Corporate Sellouts

casey2010 — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:00:52 +0000

In the past couple of decades, the mainstream music corporation has taken a course of dramatic decline. As a result, modern artists within the mainstream culture have declined in artistic value and have become more commercialized in the music industry. So called “artists” are becoming nothing more than moneymakers for large corporations. The value of one’s music becomes the decision of the corporations that owns him rather than the decision of the fans that listen. People are beginning to come into the music industry with motives of making money, not music. Unlike the true artists that have passed with time, this new wave of emerging artists is willing to conform to anything to make big careers. Cort Smith, a producer at Global television in Vancouver, Canada, said, “The music industry is ruled by suits now, and you have to play by their rules. The renegade rocker is gone, and if he does exist, you can bet he’s been told to act that way. After all, it’s image that sells records” (McMartin, 2005).

Many corporate sellouts have emerged and become very successful over the past few years. One prime example is the band U2. In 2004 U2 sold their song “Vertigo” to Apple to create an iPod commercial. The airing of the commercial was to help promote U2’s album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Soon after, their affiliation with Apple gave way to a signature iPod model and a digital box set of 400-plus tracks only available on the iTunes online music store (Lepage, 2007). U2 claims that their deal with Apple was not a sell out because “it was good for everyone.” In the very same statement, however, U2 says that they were working with Apple in order to make money. They also say Apple did not pay them, but Apple did air the band’s song “Vertigo” on national television and Apple gave them a royalty check for every U2 iPod that was sold. Apple also found a way to sell legal downloads on the Internet, providing U2 with yet another source of corporate income (Gundersen, 2004; Lepage, 2007).

U2 has not only partnered with Apple, but with Best Buy as well. Best Buy spent $10 million in a campaign to promote Elevation 2001: Live From Boston, a double-disc DVD of the band. Best Buy was also linked with Direct TV, VH1, and Clear Channel to help promote the video as the three broadcasted the show. One enterprise refused to stock the DVD or feature their latest album. Glen Ward, president of Virgin Entertainment Group’s Northern American Operations, stated, “I always thought they were about helping the little guy and promoting world peace and things like that, but it turns out they are just another corporate sellout [that] doesn’t care who they hurt in making money” (Christman, 2001).

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Corporate Sellouts