Dutch wrote:I don't really see how releasing a guitar hero pack is selling out. It's actually fairly cool if you're a fan. Why wouldn't you want this?
In addition, I don't really see how this can be seen as "selling out" by Aerosmith, the band was born to market their music.
These Guitar Hero packs are not the basis of their 'selling out'. I think it's actually good fan service and a great way to allow fans to experience the music. I personally love it and hope they do it with more and more bands (hello, AC DC or Led Zepplin).
I'm not against bands marketing their product and making money off of it. It's when you create music or do stuff solely for the money when you sell out. Metallica vs Napster is a perfect example. They went after Napster 'cause they felt they should "maximize" the profits off of their music, all the while saying "we shouldn't let our fans steal our music".
Well, first of all, the only reason that Metallica ever got popular enough to make the money was because their fans supported them. Now you're calling them thieves. It ain't the foundation fans who stole the music, they bought the freakin' albums and merchandising (including $40 t-shirts at concets) which they survived on for years. They were very much an underground band until Black and their built their fanbase based on good music that wasn't mainstream at all. Second of all, they're supposed to be musicians, they're supposed to make music that people want and not solely for money or to increase profits.
A lot of Metallica fans figured they "sold out" with Black (I personally loved it), when they went from being a full-on heavy metal band to more of a hard rock band. People were already bitching and complaining that they did that just to increase their audience base. Then they go after Napster, call their fans thieves, then release an alternative rock/metal album (Load) as that was the current music at the time. To a lot of metal fans, that's the very definition of selling out.
Aerosmith, as you've indicated, is born to market their music. They're essentially the rock version of the current rappers or Garfield (FYI, by Jim Lee's own admission, Garfield was created to be marketed; his entire existence is to make money, not to make a good comic). By that very idea that you create music to be marketed (like Snoop nowadays) means you've "sold out" in the traditional sense. Very much the opposite of bands like Zepplin or Skynard.
On a personal level, I actually don't care very much if someone "sells out" as long as their output (music, comics, whatever) is good. Aerosmith and Metallica haven't had anything good in 15+ years. All they're doing now is living off of the past.
