Anyway... The article that came up from this particular "browse" was an article about how my old band did a commercial for a contact lens company, and were therefore selling out. This is true, FYI. We did, and it was selling out (or cashing in, you take your pick) and it was quite a long time ago.
It made me ponder the classic moral debate again: does it really matter if musicians sell their music to corporations anymore? At the time when we did I was incredibly embarrassed and NOT into it whatsoever. I even acted like a little jerk whilst filming the whole thing: "don't put me in the scene" "I only wear black" HOWEVER I didn't flinch when they offered the handsome price and booked our tickets to LA FIRST CLASS. Yeah, I'm a sucker for luxury.
Now, this decision was not based purely on the idea of luxury and "bonus cash". This was indeed, out of necessity. Our label spent ridiculous amounts of money on videos, photo shoots, FAT CAMP (no joke) and various weight loss programs, but didn't offer us fuck-all for tour support. When you are an actual touring band, this is a problem. Especially when you are too young and too busy to have a real job. Therefore the bones we made from "selling out" we used for touring. We spent every dime on it. Does this make us shitty? Who cares, honestly, don't even answer that in your head because it really doesn't matter anymore. But really... Does this debate still exist?
Maybe my passiveness is because A. I'm a very passive person or B. because I have not been exposed to this kind of reality for a few years. What I do know now, is that if a contact lens commercial asked me to use my song again I would reluctantly say YES, but if McDonald's did the same, I'd honestly probably say NO, as I'm a vegetarian with a guilt complex. I guess it's all relative...
PS- do athletes face the same type of thing? does the athletic world have a "selling out" boundary?
PPS- did anyone else get teary eyed at the inaugural ball? ooooh shit beyonceeeee
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