Why do people think success = sellout?

[Scooter]

Hey Y'all,

Just wanted to impart some thoughts here on the SELLOUT topic.  It's just silly.  People shouldn't talk about things they don't know about.  

Put yourself in the shoes of the artist.  Those fuckers live pretty much in poverty for a better part of their lives [except for the trust fund bands, which there are a lot of too] trying to "make it big" and share what they've got to give.  I know most people like to fantasize that bands are "doin' it for the fans" but give me a break... like everyone else, they need to make money.  And the good bands.. they deserve a lot of it for what they give to us.  The innovators do things no one else can do and affect lives in immeasureable ways.  Plus, most musicians I know see what they do as a completely selfish and self-fulling endeavor... they view the kick that fans get out of it as an added bonus.  Of course artists want their fans to relate and find meaning but think of anything you've ever made and found true meaning in... you could give a fuck what anyone else thinks of it... you made it for you.  Those who like it... well.. they "get it."  Those who don't... well, they just don't. If folks had any idea of the time and energy and money it takes to make records, keep relationships healthy, tour, etc. for years on end, they'd understand that packing venues and selling records and "getting big" is the best thing ever.  THAT IS WHY THEY'RE DOING IT!  Do you really think a band is happy slaving out of a van and scrapping for dollars all their lives just so some fans can sit out in fanland and feel special that they are one of the few who know about the band?  you've got to be kidding.  Making it big is a reward... a reward for years or lives spent dreaming and striving and spending every spare second trying to figure out how you can impart what you have to express and make a comfortable living doing it.  Unfortunately, some who don't deserve it get to taste it, but MMJ is deserving.  And they'll have it.  Most bands are on the verge of breakup everyday.  The entertainment industry is just filled with sin and hard times.  Very few get to enjoy the good side of it... MMJ is going to be one of the lucky few.

I've been working on a record for the past year with an artist out of NYC named ADRIAN ROMERO.  We just released it in April [www.AdrianROMERO.com].  I helped produce the record.  We've had the "big boys" work on it too [i.e. mastered by Howie Weinberg].  If I could, I'd charge $500 per record because I know the blood, sweat, industry deceipt, and tons of tears it took to make it.  It's unreal.

We'll be talking a lot about this topic on AR's site when it comes online in a couple weeks... so feel free to visit there soon on the discussion board.

I saw MMJ live for the first time in May at The Fox Theater in Boulder.  They were astounding.  They are very grounded guys.  I saw them on the street earlier in the day.  Those boys will do just fine.

Also, another sidenote:  I just saw Pete Yorn/Foo Fighters last night at The Fillmore in Denver.  They'll probably blow Foo Fighters off the stage.  And I like the Foo.


A sellout is a retroactive thing... you cannot say people will sell out [whatever the hell that means].  Selling concert tickets is not selling out.  As soon as they are wearing Miller Lite hats on stage, then we'll start talking about selling out.

Live in poverty for a while... after a while, you'll begin to become a little more receptive to letting anyone who wants to put money in your pocket put it there.

-Scooter
www.ConcertMECCA.com

[Flo]

Can you EVER knock someone for wanting to be a professional, well paid musician???

I can't!

[lfish]

Amen

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

I honestly believe that this business of "selling out" is just plain poppycock, IMHO.  

Beautiful, empowering music that is salve for the soul should NOT be horded like some kind of rare commodity.  It should be shared with the world like the gospel that it is, and the only way to make that happen is to have it distributed to the world via large media outlets.  Small indie labels just don't have the horsepower to generate 10 million copies of a record-and, hyperbole aside, I see that many flying out the windows someday soon.  Why not wish for the best and prepare for the best?  Why knock someone for wanting to share their music with the world, and becoming successful along the way?

These guys deserve it, more so than the Kid Rocks and Nicklebacks of the world.  'Nuff said.

[bad bad leroy brown]

Couldn't have said it better myself John....

And I must say that Jim and the gang have handled their growing popularity with the most poise I've seen from a blossoming band in years.

[otter]

People that use the term "selling out" on a regular basis, are usually the ones in a given group that are young rebels...good music moves people, however they move..as people get older, they look for the good things in music..no time to worry about those things.

From a band's perspective, selling out it a good thing. That means there aren't any tickets left and they packed in as many as they could at that venue. ;)

[Flo]

It beats picking cotton and waiting to be forgotten.

[tigrl]

 :o :-[ I'm not gonna join in this conversation...but just wanted to say and don't know where (else)...lookin around on the board here...can't find good place so...

Jim James: "You guys have really meant something to me!" (musically)...cuz anyways...I just read that in the Chart Attack review...that he said that...that once that happened...someone said that...he was pretty happy! so ditto...ok!!! (don't know if those guys read this board but...) 8)

(oh ya, one more thing...I can just imagine....him and Pete Yorn hanging out together...and the Dirty Birds...a la present tour with Foos....man, I am sure they would have fun!!!! just thinkin...have feelin. burritos and 7/11's yet? Ok...last PY comment..promise!) :-[ ::)

[DD]

Couldn't have said it better myself John....

And I must say that Jim and the gang have handled their growing popularity with the most poise I've seen from a blossoming band in years.

very true.  most people i know who get signed to a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a major label just turn into "im cooler than you" assholes.

as far as "selling out".   usually the people who cry sell out are people whos bands will never go anywhere.