too popular? Options

[brooklyneast05]

why do people like a certain musician/artist but then don't like them when they get "too popular"?

i never understand this concept fully. i mean...if their music is the same, and you liked their music to begin with, why would it matter that more people like it now? wouldn't you still like what you like regardless of whether 5,000 people know about them or 500,000? shouldn't you be happy that someone who you think makes good music is actually doing well in their career?


this isn't the same as a song being over played on the radio or something. i understand that you can like a song but then just hear it too much. this is more about disliking a whole group/artist just because more people start to listen to them.


i don't understand why the size of a fan base would determine what music you like.

[queen]

this discussion kind of reminds me of a blog posted by talib kweli a while back, about fans who expect the artist to keep putting out the same type of music and never to "sell out". he defined a true artist as one who is willing to evolve and who isn't afraid to displease the fans when experimenting with new and different styles.

i pretty much agree with him; therefore, i rarely accuse bands of "selling out" 'cause in reality, who wouldn't want to be more successful? and who's to say that these so called "sell outs" are really changing their style just for the money?

an example comes to mind: dragon ash first started out labelled as a "rock" band because their superiors thought they would have a better chance breaking out within that market. as they got more famous they slowly tried evolving into their true style, which can be considered more hip hop. i wouldn't say that this band "sold out" just because they started out with a different musical style to gain a bigger fanbase. i believe their old style and their new style equally make them what they are today.

so people who claim they dislike when a band gets famous aren't true fans, rather selfish people who like the 'title' of being the cool kid who knows about bands their friends haven't heard of yet.