So, who sold out? You or them…?

Before I begin my slight rant, I should mention that I’ve used ‘BAG’ as an abbreviation for ‘Band, Artist, or Group’, seeing as I make the reference a few times within the following text.

Right-o, here we go…

One of the most irritating things a person can say to me regarding a BAG is this (or something along these lines): ‘I don’t like ‘em anymore ‘cos they sold out’.

Though I didn’t think twice about judging people a few years back, I’ve grown and I now refrain from doing so for the most part; but where statements comparable the above are concerned, I digress. If you’re going to say something like that to me, then I’m going to assume you’re a bit of a dickhead, and I’ll make an excuse to go to the loo so I can escape you.

My mental response (‘mental’ not because I’m afraid of a good debate, but because I find it’s far less painful to think it rather than say it and wind up butting my head against a wall) is usually as follows:

‘Is that right? Okay then, define ‘sold out’, Mr/Ms Self-righteous. Is that ‘sold out’ as in ‘sold out a gig at the O2 Arena because they’re awesome’, or ‘sold out’ as in ‘they’re no longer the quirky unknown BAG you were the first to talk about within your social circle, so you tossed their CD’s, deleted their MP3’s, shredded that t-shirt you paid top dollar for at their concert, continuously run them down to anyone who’ll listen (but only if it’s not someone you raved about said BAG to in the first place), then found yet another quirky ‘unheard of’ BAG to take their place?’

Of course, ninety per cent of the time it’s the latter, but the optimist in me can’t help but hope it’s the former.

In any case, their reasoning – if you can even call it that – is usually a mutated version of their original gripe anyway. ‘I just, like, can’t stand the fact that they went mainstream, man.’

Okay, so riddle me this… how does one ‘go’ mainstream? Is there a rickety sign at a crossroad somewhere in Musicland, whereby BAGs might find themselves facing two (or possibly more, but we’ll stick with two for now) set-in-stone paths?

Path 1 – Record an album and have your legal team draw up documents that restrict its airplay completely, because there’s a possibility you might achieve international acclaim, money, and a bevy of new fans, thus putting a few supercilious noses out of joint because you’re no longer an obscure little act they ‘discovered’.

Or

Path 2 – Never record another album in case the above issues arise, thus ensuring you stay an obscure little act and keep those few, and dare I say it ‘insignificant’ assholes happy.

Alright, so they're pretty much the same thing, but the important factor here is that we've deduced ‘mainstream’ is a dirty word, right? Pffft!

What I find funny (the following being from multiple personal experiences) is that it’s not unusual for these whiny twats to screw up their faces, uttering the M-word like every letter has the potential to spear their tongues as they roll out their mouths; then head out to a pub to watch a cover band, or to a club where they’ll shake their arses all night to *cough* mainstream *cough* pop/dance.

Clearly hypocrisy is a right tasty dish for some.

See, as far as I’m concerned, if you like a BAG, then you like ‘em, and that’s that. You might tire of hearing certain songs if they get a lot of airplay, that’s normal and no different to going off chocolate for a while after over-indulging at Easter; but to actively trash a BAG you supposedly love, purely on the basis that they’ve made it big, is beyond me.

I once voiced my opinion (a shortened account of my ‘mental’ thingy above) on this particular subject, and the receiver got quite defensive, telling me they’d *sob* had to endure hearing a KOL song (a band they apparently loved for years beforehand), over and over on the radio, all day every day at work.

My initial thought? ‘You should think yourself lucky it was Sex on Fire and not Agadoo, mate!’

Veering off to the left a little, I personally believe that we, the public, the all-important consumers, want too much from the BAGS of the world. For example, many people anticipate the arrival of a favourite BAGS new album like they would the birth of their first child, then when they get the album, a lot of the time they complain the new music doesn’t sound like their older stuff.   

They might then accuse the BAG in question of slacking off in their efforts or trying to emulate another BAG, but what these haters fail to ascertain is that these musos are not going to spend loads of time away from their homes, families, and friends, in order to travel constantly for promotion and gigs, or record all day and all night, etc, just to churn out a piece of shit they wouldn’t want to put their dog’s name on.

As with any form of art, music progresses as people’s influences, lives, and habits change. I believe they call it evolution, and I also believe it should be embraced.

Don’t agree with that? Then perhaps you should ask yourself if you’d be prepared to eat baked beans on toast for every single meal, and wear the exact same outfit every single day for the rest of your life. If you answered ‘yes’ to that, then you might want to reassess a few things, but anyway… my point is that if you attest to loving a BAG, then you should treat them with the respect they deserve; the respect you initially held for them. If you’re not overly keen on something they put out, don’t put them down and don’t abandon them, but celebrate what it was that drew you to them in the first place.