The concept of "selling out" in music - Let's discuss it

[Pyrrho]

But Pyrrho, you make it sound as if anyone who sells art has no standards - and that is clearly not true. There is such a thing as abandoning artistic integrity in order to cater to "the masses", no?

You should reread my post.  I did not say that anyone who sells art has no standards.  But, whenever someone is selling art, the selling is about money.  That is what selling is.  It is the exchange of something for money.

Anyone who believes that something with a price tag on it has nothing to do with money is delusional.  Of course, it need not be just about money, but it is necessarily at least partly about money.

Many people seem to forget that when they are thinking about their favorite bands.


Edited to add:

It might be worth mentioning that this does not mean that the art is therefore inferior.  To use an example that you will appreciate, consider Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor.  It does not matter that he wrote it for his church.  It is a great work of art, regardless of whatever motivated Bach to write it.  It makes no difference how much he was paid for it, or if he simply did it out of religious devotion; it is a great work of art regardless of any such considerations.  It would not even matter if he had been a total sellout, writing it for his boss or the public or whoever, even if he hated it himself (which I doubt, but it makes no difference for how great the piece is).