Do you have to sell out to go Mainstream ?

Just about everyone in mainstream music today has been accused of selling out from Taylor Swift, Aerosmith, Black eyed Peas, Maroon 5 to American Punk rock band ;Green Day. Believe it or not, Niki Minaj , was a hardcore rapper back in the day when she was signed with dirty money. She had tight rhymes and a flow that would disseminate the hardest rapper any day of the week. Not only did she sound like a hip hop head she dressed like one to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14-8zWzPpbw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w56UQK7QpBw

However, after her smash single Super Bass took her mainstream in 2011 she sold out a good one. She went all the way soft and dumb down her flow to retarded. As for wardrobe, she went from ghetto princess to uptown Barbie doll in record speed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JipHEz53sU

The dirty little secret in showbiz is that once you sign the contract and clear the cheque your music is no longer yours. In fact, your life is no longer yours; once you are famous, you are public property. Fame and privacy are mutually exclusive because the public get a vote on just about everything from your weight, waist size to the colour of your shirt. A piper is free to call their own tune until someone starts paying them. Occasionally, they will allow you to go off script but dare tarry too far from the reservation and you will feel the full force of the taskmaster. Consequently, the more the zeros pile up on your check the harder it gets to keep it real.

The only way to sell out venues and music downloads is to be a sellout. There is no balance to be found, no easy way around it. Mainstream music is usually light on lyrics, composition, and complexity; so one has to dumb down to move up. Electronic Dance Music star, David Gauetta, put it so well when he was defending himself against dance purist who were accusing him of selling out.

“I am not trying to be credible; I am trying to be incredible.” Gauetta said In an interview with the guardian

If you really want to remain true to your artistic expression then remain underground. The best way to do music on your own terms is to do it as a hobby where playing for fun is the main objective. Purists don’t always do very well in the mainstream, so if you are one better stay in the niche market. It is unrealistic to expect that a record company will invest millions in music and have no say in its production. It is unrealistic to expect fans to pay for music and have no say in it. It is also unrealistic to expect a record company to release a song they don’t think will sell just so the artiste can keep it real. In a fantasyland somewhere near never land, there are artistes who produce the music they want and sell millions, but in the real world, people have to pay bills.

It is a bitter pill to swallow I know, but it is one that every creative must embrace in order to put food on the table. When you create for the public, you must put aside your personal preferences and consider the market realities. Occasionally, you will get lucky and produce something that is truly authentic and commercially viable, but it will be far and in between.

There is no death more excruciating than to watch a brilliant song die because it won’t sell, but it is a funeral one must attend in order to live the dream of being a professional musician.