Interesting question, as always Caaron!

I think this is directly related to one of the recurring unresolved discussion here on the forum. Are you an original artist? Or a performer?

Usually someone gets called a "sellout" if he/she first cultivates the reputation of an original thinker/ starving artist, then later moves wholeheartedly into the commercial realm of "performer"... because their success allows it.

But some people are wholeheartedly "performers" from the beginning.

At a more grass roots level, (speaking of people like myself, hometown musicians etc) it has been my experience that the people who see themselves as artists who play by their own rules and don't care what the public likes... those people don't tend to gig nearly as much as the people who play to the audience. Is that a sell out? Everybody has to decide that one for him/herself. My personal choice is to play for the audience.

Having said that, however... the rules change at the pro level. At the pro level you have to be commercial to pay for the enormous costs of existing in that world.


And there is another pro group, the people who tend to play at places like Merlefest. There I saw a lot of old musicians who had spent their entire lives playing music that wasn't mainstream. In order to do so, they lived modest lives and basically gigged small spots the whole time. They built their reputation mostly by keeping their name on marquees for 40 years. Most of them are not well off, but they are playing whatever music they like.

I admire this group for their tenacity. In my opinion, they have earned the respect they now get at music festivals. They typically wear blue jeans instead of sequins, and their egos are sometimes on par with those of international stars... the main difference is that they are still approachable. After they perform, they go out in the crowd and watch with everybody else. I think there are a lot of people on this forum who fall in this category.

I don't know if any of this addresses your original question... and I'm not sure there is a universal answer to it. I see it as a highly subjective and largely unnecessary distinction to make

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0