Okay, so this has been bugging me for some years now, but it was the comment of a friend that really got me thing hard. In the great world of twitter.com he posted this:
“weezer = sell outs;
http://www.hurley.com/weezer/product/Product1.jpg
http://www.hurley.com/weezer/product/Product9.jpg”
Oh no Chase! No you didn’t just bash on the greatest band of this or any generation; the one and only Weezer?! Well I must defend their honor (and thank you for those links, I found some new clothes I want to purchase)!
But seriously, my intent here isn’t meant to bash my friend and defend Weezer (for the most part) but more to get an understanding of the whole Idea of a “sellout” in general.
What does a band want?
A band wants to 1st – be able to make good music, 2nd – have the masses hear the music, 3rd – tour and hear the masses sing along to their music with them, and 4th – be able to support themselves while doing it so they can keep doing it. Of course, every once and a while, you will run across a self-righteous-hipster-anomaly who is “only there for the music” and doesn’t care about what people think of it. But that its self is a lie, to some degree, or else they would be comfortable just playing their tunes in their dark basement room alone, and not posting it on MySpace or playing on a street corner making everyone as miserable as them – SELLOUTS!
Break it Down!
1st – As far as making good music goes, that really in the “ear” of the beholder, but in order for all the other steps to work, you got to get enough ears out there to agree that it is actually good. Most bands will tell you that, now days in the social-networking era, a lot of this is luck; finding the right ears. Hmmm… finding the “right” ears…. Sellout?
2nd – Having the masses hear your music, again that is left up to interpretation, but you really got to figure out some things as far as this goes. Who do you want to hear it? Who do you think will even like it? How are you going to get them to invest time in listening to you? Everyone is trying the MySpace thing or facebook thing, but that has really only worked for a few lucky souls. If you don’t actively promote your band in every avenue possible, you might get left behind in the dust. Self Promotion… hmmm… Sellout?
3rd – Touring is a tough but fun thing to do, especially if you get the people singing along to your songs. I’ve been to many a show in my day, and regardless of who the band is, it is ALWAYS more fun for me if I know the songs and can sing along. Don’t get me wrong, I have fallen in love with plenty of bands where my first experience with them is at their live show, but the best shows are the ones I can get into it.
Recently the band Quitedrive played at my school. Yes that’s right, the once-major-label Sell-out band Quitedrive. It is a good buddy of mine who organized the whole thing. After the show, he asked them how they felt about the crowd. They said it was easily in their top three shows ever! (Way to represent Logan, Utah) They said that the reason they liked it so much was, 1 – it was a BIG crowd (estimated at 1,500 – 2,000 people), 2 – Everyone Jumped at the right times, and 3 – Everyone was singing along! hmmm… People singing along to a band’s music… they must have Sold Out, right?
4th – Ah, now comes the biggie! Being able to support yourself in your “life’s purpose” as a musician. The best way bands do this is making copies of their music to sell, making merchandise of their band to sell, and eventually making money on shows they do. This is where it gets sticky, this is where the “I do it for the music” gets hard for a band. Now the band can’t just make music and play it for people. They have to find time to record it; in most cases paying an arm and a leg (and maybe a few hipster v-necks) to get it to sound professional. The band has to make appealing designs for merch; and don’t forget, if it isn’t on American Apparel, you ARE a sellout (kind of a paradox, given that American Apparel can get pricy). Finally the band needs to take time contacting venues and show promoters in order to set up a tour, most bands now days to plan a multi-state tour, they need to plan it at least 4 months in advance to make it really worth it. Wow this is hard, now a band that set out because of their love of music and seeking to connect with those who are similar, just ran into a giant road block called money! A band needs money… hmmm… they must need to Sellout?
Solution!
Well, sellout haters are not going to like the solution. You get Managers, Labels, and clothing lines to help carry the administrative load. This way a band can actually focus on… hmmm… the music maybe? And it is a funny thing too. If you can get that help, you then can accomplish points 1-4 so much easier without having to worry as much about #4; making the whole process more about just the music, just like it was when the band started.
The Point!
Calling a band a sellout is ridiculous unless you are going to call EVERY band a sellout based on the same criteria. Every band wants to be self sustaining, and in a world where everything is “give it to me now” bands need help to share the load and get their name out there.
Now to defend Weezer’s Honor!
Weezer has released 7 albums up to date all under the label Geffen. Geffen is as Major as they come and Weezer signed with them right of the get-go. So if anyone is going to accuse Weezer of selling out, it was done with the Blue album. That’s right, the most beloved Weezer album in Pop-culture is a Sellout album (I still think Pinkerton is a hair better thank the Blue). Fast forward to now… Weezer just dropped Geffen. Yup, dropped their major label, and used their own money to record the forthcoming album Hurley. The album was named because they have a picture of Hurley from “Lost” on the cover. They were going to leave it untitled, but figured because of the picture everyone would call it “Hurley” anyway, why not just name it officially. It wasn’t until after the album was recorded that they signed to Epitaph records – an Independent label, much smaller in scope when compared to Geffen. That is definitely a sellout move! (He Screams with Sarcasm!)
Weezer Rocking it out
Now enters Hurley clothing company in the picture. They offer Weezer a very small line of clothing on their product line to be sold in stores across America and Weezer is supposed to turn it down at risk of selling out?! That is ridiculous! Any band given the opportunity Weezer has would take it. (Again, unless you are a self-righteous-hipster-anomaly trying to save the world with your ballads to the everglades).
Conclusion!
Quit Crying “Sellout” like it is a bad thing! Bands need it and we need it! It is how we get their music!
September 4th, 2010 - 5:39 pm
People who fling around the term ‘sellout’ tend to have this kind of mentality:
‘Wow, I found this band, and nobody else knows about and I love them! I’ll only tell my very best friends so we can keep the secret about how awesome this band is, and therefore be superior to any other music fans. As soon as they are on the radio, or sell their shirts in a popular store, they are to mainstream and not unique enough. How could they abandon us, the fans from the beginning, like that?!?’
This to me is very selfish. Like you own a band because you found it first, and if they get too successful, they are moving past you, or abandoning you.
It makes me sad when a band gets really popular only because I can’t afford tickets to their concerts. Aside from that though, I am still very happy for their success as a band, and can buy their albums still (which they wouldn’t be able to keep making if they weren’t successful).
A band might evolve to a different style in their music that I don’t like, but that is their own artistic choice. As long as they can feel like they are true to themselves as a band, then I am satisfied that they have artistic integrity.
You make very good points brother- and as always articulate them quite well.