The whole "SELLOUT" Accusation:

[Iain]

I get picked on for liking Green Day; it is simply stupid and petty. I liked Green Day since American Idiot and love all their stuff, including The Network. Here's something I just don't begin to understand:

Why is it people say they're SELLOUTS for being in the mainstream, and for being political just so they can bag money. Here's a good question;

Howcome mainstream rock bands,like Muse are on the airwaves and have a cultural, scientific and sometimes political agenda yet they're popular, on a huge label and work out music that conveys a point. How are THEY not sellouts? How do they know Muse aren't in it for the money?

My friend, at college, said to me one day, "Oh Green Day had to go a different direction since that's what their manager told them to do".

I immediately went "How do you know that?"

He replied "My Dad is in a band and they're manager tells them what to.."

I immediately told him "So f@!king what?! That's your dad's band! Not Green Day!", and I swear people, I have never been pissed off with a friend with music before in my life. I am SICK OF IT.

What do you guys think? Why is this? This kind of attitude is petty and useless, where is the gain? Why are Green Day sellouts yet other bands aren't?

[Dai.]

There is another thread similar to this one, but it hasn't been posted in since 2007, so we'll leave this one open for discussion instead.

[Iain]

There is another thread similar to this one, but it hasn't been posted in since 2007, so we'll leave this one open for discussion instead.

Was this a matter of it going out of control?

(Which I'm scared of, I'm not causing a fuss or anything, it's just an enormous issue in my opinion)

[Dai.]

Was this a matter of it going out of control?

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I just decided to leave this one open because the other one is old, and nearly 40 pages long. Nothing wrong with starting anew.

Personally, I don't particularly care about what others say. Green Day aren't sellouts (in my opinion) and I love them, and other people bashing them is not going to change the way I feel.

[ScreamsInSilence815]

Because they have nothing better to do?

But seriously, I've spent so much time defending Green Day to so many different people who accuse them of being sellouts, that I'm tired of it. I just tell them fine. They can go listen to their own music while I blast Dookie at full volume.

[Izzard]

Personally, I don't particularly care about what others say. Green Day aren't sellouts (in my opinion) and I love them, and other people bashing them is not going to change the way I feel.

QFT

[SetOnOverdrive]

*yawn*

Theres a reason that the other thread hasn't been posted in for 3 years! Gah, This isn't the 70's anymore. Get over it! I'm sure the guys have said something before about this. The quote said something along the lines of "If me doing what i can to get my music out the most people i can makes me a sellout then, i'm a sellout".

[Holly Ann]

I think people think Green Day went sellout because they simply grew up.

People say they're sellouts because of how popular their music has become over the last half a decade, and the audience that listens to them. In my opinion, they are not sellouts. They just changed their style because they had to; and as a result of that became very successful. I mean, they can't carry on writing about drugs and masturbation when most of them are married with kids, can they?

That's just my opinion; anyway.

Edit: Good idea for a thread, I've been wanting to rant all that out for a while, haha.

[Iain]

Because they have nothing better to do?

But seriously, I've spent so much time defending Green Day to so many different people who accuse them of being sellouts, that I'm tired of it. I just tell them fine. They can go listen to their own music while I blast Dookie at full volume.

I like people's opinion on music, but if it's something unconstructive, they need a life.

example:

Them: "Green day are sellouts!"

Me: "How?"

Them: "......."

**Meanwhile in Australia!!**

XD

[ParadoxAndPlaid]

I think a lot of those people don't understand the term "sellout". Being successful, doing what you love, saying what you think, and developing new styles, is not selling out. Green Day never sold out, there is nothing left to argue.

If growing up and becoming successful is 'selling out' then hell...I want to sell out.

[Kryssi.]

This seems like an age old discussion. "Are Green Day punk rock?", "Are they sell outs?" Both those questions drift from the fact that they signed up from the indie label Lookout! Records to Warner. I mean, I can see a point, but that doesn't make the band sell outs. They were getting huge attention from the local scene, and after a certain period, a label like Lookout! would no longer be able to keep up with the demand that Green Day were having. Major label or not, they're not fucking sellouts.

[Ellenkc]

Green Day started out on an Indie and then moved on to a Major label, at the time there really weren't any mainstream punk bands so most of the underground punks had a shit-fit and called them sellouts. Nowadays it's really not a big deal for punk bands to change to a major and no one really cares, but for Green Day it's become more of a 'I don't like this band so I'm going to jump on the sell-out bandwagon' kind of thing. Bottom line is most people who throw that insult around nowadays have no knowledge of the term at all, it's just become a Green Day insult.

