Re: when has a band \"sold out\" ?
I think that selling out definitely exists. What the public wants and what the artist wants to make are rarely the same thing. Most artists must find some balance between making good music and selling records. When an artist chooses to balance in favor of selling records, they are sacrificing their artistic vision at the expense of making money. IMO, that's the definition of selling out.
However, I think that when indie hipsters label a band as "sell-outs," it's usually just a cop-out because indie hipsters define themselves by liking music that's unpopular. Once music that they like becomes popular, they must find a way to distance themselves from the music by labeling the artists as sell-outs.... Even if the sell-out song is from the same album that they loved, like Quiet Riot.
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