Just what is "Selling Out"?

[Rubbeet921]

[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>Shit, I forgot about commercials! You're absolutely right! I guess we can add Iggy Pop, The Cure and The Buzzcocks to the sellout list too.
[/quote]
From where I am, I absolutely got no idea of what commercials those bands got entangled with, but I wish I could see Buzzcock's- what song was used? I'm curious...

[Bitter Almonds]

"What Do I Get?" was used in a couple of commercials as well as commercial films like [i]Ghost World[/i] [8D]

[edisonoside]

Let me see if I could put this right, Selling out is a vicious cycle.

First;we all know that the majority have bad taste, so when one sells out it appeals to all of the masses(music for the masses).
The masses do not like/do not know of any cool "underground" music or artist.The masses don't have choices, the choice is allready made for them . The masses are the last to discover anything new-innovative-different-groundbreaking.They're on the other side of the spectrum. But that's where the money is.
As an artist I will never be a part of that flock.

[Panorama]

http://www.boingboing.net/2003/08/14/de ... again.html
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Devo sells out? (Again?)
From AdAge.com:

"Whip It," the 1980 song that was the anthem of the band Devo's rage against a society dehumanized by industry and commercialism, is now the theme of a Procter & Gamble Co. TV campaign for the Swiffer line of home-cleaning products.

In a new version of the tune, Devo lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh substitutes the lyrics "Swiffer's good" for the "Whip it good" of the original...

...Devo agreed to perform the altered version for Swiffer advertisements because, Mr. Mothersbaugh said, "it was so absurd. We like messing with the boundaries between art and commerce."
---------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=722
Proctor & Gamble, who make the Swiffer, originally had them re-record this for the commercial as "You must swiff it," but their lawyers found out that copyrighting "Swiff It" and the product implications down the line could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars, so they changed the lyrics to "You must Swiffer" so they wouldn't have to copyright "Swiff It."

Because of a bad publishing deal Devo made in 1978, they control only half the rights to their songs. When they allow their songs to be used in commercials, they insist on re-recording them so they can keep all the performance rights. In the Swiffer commercial, that is Mothersbaugh's vocal with lyrics written by Proctor & Gamble.

This has also been used in ads for Gateway, Twix and Pringles. In the Gateway commercial, the chairman of the company is driving an 18-wheeler with the Gateway cow riding shotgun. The cow produces a CD labeled "Cow Mix," and when they listen to it, this comes on and the chairman and the cow sing along. That ad is one of Mothersbaugh's favorites.

[Berserker]

Anyone who would accuse DEVO of "selling out" doesn't understand the whole concept of De-Evolution. [:D]

[Rubbeet921]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]
<br>"What Do I Get?" was used in a couple of commercials as well as commercial films like [i]Ghost World[/i] [8D]
[/quote]
Thanks for telling me XXX. Hmm, but wouldn't it've been amusing if they used either "Orgasm Addict" or "Oh Shit"??? [:p] [:D]

[debkny]

How about Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door" for JC Penney, or Modern English's "Melt With You" for Burger King? I almost puked the other night when I saw those ads.....

I don't know if there is such a thing as "selling out" these days -- everyone seems to be doing it, so that must make it okay, right? Yeah, right.

[Warzau]

How about Sting, when he did those Jaguar commercials? Then those HP Commercials, then I forgot which CC comercial. It aint like he is hurting for money.

[Bitter Almonds]

[quote][i]Originally posted by edisonoside[/i]
<br>Let me see if I could put this right, Selling out is a vicious cycle.

First;we all know that the majority have bad taste, so when one sells out it appeals to all of the masses(music for the masses).
The masses do not like/do not know of any cool "underground" music or artist.The masses don't have choices, the choice is allready made for them . The masses are the last to discover anything new-innovative-different-groundbreaking.These are on the other side of the spectrum of the masses. But that's where the money is.
As an artist I will never be a part of that flock.
[/quote]

But, how can you prevent from lots of people liking your music?

[edisonoside]

First of all You don't do it for the money!
Keep it unsettling and disturbing. Create art for your own selfish amusement.

[Bitter Almonds]

Noone should compensate artists for their work? Do you work for free?

[Tebo]

It's funny, I wasn't going to respond to this thread but I didn't think in the postings so far that anyone really hit how I feel about the whole subject. To me there are two definitions of selling out.

The main and most important one is where a band tosses away their originality and falls into the trap of quick and easy formulated money. It's when a band forgets who they are and starts playing music that goes against their original sound.

Take Kiss for example. They leave their rock and roll heritage behind for one album and make a disco record. Can anyone remember "I was made for loving you baby"? Ugh. Not that I was a Kiss fan. But they left who we all thought they truly were behind and made a record solely to make a quick buck with the first trend they could find.

Now the second one is a band that sells their songs to big companies to be used for commercial reasons. However we need to consider this before passing judgement. You can't even tell if the band really has ownership of their music to begin with. Look who owns the Beatles stuff. Michael Jackson. He owns most of the Beatles library. So you can't blame Paul and Ringo if you see "Revolution" on a sneaker commercial. Trust me they are more pissed then we are!

Still though, back to Kiss and selling out simply for money, they are probably the biggest sell outs of all time. They will put their faces on anything to make a buck. They have a whole catalog full of stuff. Try checking out a Spencer’s gifts store before the Christmas rush. They have a whole section devoted to Kiss merchandise let alone the Kiss coffin. Yes they have one. I saw an add for it with my own eyes.

But the top worst offending item is the Kiss credit card. Gene Simmons was on Howard Stern a while back repeating over and over "Nickels and Dimes Howard. Nickels and Dimes."

Forget the Stones, Pete Townsand, or Devo. If having your bands name on a credit card isn’t selling out I don’t know what is.

[Bitter Almonds]

Shit. I can even find a Van Gogh painting on a credit card. That Van Gogh... even when dead, watta sell-out [:D]

[edisonoside]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]
<br>Noone should compensate artists for their work? Do you work for free?
[/quote]Is money the first thing on your mind when it comes to art?

[uofsc93]

See Duran Duran after 1983, OMD in 84, Depeche Mode's Songs of Crap and Demotion, anything specifically aimed at the pop chart that is unrecognizable to that which made you special to begin with.