Chances are, you’ve visited YouTube at least once in your lifetime. And if you have, then you probably have scrolled down to the comment section, you might even have commented on a particular video yourself. Even more likely, you’ve seen comments ranging from “thos suxx my mim singz bettr thsn this!” to “OMG I luv 1D sooo much, Zane and Callum from 5SOS are my husbands <3 <3 <3 <3 !!!!” My personal favorites are those that mention something along the lines of, “man, this guy has sold out! Where’s the old____?! we need ___, not this crap!!!”
This “selling out” the last comment talks about is a term used to describe someone who has thrown away their creativity and originality for fame, money, or to please others. Most of the time, these commenters on the YouTube section write these lengthy paragraphs about the “good old days” and the times where “musicians didn’t sell out for the fame.” And this isn’t just concentrated on YouTube, every artist has or will experience some criticism on any medium, be it the internet or a verbal encounter.
These particular comments are my favorite because it doesn’t just end with the comment. There will always be 20+ replies, either arguing or agreeing with the commenter. It seems that people can’t decide what “selling out” actually is. Some say it’s when you become more “radio-friendly” (you see this on a lot of the heavier bands pages). Others say it’s when you sound a lot like another, more popular, artist. Some even go as far as to say that when a musical group gains a larger following that they’ve “sold out” because they haven’t stayed true to their original 20 person fan base from when they’ve first started. Then there are those that say an artist has only sold out when they change their message to match what’s trending or a hot topic. I have to agree with the last example; I think “selling” out has to do more with an artist changing their styles to please others by hopping on trending topics than becoming mainstream or “radio-friendly.” I believe that these are side effects of what happens when you “sell out.”
I think a lot of people think that somewhere along the line to becoming commercially successful you have to “sell out” or compromise your ideas for want the audience wants to hear or see. Which, no doubt, we see a lot of this in the music community; many musicians completely change their messages or lyrics to attract recording labels or even to keep their labels. But I don’t think that it’s something that has to happen. It might seem like all that’s on the radio are these generic boy bands or pop stars but there’s a whole other world to music – one where artists have their originality intact and are producing music with actual political or social value while still making money.
While not as popular in mainstream North America as they are in Latin America and Europe, the rock group Maná is one band that comes to mind when discussing this subject. No other Latin rock act has sold more albums with the same consistency of Manà for a total of more than 30 million albums worldwide. They have earned four grammy awards, six Premio Juventud awards, fourteen Billboard Latin Music Awards, fifteen Premios Lo Nuestro awards and five MTV video Music awards. Manà has been named as a trail-blazer for many popular Latin rock music groups. But it’s safe to say that they haven’t “sold out.” Even when changing their sound in the 90’s, their messages have stayed the same. But don’t get this twisted; although they’re saying the same things, it’s not the same thing. In Manà’s case, they still sing about saving the environment, love, pride, and life without repeating themselves. Although politics have changed since they’ve started, wars have started and ended, and trends have come and gone, they manage to take their message and translate it through many different ways that allow them to attract such a huge fan base. It’s bands that are able to adapt to their changing surroundings without giving up their founding essence that avoid this trend of “selling out.”
Hopefully, in the future, people will start realizing how much more meaningful music and art can be when you stay true to yourself, and not look to fame and money as the ultimate goal.
