Colin Wright stated, “Making money to support your art is not selling out. Allowing others to determine its direction, is.” Let’s face the fact, being an artist is a job, and artists still need to provide food for themselves and their families. That’s one thing. But completely compromising social and moral values for extra money is an entirely different thing.
An artist has two jobs: to deliver a message and one that is usually overlooked, to bring home enough money to support himself. It’s when the artist sacrifices his intended message for gimmicks that will bring home the dough that he can be called a “sell out.”
I don’t blame artists for wanting to be liked; that’s on the top of everyone’s list. However, there is a fine line between being liked for who you are and being liked by changing who you are. I also think a “sell out” includes random things for the sole purpose of appealing to the public. This is why movies like The Producers, are not at the top of my list. As I was watching the movie, I was thinking, “ What is the point of this movie?” There are so many pointless details that might make it commercially successful, bring home the money, and appeal to the public, but they take away from the message the artist is trying to communicate. Was the movie just for entertainment? Was the movie trying to say something about New York? If it was just for entertainment, it clearly highlights the essence of a sell out. If the artist had an intended message, the details would not have been as emphasized as they were. The one thing I took away from the movie was, “ What are the values of this artist, if any?”
However, I have to admit, an artist can still make a commercially successful piece, like a film, and not be a sell out. Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street are great examples of successful films that still deliver profound messages about New York. Taxi Driver delivers the message that New York is not just the glam that everyone thinks it is; people still resort to drugs, gambling, and prostitution. Wall Street delivers the message that excessive greed and corruption still lurk behind the scenes and that is very tough to make it in New York. These films brought home a huge sum of money; Taxi Driver brought home $27.3 million and Wall Street brought home $43.8 million. Apparently these films were widely popular, while delivering their intended messages. Maybe it is possible to produce commercially successful work that has significant social or political value.
No one can deny the fact that you have to make money in the artist business. One way, unfortunately, is to sell out. Looking at the younger generation of artists, what we consider to be pop or mainstream today, a lot of them have fallen victim to the temptation of money, and along with the money, comes a world that they probably never wanted to be in. However, I do have to admit, many of the songs and music videos that they produce are actually very catchy and enjoyable. So is selling out really always a bad move?
