Very interesting. As an old man I remember the times when the idea of not 'selling out' carried weight. For instance, a musician writer etc could devalue themselves if they 'sold out'.
Only a minor point on a style of music I don't know much about. I think rap in the late 80's and 90's did initially have a political aspect to it but for some reason it was later diffused,sidelined.
Yes the corporate stamp, impact is pervasive. Maybe that partly explains how many movies theae days seem standardised and interchangeable. (There are still some good moviea though). Even book covers can have a formula style.
I still find this lack of stigma attached to 'selling out' a bit sad.
For me the original appeal of writing and making music for a living was that you could ignore the corporate nonsense, but the centrality of social media to both enterprises has turned that on its head. By comparison, a job that asks for your attention 35 hours a week and nothing more is comparatively more rebellious.
Incidentally, this post reminded me of the The Rebel Sell, which I've been meaning to read for a while.
Razor sharp. It's called living beyond your means or hanging onto your level of comfort when Hollywood is no longer calling - aka - Debt. em on the cliffs of the Pacific in Puerto Vallarta(Night of the Iguana film area) at Casa Karma decompressing from an unwanted dip into US tyranny.
Women were certainly involved in the non-sellout version of music in the ‘90s: Ani DiFranco; Riot Grrrl bands.
And part of the story of the post-Nirvana ‘90s is the gold rush of labels looking to sign the next Nirvana, thereby allowing tons of great, odd music that wouldn’t have had any reach otherwise: Stereolab; Flaming Lips; Pavement; Fugazi.
But yes, commercials were the Final Frontier, and I remember the first time I heard a song for an SUV in the early 2000’s and thought “wait, what’s that song?” (It was Gravity Rides Everything by Modest Mouse). I think what changed is that bands thought they were getting the upper hand by getting more airplay, rather than “selling their soul”. Also, at some point you can do whatever you want and it doesn’t matter, just ask Michael Jackson!
But another change that didn’t get mentioned here is the Message Song. It had already fallen out of favor by the ‘90s for something more personal and psychic, but go back and listen to, say, The Police, or even Men At Work to give a more dated example, and there’s lots of songs relating to standard left-coded causes. Neither their appearance nor disappearance bothers me, just their sudden absence.
Somewhere along the line, selling out became cashing in….
Very interesting. As an old man I remember the times when the idea of not 'selling out' carried weight. For instance, a musician writer etc could devalue themselves if they 'sold out'.
Only a minor point on a style of music I don't know much about. I think rap in the late 80's and 90's did initially have a political aspect to it but for some reason it was later diffused,sidelined.
Yes the corporate stamp, impact is pervasive. Maybe that partly explains how many movies theae days seem standardised and interchangeable. (There are still some good moviea though). Even book covers can have a formula style.
I still find this lack of stigma attached to 'selling out' a bit sad.
For me the original appeal of writing and making music for a living was that you could ignore the corporate nonsense, but the centrality of social media to both enterprises has turned that on its head. By comparison, a job that asks for your attention 35 hours a week and nothing more is comparatively more rebellious.
Incidentally, this post reminded me of the The Rebel Sell, which I've been meaning to read for a while.
Razor sharp. It's called living beyond your means or hanging onto your level of comfort when Hollywood is no longer calling - aka - Debt. em on the cliffs of the Pacific in Puerto Vallarta(Night of the Iguana film area) at Casa Karma decompressing from an unwanted dip into US tyranny.
Women were certainly involved in the non-sellout version of music in the ‘90s: Ani DiFranco; Riot Grrrl bands.
And part of the story of the post-Nirvana ‘90s is the gold rush of labels looking to sign the next Nirvana, thereby allowing tons of great, odd music that wouldn’t have had any reach otherwise: Stereolab; Flaming Lips; Pavement; Fugazi.
But yes, commercials were the Final Frontier, and I remember the first time I heard a song for an SUV in the early 2000’s and thought “wait, what’s that song?” (It was Gravity Rides Everything by Modest Mouse). I think what changed is that bands thought they were getting the upper hand by getting more airplay, rather than “selling their soul”. Also, at some point you can do whatever you want and it doesn’t matter, just ask Michael Jackson!
But another change that didn’t get mentioned here is the Message Song. It had already fallen out of favor by the ‘90s for something more personal and psychic, but go back and listen to, say, The Police, or even Men At Work to give a more dated example, and there’s lots of songs relating to standard left-coded causes. Neither their appearance nor disappearance bothers me, just their sudden absence.