Did Green Day sell out?

[novacaine_kid]

Its a tough one really.. I mean in some respects they have sold out, i mean look at all the merchandise but thats more down to the record company than the band. I dotn think green day have much of a say in that really. They just make the music, and the commercial department deal with the rest. Musically, they have become very succesful and i dont see why non informed people try to suggest they are sellouts just because American Idiot did so well.

[Punk Butterfly]

maybe they are.

but i dont give a shit anymore.

[Haushinka797979]

I don't think they've sold out. I mean, yeah, there's all the GD merchandise, but like you ^ said, that's the recording company. Green Day's just evolving their sound. I mean, Dookie didn't sound exactly like 39/Smooth or Kerplunk, Nimrod didn't sound exactly like Insomniac, Warning was completely different than Nimrod... American Idiot was just another leap. :wink:

[Watoosh]

If you were in Operation Ivy, you would.

funny... considering 1/2 of operation ivy went on to make a career out of rancid.

[filburt]

yes

[ofrageandlove]

No they didn't. I am getting pretty fucking tired of defending this, so I am NOT going to give my reasons.

[kert]

people just think they sell out cos theyre "mainstream" Mainstream dont change the band, just everyone knows who they are now and I bet they love that. ^_^

My friend, Tom hates AFI now because he says they sold out. I dunno how he could just think that of his fav band.

[Michelle7107]

Some of the official merchandise sometimes makes me want to believe that. [Note book paper? o_O]

But no not really.

[milica.]

maybe they are.

but i dont give a shit anymore.

me too I don't really care they have good music

[Chrismond]

I can see shirts, hoodies and stuff. Thats not selling out. But green day has more shirts than most bands, more ringtones, and have stupid shit like wrist bands and pointless stuff. they have green day license plate frames, green day alarm clocks, green day zippos. to an extent they have.

Ramones, AC/DC, H.I.M, Iron Maiden, Fall Out Boy, Metallica - they all have alarm clocks and the 'pointless' accessories you name. Green Day are now 1 of the biggest bands around so ther merchandise is obviously wanted by the fans so it's not selling out at all. Also, their music hasn't drastically changed at all. Every Green Day album has been different but they've released an album with songs that relate to people at the time. Green Day have always had some pop-punk stuff and still do on American Idiot (American Idiot, St. Jimmy) and have always had slower ballad style songs in the past (Good Riddance, Macy's Day Parade, Poprocks and Coke) and they do in American Idiot (Give Me Novacaine, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Boulevard of Broken Dreams) Ok, the 9 minute songs are a new thing for them but its great. Before American Idiot i would have said Green Day were pop-punk now i would say they are a mix of pop-punk with pop-rock which isn't an awful lot of change, hence not selling out.

[stjimmy1407]

Well, think about it. The big reason most people say they sold out is because they sidned witha major label, right? But if you could get paid huge money to do what you loved for the rest of your life, what it was your dream to do, wouldn't you do it? GREEN DAY ARE NOT SELL OUTS!

[starbucksfreak]

psh. i dont care if they sold out. their music still owns

[giant_teabag]

yeah who cares?

[Ziplin]

Well, think about it. The big reason most people say they sold out is because they sidned witha major label, right? But if you could get paid huge money to do what you loved for the rest of your life, what it was your dream to do, wouldn't you do it? GREEN DAY ARE NOT SELL OUTS!

Anyone who says signing with a major label is selling out is just ignorant. A major label is a dream come true for a band (as you said in your post). It's the whole point of being in a band.

[cam-greenday-fan]

this sites a sell out i cant even so anything without being maoned at or being blocked its Crap!!

[e-dur]

The major deal topic and the sellout accuse are one thing, another is the ROLE OF THE FANS and that strangely is nothing that is discussed here. GD have that whole stupid merchandise stuff, because people are willing to buy it! It's just as simple as that! :bored:

[zoki]

this sites a sell out i cant even so anything without being maoned at or being blocked its Crap!!

What.

[e-dur]

... A major label is a dream come true for a band (as you said in your post). It's the whole point of being in a band.

It's been like that true, the power of the big major labels was based on their distribution monopoly, which is more and more breaking away because of the new possibilities that are available thanks to the technological evolution.

Big labels are f*cked, and DRM is dead - Peter Jenner

Nowadays every band is able to market their music themselves (I'd like to mention einstürzende neubauten as a prime example, who autonomically established a very modern and free concept of self promotion Neubauten.org Supporter Project Bloody hell, I love these guys! ), or is propably better off getting signed by an indie label, that most likely offers more favorable conditions for the musicians.

ps. Good luck to everyone, who's gonna try it without the big majors. :wink:

[Dearlybeloved666*]

being successful is not selling out.

it just depends what you do with your money.

[NickD]

Selling out is changing who you are completly to fit in with the new trends and the new styles.

Green Day said from day one when they were on Lookout! Records that their goal is to be the biggest band on the planet. They said they knew what it would mean doing to get there. They're the biggest band on the planet now. They've done what they wanted to. And they've done what they were willing to do to get there. They've started many of the trends we see today, not folowed them. They've backed away from plenty of things to keep they're roots intact. Their goals haven't changed. With their next album, you can be sure they will want to put up another fight as the best band in the world, and they'll most-likely re-gain the crown. They're not sell-outs.

[Dearlybeloved666*]

i also wanna add that it's not Green Day's fault that they have alarm clocks and shit made after them...

i also sort of think that american idiot is to an extent overrated, but it's not the're fault that AI is overrated, it's the teenies and the Mtv and the awards that make it seem that way....but in reality they're just a band that like to do what they do and if that means making them multi millianares then so be it.

if you people can understand that..

[BlackAngel1039]

Listen to Mick Jones explaination of sell out http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=idECck9b-ZQ and than think about this topic again.

[Amanda]

Because we really need to do that after all this time, obviously.

[GuitarPlayer5]

They sellout every venue they perform at.

[MrGreenDayUK]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They didn't sell out, for the last time.

People say Green Day aren't punk. Wanna know why they're wrong?

OK, they make 2 undergound records which kicked arse. Then tehy got big with Dookie. Now, if they were under the thumb of Reprise like everyone says they were, they would have acted like little puupets and made another album exactly the same as Dookie and that would have sold 10,000,000 copies. But, they went and made a brilliant album Insomniac that was totally different from Dookie, a bit better than Dookie and that sold way, way less than Dookie. At this point, the record company gets pissed off right? And tells them to make a better album. So they do nimrod. which sells less. Same with Warning. Doesn't this show that they're doing what they want and haven't let the corporate hand get too far up their arses?

American Idiot wasn't a sell out; if they had sold out they did that with Dookie (but I don't think they did). They said what they wanted to say, made a stonker of an album and got lucky with it. It's not a sellout.

:whistling: ...and breathe....