FicWad

"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" (however defined). It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience. Any artist who expands their creative path to encompass a wider audience, as opposed to continuing in the genre and venues of their initial success, may be disdainfully labeled by disapproving fans as a sellout. Sometimes a sellout is seen as a person that is disloyal to a group to which he or she belongs (usually ethnic group) in order to gain money or become "successful". Selling out is often seen as gaining success at the cost of credibility.

The phrase is frequently heard in the musical community, where it implies an artist has compromised their artistic integrity to gain radio airplay or get a recording contract, especially with a major label. Often, the label forces a particular record producer onto the performer and insist on the inclusion of songs by commercial songwriters, or the label may even refuse to release an album, deeming it uncommercial. It has also been used with regards to merchandising and replacing band members. Nicki Minaj is also seen as a sellout in the hip-hop community ever since her success of her song Super Bass. A band often accused of selling out is Kiss, who have released an extremely large range of consumer products with their brand on it, including burial coffins. Other bands, like Metallica and Cradle of Filth, have been branded the "sellout" claim, primarily in the heavy metal scenes, as a result of an increase in fans and revenue and what many perceive to be an overall change into a "mainstream" approachable sound. Metallica's 1991 eponymous album is seen as the turning point where the band went from thrash metal to a more mainstream heavy metal sound. After the release of their major label debut, Dookie, American punk rock band Green Day was accused of selling out by the nation's underground punk community. Linkin Park are also often accused of selling out since they released Minutes to Midnight by the fans they have adopted in the time of Hybrid Theory and Meteora. The "old" fans call their new music "poppish" and commercial. A further claim has been made about celebrities like Britney Spears for using product placement in their music videos and Cee-Lo Green for appearing as a spokesperson for non-musical products, such as 7-Up. Kings of Leon were accused of selling out by the media and fans of their music after their fourth studio album Only by the Night. My Chemical Romance is also a sell-out, drawing teenage girls into their loser army and then selling lots of mp3s and albums. My Chemical Romance also just flatout sucks.