Personally I think it's a pile of bullshit, think of the amount of indie punk bands influenced by Green Day, the genre would be fairly different if Green Day didn't release Dookie on Warner. The ones I hate the most are the 'Green Day sold out after AI' people. If you're going to call them sellouts then Dookie's the album, otherwise your remark makes no sense Dookie sold more than any other album. They changed with AI and people got pissy again because lets face it, change isn't really one of humanity's strong points, most peple hate change. Some of those people grew up with Green Day during the Dookie-Warning era and then something from they're childhood was different and they didn't like it, so these people started to throw out the same old sell out insults. Green Day will change again in the future and AI fans will probably jump on the sellout bandwagon as well. Vicious circle.

[Homicidal_llama]

It is actually a fairly big issue if you're a Green Day fan, I completely agree. First of all technically, yes, Green Day are sellouts because they went from Lookout! Records to Reprise when they released Dookie. This happened over fifteen years ago so to be honest I don't know why people still use it as a valid reason to dislike the band. They've released more music on a mainstream label so for people to still whine about that is indeed completely petty.

As far as American idiot is concerned you've got to look at it this way I suppose, when they released Warning they were pretty much at an all time low as far as popularity was concerned. No one really saw them as socially relevant anymore and chances are their record label told them that something had to change. Their record label most likely helped them make the conscious decision to wear eyeliner and dress in more of a uniform so they could have more of an image that the mainstream agreed with and god did it work. Look at their fan base now compared to how it was back in 2000's, it's huge! They've attracted a whole other league of fans and produced music that is instantly recognisable. Did the record label have anything to do with this? Of course they did! It would be naive to think that Green Day come up with all the ideas for their videos, arrange all their outfits and design their own album art. This doesn't make them sell outs though, it's just makes them a band in the modern music industry.

At the end of the day though the music speaks for it self and it is amazing. I couldn't care less what others think about it because I enjoy it and I wouldn't waste your breath telling someone off because they don't like the band, that will just make you aggravated and most likely go nowhere.

EDIT: Just to confirm by sellout I only mean in their contrast from an indie label to a major one. The only difference it made was more fans and better produced music. I can only see that as a good thing.

[JHyena86]

I think a lot of those people don't understand the term "sellout".

Being successful, doing what you love, saying what you think, and developing new styles, is not selling out. Green Day never sold out, there is nothing left to argue.

I second this. I also think most people just dislike GDs music and believe their favorite band should be ranked higher for whatever reason and use the term sellout to state they dislike them. It's like a get out of explaining card. "Oh I hate this band?" "Why?" "They sold out."

It's stupid. I've had the sellout fight more times than I want to remember, but I always win. Most of the time people counter with "Well they went major label" So did the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash. So yeah, nice try with the not-punk-any-more-because-of-label thing. "Well they sell LOTS of CDs and merch." So does EVERY OTHER BAND. And, I daresay some of it the guys themselves have no say in. "They made a musical and a game" are the two big ones now. Well how DARE they be ambitious. How is it that GD puts out a game and sells out and those same people are begging for Led Zepplin rock band or whatever? Wouldn't that make THEIR band a sellout as well? People just throw the term around with no evidence or anything. Just counter it with examples of GD NOT doing things for money. I was talking to a friend who said back on their Nimrod tour, Mike and Tre were handing out fake tickets to people they'd made at a Kinkos down the street to make sure more people got in. He has the photocopied ticket they gave him. Now why would they have done that if they just wanted money? Why would they do things like soundcheck passes for the first people in line if they wanted more money? Lots of bands you have to pay up to get stuff like that. Just saying.

So in short, people are defining GD as sellouts simply because they dislike their music. Not because they have any real reason.

/endrant

[ParadoxAndPlaid]

\"They made a musical and a game" are the two big ones now. Well how DARE they be ambitious. How is it that GD puts out a game and sells out and those same people are begging for Led Zepplin rock band or whatever? Wouldn't that make THEIR band a sellout as well?

Yes! That bugs me too. I mean, The Who made Tommy. Nobody bashes them for that. Imagine that? "oh my god The Who made a musical! They are SO not mod rockers anymore!" I think it's great that they are bold enough to move into new fields of creativity and be experimental.

Just to add, I think the phrase "Oh they sold out" and "I only like the older stuff" has just become the default saying for people who want to be cool and trendy. They will say it about any band.

[Iain]

I personally like to think that Warning was a starting point for where they wanted to go. They were being a bit experimental with that record, as the concept of a situation, a story being told in a song with a different direction than they've gone before (ie Misery), then by 2004, they came out with something completely different and set out a new foundation for them.

They outdone themselves, since bands don't do the same stuff forever, they sometimes go a different direction, I mean, what do you have to lose?

