I love those VW commercials

[danelectro]

I love my Passat and Wilco, it's good to be happy. Now if they could just get Cadillac and Celebrity Cruises to use Wilco instead of Zep and Iggy I'd be even better, I was burned out on Rock and Roll and Lust For Life long before those commercials made it to the small screen.

[SmokeUpJohnny]

I was always uneasy about "the sellout" by artists I liked, and as a younger man I was absolutely rabid, completely idealistic and angry about this sort of thing. But I remember when the Dead allowed Levi's to use some material in a tv ad. Jerry said something to the effect of " we have always been willing to sell out to a certain level, but nobody had asked." Cracked me up.

 

I think the "certain level" is what is important. If the artist is comfortable doing it and defines the degree of "sell outed-ness" and sees a benefit in $ and exposure gained, who am I to question the artists comfort level with selling his creations?

 

Hell, if you were really a hardcore purist about it - the act of putting music on a CD to be released by a corporate record company to make $ and a band going out promoting that on TV and with shows would be a "sellout". You either like a bands music or not, being in a tv spot doesn't make the melody, music or lyrics any better or worse. It is what it is.

 

I work for my money and Wilco works for theirs, I hope the make a ton of loot and broaden their fanbase.