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Great comment from Avdi Grimm: Something that DHH still doesn’t seem to grok is that some of the most prominent artists and rock stars in this world are deeply
by _pius 18y ago
Great comment from Avdi Grimm:
Something that DHH still doesn’t seem to grok is that some of the most prominent artists and rock stars in this world are deeply professional people. The members of U2, for instance, are professional musicians in every sense of the word. That doesn’t make them any less artists.
- tptacek 18y agoIt doesn't surprise me that the members of U2 might be "deeply professional". They're a multi-billion dollar media enterprise. For the same reason, it doesn't surprise me that Neko Case once jumped off the stage and punched out a heckler. She made $340,000 of the album before her last, and plowed $300,000 of it back into the band. Of course, she's an artist, not a multi-billion dollar media enterprise.
- _pius 18y ago100% agree, as artists who make money aren't artists anymore. To be a Real™ artist, you have to be so passionate about what you do that you don't make money from your work. The more unprofessional you are, the more of an artist you become. /sarcasm
- tptacek 18y agoYour point is taken. Making a billion dollars would not have made Elliot Smith less of an artist. But U2 is still a really bad example.
- _pius 18y agoI hear you. Actually, if I can hijack this thread with something tangential, can you tell me why U2 gets no respect? You're not the first person I've heard to have a low opinion of them. I only know their singles, so I really have no idea why a lot of people look down on them as some sort of sell-out band.
- biohacker42 18y agoBecause popularity == crap. By definition if it's super popular it can't possibly be anything other then a lowest common denominator. Except that occasionally things which are much better then average become popular without comprising their art, and then people still think popular == crap, even when it's not.
- tptacek 18y agoI assume this means you think U2 is much better than the average indie artist making $300,000 per album, right?
- biohacker42 18y agoNope, my post above is neither an endorsement nor a critique of Mr. Bono Vox and his marry men. Actually I liked what you said here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=604154 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=604154
- gaius 18y agoU2 repackages cool for sale - they do not generate new cool of their own. Same as Madonna. Also there's that business of Bono sheltering his own money offshore while campaigning for more aid spending from taxpayers.
- tptacek 18y agoWillie Nelson stopped paying taxes altogether and wound up $17MM in debt to the IRS. He's still an artist!
- tptacek 18y agoI still listen to War, Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby. I respect, but do not love, the artistic decisions they made with Zooropa and Pop. Since Pop, they've reverted to a cookie-cutter mega stadium act. Their albums contribute nothing that they themselves haven't already contributed. Their theme material is superficial, rehashed, or sometimes nonexistent. Meanwhile, they continue playing shows with $250 top ticket prices under 360 deals with Live Nation, the Gordon Gekko's of the entertainment industry. I don't think U2 is evil. I just don't think they're anything more authentic or credible than, say, a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
- grandalf 18y agouh, Bono is a columnist for the NY Times.