People who think they've sold out, you're right, I think they need to think about Dookie in 1994. Mainstream punk was a taboo to Green Day's old scene, and face it, they had to go there. But money is not the issue, it's always been the music and the message.

I mean, if I had a million bucks, I'm still gonna dress like a f@!king tramp. Enough said.

I was talking to a friend who said back on their Nimrod tour, Mike and Tre were handing out fake tickets to people they'd made at a Kinkos down the street to make sure more people got in. He has the photocopied ticket they gave him. Now why would they have done that if they just wanted money?

LolWUTTTT?? What kind of evidence is a photocopied ticket? Anyone can do that!

[Lu_S]

People only say they are "sellout" because they have no courage to say that love this band for fear of his friends think it's absurd!

Everybody that thinks that is the most smart guy of the world tells it! But in fact is nothing but an ignorant without own opinion, that doesn't want to take sides! Or do you like of Green Day or not!

Many people are so stupid to the point of think that bands should always follow the same line of reasoning, which is a tremendous idiocy! People change, grow up! Just accept it!

(Sorry I don't know if I expressed myself right)

[alaniluau]

Most people who call them sellouts don't even understand the term. They just like to say random stuff so that people think they're badass cool, which they're obviously not. And regardless, I really don't mind what a bunch of random lifeless losers say about my favorite band. Green Day's good enough for me, sellouts or not.

[Vespertine]

It is actually a fairly big issue if you're a Green Day fan, I completely agree. First of all technically, yes, Green Day are sellouts because they went from Lookout! Records to Reprise when they released Dookie. This happened over fifteen years ago so to be honest I don't know why people still use it as a valid reason to dislike the band. They've released more music on a mainstream label so for people to still whine about that is indeed completely petty.

The funny thing is, people say Green Day sold out after American Idiot. They don't even know what they're saying.

Dookie sold over 15 million copies, so I don't understand why people say they've sold out after American Idiot, since Dookie was even more successful.

I don't care what people say anyway. There's nothing wrong with being successful.

[Izzard]

Miley Cyrus is a sell out....she admits that she hates pop music but yet she continues to sing it becasue it's what makes her money.

Green Day write the music that they like and do what they like...

But I guess people have different opinions on what it means to sell out. But whatever.

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

I dislike this discussion. It's way overdone. I also did not bother to read anything else than the first post

Technically, Green Day are sellouts since they signed a major label with Dookie. Green Day, however, are not sellouts in the sense of the word that's got a negative ring to it, being that they're just in the music business for the money, do what they do both music-wise and all the other things because of the money, etcetera. They aren't sellouts in the way which the far majority of the people call them. (excuse, that was a very shitty sentence, I hope it was at least somewhat understandable). Green Day are MOST DEFINITELY not in it for the money, so much they do shows that. A bunch of people are calling them sellouts because of American Idiot, because they changed their sound and made a lot of money or some other shit reason like that.... idk. I can't really string a good argument together tonight, but why would I even? This is a Green Day forum, no need to defend them.

[TAR]

I've always thought of selling out being selling your ideals for money, i.e. ranting about how you hate capitalism then signing to a major record label because it is profitable. But look at early Green Day, they just were not political like that, they never had an anti-business anti-capitalist statement, they liked girls. Welcome to Paradise might have been the closest thing to a political song, but that was not going to stop them from signing to a major label. I guess my question is what did they sell out? They were not contradicting themselves when they signed to a major record label and continued to write songs about boredom and girls. That's why I don't see them as sell outs, but if you consider going from an indie label to a major one selling out, then yes they are sell outs, you cannot argue straight facts.

[JHyena86]

LolWUTTTT?? What kind of evidence is a photocopied ticket? Anyone can do that!

Anyone can do that yes, but because it was the band handing them out, it sort of shows that they aren't selling tickets just for money. They wanted to make sure everyone got in. And I genuinely trust the source, because he had no reason to make it up.

That said, also people seem to overlook that usually GD tickets are cheaper than other bands of their caliber. They've said themselves they don't charge enough to fly from city to city in the states, though they could if they wanted to.

[Rosie May]

Most people who call them sellouts don't even understand the term. They just like to say random stuff so that people think they're badass cool, which they're obviously not. And regardless, I really don't mind what a bunch of random lifeless losers say about my favorite band. Green Day's good enough for me, sellouts or not.

*nods in agreement* Instead of saying they don't like them because they just don't like their music or whatever, they'll call them "sellouts" whether they know what it means or not. What makes me laugh is that most of the people who call them sellouts would never have heard of them if they hadn't supposedly "sold out."

[ihaveapenisbitch!]

Old news, you think they're a sell out, I don't care go listen to someone else in that case we don't want you. I don't know I think people just say it to start shit because they are bored.