It's only right and natural
Once upon a time in the nineties, I found a Folk Implosion guitar pick in my Doritos. The pick itself wasn't just bright orange and Dorito-shaped: it was splattered with the same kaleidoscopic mix of psychedelic purples and greens found in the Natural One video (way to be on-brand, dudes).
This alt-crackerjack prize stood for everything I hated about Lou Barlow's Kids-fueled success in particular (damn you, Larry Clark) and the mainstreaming of indie rock in general. while I'd already begun ignoring Sebadoh long before opening that fateful bag of chips, it vacuum-packed my hate for sellouts.
It's true: I was once an old-school music snob. Every time then-obscure bands like Sebadoh or even the Frogs got signed, my interest in them (especially in their post-hype output) began to wane. As a struggling writer-painter-musician-bartender-waiter-dabbler-jackass, I was convinced the value of art was born of struggle. No struggle, no value. Cut and dried.
Then I decided to make a career out of selling things for a living. Now, looking back, I tip my hat to Lou, Larry and Frito-Lay for their admirable co-branding efforts. Pretty much nothing about art is clear cut, and the struggle to create it — regardless of what inspires it — doesn't end with a taste of success.
To that end, I see that old attitude of mine as a selfish one. Yes "authenticity" is important, but obsessing over it obscures the fact that artists without salaries or insurance need our support in order to succeed over the course of their (hopefully) long lives. It also gets in the way of discovering and enjoying good stuff. Plus, it's no fun.
We all buy and sell things for a living. And if we enjoy the fruits of other people's creative labor, we are their patrons. As such, we should invest in them — and we should do it over the long haul. It's easier than ever for us to give the artists we believe in the support they deserve. Which, to paraphrase one of the best bands ever, is only what we should have done in the first place.
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