bass players selling out

[Manuel101]

I think the music world forces musicians to sell out because quality music is often ignored while mediocrity is celebrated. This video pretty much says it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvtUtWiro4Y

[guy n. cognito]

I'm a bass player, and bass solos bore me. And, honestly, I don't think anyone is "forced" to sell out. Throw a few million at me and I'll back Justin Beiber all day long.......

[pedroims]

that video shows nothing ..other than a bass player playin a boring solo..even mediocre singer's producers know that they need great bass players so they hire them and are willing to paid for their services, whats wrong with that?

[Nashrakh]

Well I for one think the advent of the internet made it a lot easier to find quality music...

As for why something bad gets popular, ask yourself how and why some 'bad' bands get airplay at all. $$ is where it's at. Couple that with specific social mechanisms (groupthink, people only like what they know (here in germany we have a proverb that goes, a farmer only eats what he knows)) and you have your answer. Blaming it all on 'mediocrity tops all wah wah' is super lame and makes you sound like an ayn rand ripoff.

[bassfran]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

(snip) Throw a few million at me and I'll back Justin Beiber all day long.......

+ 1,000,000

[Illini10]

He was better than the guitarist.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by Manuel101

I think the music world forces musicians to sell out because quality music is often ignored while mediocrity is celebrated. This video pretty much says it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvtUtWiro4Y

Selling out? Bass players are, 99% of the time, sidemen. That's what playing bass is about - helping to provide the foundation for a song. It's not about us. Too bad so many "bass players" don't seem to get that these days...

[Kmonk]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

I'm a bass player, and bass solos bore me. And, honestly, I don't think anyone is "forced" to sell out. Throw a few million at me and I'll back Justin Beiber all day long.......

+1

I hate solos of any kind. To me, they are just self indulgent nonsense that most audiences find boring.

I will back anyone if the money is right. If some people want to call that "selling out" that's fine. I prefer to call it cashing in.

[wilberthenry]

"Quality" is totally subjective. Read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence" and then come up with a definition of what "quality music" is.

[bassteban]

Is it selling out if your avowed aim is making money?

[hrodbert696]

Wow, that video was a lame attempt at humor. A minute and a half of my life I'll never get back...

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

I'm a bass player, and bass solos bore me. And, honestly, I don't think anyone is "forced" to sell out. Throw a few million at me and I'll back Justin Beiber all day long.......

LOL Amen to that

[DelRider]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

Throw a few million at me and I'll back Justin Beiber all day long.......

Bieber's players get "a few million"? I would have thought they'd get some scale plus a bene of all the over 18 action they wanted after a show? Granted, it's Bieber, so there may not a be a whole lot of that .... but he does have an over 40 female following too.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by Manuel101

I think the music world forces musicians to sell out because quality music is often ignored while mediocrity is celebrated. This video pretty much says it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvtUtWiro4Y

Mediocrity buys a lot of really nice stuff.

[Got2SadowskyNYC]

To quote Jason Newsted from Metallica's Behind the music. "Yeah. We're a sell out. Every f***in' place we play."

A "sell out" is what jealous players call people that make lots of money playing music that they deem "mediocre".

I often say "I don't like (insert artist here) but for the right money, I can like (insert artist here)." If that makes me a "sell out" in some guy I'll never meet's eyes, then sign me up. He can bash me while i drive my Lamboghini with my model girlfriend.

[AverageWhiteBassist]

I saw Carl Palmer with a bass player and guitarist. The bassist was Simon Fitzpatrick, it was about a year and a half ago. Small venue, all 3 took solos. The guitar player went first, flight of the bumblebee and more shred. Average applause. Simon tore the house down with a chord melody Bohemian Rhapsody, everyone was standing for the full ovation. Carl must have been bummed, he was upstaged and his applause was slightly above the guitarists'. Bottomline, a good musician is a good musician no matter what their vehicle and even the common man-I assume a that was a house of drummers-were blown away.

[kurosawa]

Hell yeah, I'll play a bass solo. Doesn't mean ya gotta bust the groove. Most heavily airplayed and bought bass solos of all time? Brown-Eyed Girl and Another One Bites the Dust, right off the top of my head.

[Manuel101]

Originally Posted by hrodbert696

Wow, that video was a lame attempt at humor. A minute and a half of my life I'll never get back...

Sorry I took some of your valuable time finding a cure for cancer . Wont do it again.

[Einherjar]

It's not that mediocrity is celebrated, it's that mediocrity sells. Because it's usually much more easily understood by the general populace. Give someone an easy 4/4 beat that they can dance to and a simple chord progression that they're familiar with (I-IV-V), even if they don't know why it sounds good to them, people will pay for it.

[JohnMCA72]

I'd love to sell out! Who's buying??