Sellouts

i think that by the time they make it to a big name label the artists themselves definitely have less control over their music. the labels need something marketable thats gonna get good airplay, get the band more and more attention, and ultimately make the label more money. so, the artists sacrifice their music roots for more pay.
 
I do agree with you there. I was just listening to Jon Foreman talking about that. He was very appreciative of the efforts of his prior "labels" but in the end he came back home to his own studio and hired his own producers and others. The album took 2 years -- not for lack of material, quite the opposite, they had far too much, he said. The reason it took so long is they wanted to finally write something that was meaningful to them. They said they loved their prior work that they did with the labels but it felt "a little" compromised. I get the feeling that while they wrote all the songs they wanted to write - the choices of which of those songs wasn't totally in their control. I think they had to haggle over which of their own songs they wrote would be "sold."

They didn't like it, but they didn't gripe during that time either, they just figured if it got great music out to their fans, they would be pleased.

Now however, with Hello Hurricane, the album takes a massive left turn into a strange territory, which isn't exactly uncommon for these guys, but it's all because it's what they chose. The arrangement, the song order of the album, and each song choice.

So getting back to the point, this is one type of interference this particular group had. It's just part of selling with money making machines. If you don't want to compromise, you'll have to fund it yourself.

The irony to this particular story is that they did exactly that. Funded everything, up to the point where another label made them an offer they couldn't refuse. Lowercase people (the banRAB self-label) decided to liscene the rights to Atlantic RecorRAB, but only in so that they could get the music out to the people and to produce any merchandise they like. The rights to the music were retained by the band. Atlantic said "Write whatever you want, we've heard the new album, we know you know exactly what you're doing."

Another interesting thing happened. Since they got the opportunity to write so freely/choose material, they're taking advantage of Atlantic's 360 deal and decided to write 4 albums all at once including Hello Hurricane. They're going to release them one after the other over 6 month time frames probably. That's pretty sick!
 
Just so you know, I listen to Metallica's first four albums on an almost daily basis. The same goes for Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. I fucking love 80's thrash. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Metallica is more like hard rock now a days btw.

Now as for the whole "fuck Lars" thing. Yes, he can be an asshole most of the time and they could've handled the whole Napster thing with a little more tact. But it was only a matter of time until someone said something about it.

As for "selling out", I think it's perfectly fine. My definition of selling out is the moment the artist makes money off of his music. Because if someone was truly doing it "just for the music" then they would give their music away for free. I know there are some few obscure banRAB here and there that actually do this but that's very rare now a days.

When Metallica released the Black Album I was pissed as a thrash metal fan but as guy who loves making money, I completely understood what they were doing. Everyone has bills to pay, no matter who you are. Their kiRAB might want to go to college someday. To think that they should stay with the same fanbase and not expand is very narrow minded and shows you know little about how the world works.

I'm in a band who's lucky enough to get paid decently when we play gigs around our town. Before I even consider playing the first thing I find out is how much my cut will be. And if it isn't worth the time, gas getting there ect. Then I wont play at all. I love making music but I love making money more. NOTHING is free in this world.

On a side note I heard on the classic rock radio station the other day that The Rolling Stones might go back on tour but not because of the money but because they love doing what they do, which I'm pretty sure they do. But I'm also pretty sure that $300-400 million that they made on their last tour had something to do with it...
 
Back
Top