Ok, I’d like to start off by giving you a little scenario to ponder by painting a picture and what have you……it might seem like I’m wandering a little, so just stick with me….

John is an assistant manager at a pro-shop in a hockey rink. He likes his job a lot and it pays him $12.50 and hour and he works from 9-5 Monday to Friday. He drives a 1992 Toyota Corolla with electrical problems, drinks whatever beer is on sale, and lives in a studio downtown. Now, John has really done some great work for this shop (remember, his heart is really in it), but he works for a pretty small company and the ceiling for what he can accomplish there is really pretty low, so he puts his resume out to see what else is out there. A landscaping company sees this, interviews him, is impressed by all his hard work and they want to hire him as administrative help in their office. Now John is a little reluctant, because he really likes his job….but the offer is so good he can’t refuse. Now he’s making $22 per hour, gets off early on Fridays, saves up for a bit and puts a down payment on a 2007 Toyota Corolla (ballin’!) and moves into a 1 bedroom apartment with a concierge in a better part of town. He’s not rich, but he can afford to start to take online classes towards that degree he’s always wanted in Sports Management so that maybe one day he can run his own hockey rink, or better yet, work for a professional sports team!

Now, what would we say about this person and how would we describe him? Most people might say he’s movin’ up, is a go-getter, is ambitious, and is a hard worker who is starting to see it pay off. Many of us can relate to him and can’t blame him for taking a better job. After-all, he’s making much better money and his living situation is drastically better. The best part is that by being able to afford college he can still return to his passion later on, hopefully in a much larger role.

Now let’s look at another scenario:

Mark is in a punk band, the Smelly Dead Possums (spelled incorrectly on purpose, because they’re just that hardcore), or SMD for short. Now SMD has had a really great underground following for years. They’ve released 3 records on their friend’s label Horse Annihilation Records (what’s with these people and killing animals????). Every so often and especially when a new record comes out they hop in Mark’s mom’s 1992 Winnebago RV and hit the road for a couple months at a time (Mark’s mom is really nice. In fact, when Jack the bass player broke his ankle and couldn’t afford the hospital bill because he can’t afford health insurance, Mark’s mom flipped the bill!). Money is tight, but they make enough to get from gig to gig Money is tight, but they make enough to get from gig to gig, and Mark’s mom is kind enough to help pay for gas and repairs on the Winnebago. All that aside, SMD recently penned a great song, which is a bit of a departure from what they normally do because it’s a little more pop and a little more (cringe) “radio-friendly”. Their crowds are going nuts for it though man! They’re selling a lot of cd’s at their shows and they want to do a national tour, but there is a little problem: Horse Annihilation doesn’t really have the resources (read: money) to fund that kind of a tour. In fact, even if they did and the band took off they couldn’t even dream about keeping up with the distribution of more than about 10,000 cd’s per band that they have signed. SMD is then approached by a guy from a larger label, Badger Breakers Music (BBM Inc, a division of Sony, brought to you by Pepsi, Starbucks, and Blockbuster Video), who happened to be at their last show where the room was packed with 800 people who were going nuts. BBM wants to sign them to a 3-record deal where they could get a $200,000 advance to pay for the making of their next record. $200,000! They are reluctant to sign because after all, Horse Annihilation is run by their friend, and they’ve been really good to them…..but they realize that this kind of an offer doesn’t come along every day, and they have a lot of room to grow now that they have the backing of a major label that can pay for a national tour. They sign and use the money to buy a 2007 Winnebago that can fly (like the one from Spaceballs), produce their record with Rick Ruben, and their poppy song starts to get some SERIOUS airplay. Realizing that they’re now $200,000 in debt, they need to tour like crazy – which is great – but they also want their next album to sell as well. After-all, they don’t want to run back to Mark’s mom for repair money a few years down the line. So, they start to cater to their fans by writing more of the poppy songs which, in turn sells albums. Mark’s making pretty good money now. He’s not a huge rich rockstar yet, but with the money he’s getting in royalties and on tour he’s saving up so that he and his friend from Horse Annihilation Records can team up to start a label later on, when Mark’s touring career is over.

Now, what would we say about this person and how would we describe him? Unfortunately, many would label Mark and the Smelly Dead Possums as “sellouts”. Their underground fan-base (mostly non-college bound, mohawked 18-year old rich kids who bitch about life being hard all the time as their mom’s drive them to school in their Land Rovers) scream bloody murder and boycott their records, start online forums about how pissed they are, and rebel against them, in the same way they have decided to rebel against the government, the “corporate machine”, common courtesy and underarm deodorant.

Is this really fair?

How does Mark’s situation differ from John’s? The truth is, it really doesn’t, but when it comes to our favorite musician’s financial decisions, we are all sometimes quick to criticize. when it comes to our favorite musician’s financial decisions, we are all sometimes quick to criticize. I believe this is because we hold our artists to a different standard than we do “normal people”. Most of us make music because we love it, and it is difficult to comprehend that for a lot of people it is actually a job. Just like John, who left a situation he loved to make more money, Mark did the same. Ultimately both of them made the decisions they made to put themselves in a better position to succeed, and ultimately return to something they love. Yet, when a band switches labels or just writes a hit song that is a departure from their existing catalog, people seem to get all up in arms about it. The truth is that the music business is a very difficult one to succeed in, and if you see a chance to take advantage of something that might set you up financially for a while you should take it! If that’s “selling out” then so be it. It’s better to “sell out” and make records and go on tour than it is to sell out by having to work at a coffee shop and borrow money from your mom to pay for gas for the tour van.