucked anyway (I can never be accused of being self-deluded).
As years have passed I have seldom seen the above paradox be disproved. In other areas of experience the same holds true. A successful enterprise of any type cannot be maintained in a stagnant state. Dylan said, he who is not busy being born is busy dying. A truer statement would be hard to come by. Its the expanding universe theory in practice. Everything has to grow and get bigger or else it will die. As things grow and get bigger, they change, evolve, morph, turn back upon themselves and ultimately may even become unrecognizable for what they originally started out being. Compare Rolling Stone magazine today with what it started out being back in the late 60s. Is Spooky Sean the new Jan Wenner? I dunno, but I dont think it will be entirely unentertaining finding out.
The good news is that we all have the free will to get off the ride were on at any time and get on a new one. Its like when youre flying cross-country and the plane is landing and they start calling out gate assignments for the connecting flights of everybody on-board. I always find it amazing how many different ultimate destinations are represented. Were all flying together for the moment but, in the end, were all going someplace different. The same is true here. At the point in time somebodys needs arent met, theyll be gone, only to be replaced by two or three others who have different needs at that point in time. Thats healthy. Thats as it should be. Bring on the change. I cant wait to see SG really sell out and do an IPO. After all, capitalism is the new socialism, right?
VIEW 21 of 21 COMMENTS
Did you know Yo La Tengo made a Coke jingle? I sure as hell didn't. The story behind it is on their site, http://www.yolatengo.com/ and I think they went about the whole thing well. You can download the jingle too, as with Ween's proposed Pizza Hut jingle http://www.ween.com/
I respect these efforts because they didn't take a song about love, or something personal, and stick in on an ad; they wrote ad jingles, trying to infect the ad world with YoLaness and Weenness and I approve of that.
Every musician who goes outside of their bedroom to play WANTS to be heard. I have no problem with seeking popularity. *I* want to be popular. If I didn't want to be popular, I wouldn't pay to post on SG...