Selling your soul (or doing a Cheeky Girls)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

You're a musician, producing some IDM or lo-fi folk. You can get your records out or get a gig easily enough, through your understanding indie and your loyal but small fanbase. You're happy, what you produce is true to your artistic vision, untouched by the hands of commerce. Still it would be nice to have a slightly bigger apartment or have that guy who works in the garage whistling one of your songs.

Then one day you're noodling away and you come up with this melody. You dismiss it because it's too catchy, someone must have already done this. You make up some nonsense lyrics to go with it and forget it. But you can't, it's nagging in your brain. You play it to a friend, 'hey, that's so cheesy it could be the Cheeky Girls' they laugh.

You get thinking, 'I could do with a bit of extra cash. I've read Bill Drummond's How to have a number one the easy way. How difficult could it be?'.

Would you do it? Could you do it? What about betraying all those fans who've nurtured me through the lean times.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Friday, 24 January 2003 15:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Then release the thing under a psuedonym and don't fret.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 January 2003 15:56 (twenty-three years ago)

You may want to disguise yourself too-
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000K29L.01._PE_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:00 (twenty-three years ago)

*shakes head* Oh dear dear dear...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:02 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd be waking up in cold sweats for the rest of my life until I finally took a gun to my face. But I'm an bolshy idiot, so draw your own conclusions.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:39 (twenty-three years ago)

It seems to me that the character in the story has completely failed to understand The Manual.

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I think you can actually order the Chris Gaines Soul Patch from www.badideas.com

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:44 (twenty-three years ago)

there is a way to reach a wider audience...without compromising your artistic integrity.....in fact,i've seen it done,in fact...i've done it myself(but only amanda palmer heard it.good.i hope she steals it!)i'm not going to mention **** ***** with &&&&&&&& &&&&&&....the ep just doesn't cut it.the long-playing should be fantastic and oooo **** ***** is even going to be on it

― i think..., Saturday, 25 January 2003 23:41 (twenty-three years ago)

artistic integrity is bullshit anyways...

― michael wells (michael w.), Sunday, 26 January 2003 19:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Not sure I agree with your set-up. With the "bigger apartment" and "whistling your song" thing the wuestion seems to hint at greed and lust for fame as motives for someone to try and make more commercially viable music (as if anyone can easily predict what exactly that is...).

I'm pretty sure that artists at the "indie" level described live a lot more hand-to-mouth than you think. No health insurance, no retirement nest egg, probably renting instead of owning property, probably plenty of debt. (OK, that could describe lots of us, but my point is:) I find it hard to fault someone for seeking financial/ material security in this world, whatever their profession.

Also, "cheesy" is bad, but anyone who rejects a melody as "too catchy," I have no truck with.

And, what he said (re: artistic integrity). The idea of selling out is pretty played by now. What exactly do you have to buy into to begin with?

― dub ewe hell (wl), Sunday, 26 January 2003 19:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I agree, selling out is passe. The thing to do is selling down, ie, selling your friends down the river. Doesn't matter which river.

Anyway, if you're wasting time worrying about compromising your artistic integrity, you probably don't have any to begin with. No really. Otherwise the decision would be obvious, sell out, get paid, do more "real" work.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Sunday, 26 January 2003 20:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes! Of course I would! If I wrote a silly song that people liked and it made me money, that'd do nicely! But then I don't have a fanbase to worry about.

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 26 January 2003 20:54 (twenty-three years ago)

bring me up to date please....so "artistic integrity" is out...replaced with uhm,what?nsync?.....like the word "progressive rock"...replaced by "alternative"...which describes....what?everything and anything...even it's own alternative....i don't think that every musician should live by the rules.."it's not what you play that matters.it's the fancy shit you say about it that matters"....but i think it's a good thing that there are some people left in this world who want to play music that it real and true to themselves...without pandering to the lowest common denominator......and who really don't care if they're ever going to get dick sucked, or their twat licked backstage again...(not that that is a baaaad thing..hmm)...or if they have to take the public bus ..or if they can afford to call a cab....it's sad that so many people think in todays biz...that if you're not selling over 100 thousand records a year that there must be something seriously wrong with you...

― huh?, Monday, 27 January 2003 23:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I think the point isn't so much that "selling records = quality" as much as it is "selling records = money, which can free up your time to do what you really want".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 January 2003 23:32 (twenty-three years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.