| SELL-OUT! |
 June 14, 2012 By Elizabeth Gross elizabethgross@geringcitizen.com |
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 The idea of labels did not die when we graduated from high school. Whether you’re a deadbeat, redneck, starving artist or corporate millionaire goon, our world is full of labels. Within those labels are divided sub-labels. We all have a label of some kind because there is a universal force that attracts us to certain groups. Today I’m discussing the labeling of the artist. These complicated groups of people have many sub-labels. One of these is the deadly label of the sellout. It is hard to remove this label, no matter what kind of break down adhesive you spray on it. Where did this popular idiom come from? It is a phrase most often used in the music genre. Urbandictionary.com defines sell-out as “when an artist conforms to the way record labels, managers, etc., see them to make money through commercial success and generally not the original fan base.” For example, someone may be a fan of an unheard band or singer. As their popularity rises they go from an unheard sound to become something a larger fan base appreciates. The person who followed the band since the beginning might view them as selling out because of the commercial success. Many musical artists over the years have fallen victim to the sell-out label. Green Day is a great example of a band that has been labeled as a sell-out. Green Day is a band that started off in the punk-rock scene during the late 1980s. During the ‘90s, punk rock saw a revival and Green Day found great commercial success. The band signed onto a major record label which brought critics’ opinions that they had sold-out. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong talked about the topic of selling out in an interview with contactmusic.com in 2004, ”The question of selling-out was kind of different to us. In our eyes, going to a major (label) was not selling out. Instead, going to a bigger indie (label) would have been selling out.” The term selling out does not limit itself to music. Anyone in a creative profession can be labeled as a sell-out. I think this is due in part to how we look at the arts in the first place. For any artist there is no greater accomplishment than making a living at doing what you love. To be able to wake up every morning and paint, make music or perform on stage would be the greatest feeling in the world, yet why should someone be chastised for making money by following their passion? Stand-up comedians have been labeled sell-outs when they go from working night clubs, to sold out shows. Dane Cook is another example of someone whose original fans have since abandoned the comic because they feel he has sold out. Popular artist Ed Hardy has been branded a sell-out. Hardy’s popular tattoo-style art work has appeared on everything from energy drink advertising to school supplies. Clothing with Hardy’s designs can run in the price range of $200. I remember being told in high school that I should study teaching because I can be creative, yet still have a steady career. The problem was that I didn’t have the attention span or patience to be a teacher. I am one of those creative individuals that must be creating all the time. In my short life I have wanted to be a writer, photographer, musician, ballerina, actor, film maker and for some reason a YouTube personality. These dreams of mine weren’t examples of being indecisive, they were a result of the fact that I have so much pent up creative energy, I’m always looking for some way to express it. I tell people to this day that I must suffer from starving artist syndrome because everything I’ve ever wanted to do will never make me that much money. This is why I believe the term selling-out varies depending on the person. When it comes to music, finding a new artist is like a treasure hunt. They band speaks to us in a way no one musically has before. We believe in them, their message and we pity those who do not know of their existence. Then once that musician hits mainstream and finds commercial success, we feel somehow robbed. Now everyone knows about them and they are no longer special in the ears of the listener. I think this is something we can feel about any performer. When they are commercially unsuccessful it is like we have found our own personal performer. To the artists out there, never give up your passion for what someone feels would be a steady career. Keep developing those skills. It is possible to make a living doing what you love. One of my dreams was to someday make a living being a writer. If that was impossible then I would still be working the checkout stands and going home every night hating my job. So, yes I am a sell-out and I’m proud of it. |
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