Stevie: Sell-out or good businesswoman?

Stevie_Buck · #1 10-11-2006, 08:15 AM

We've often heard it mentioned by Lindsey that he was/is always trying to branch out and go against the mainstream when it came to his music (take the 2-Disc SYW argument) no matter what it will cost him. This, supposedly, was the driving force behind all of his solo efforts. So, in that regard, with such quotes from Stevie as "I pray to the commercial gods" and her doing "what's best for her band", would you label her as a sell-out to the industry (straying from her "art" and looking towards finances and risks) or simply a good businesswoman?

Just wondering what you guys thought.

strandinthewind · #2 10-11-2006, 08:50 AM

I think LB likes to portray himself as the artist who cares not for love of money - but I think he does. I mean look at the recent interview in Boston where he says he wished his solo stuff reached more people - and he said this in the context of playing to way fewer people than the Mac does. I also think he likes living a very righ lifestyle and I do not begrudge him that one bit. Is he a smart business man - not really, though I am sure his manager sees to it that he is.

As for La Nicks, she, too, loves the money. I also think she sees her records as a way to reach people and that she makes money off of them is mostly ancillary to that driving need - though and again, she likes the money. I also think she sees the need to be successful as, inter alia, a means to that end. In other words, more records = more people reached and a deal to do another one.

So, yes, I'd say she a great artist and a smarter than average business woman.

Kelly · #3 10-11-2006, 09:27 AM

Nah, I don't think Stevie is a sell out. I think she is pretty smart actually and sees the big picture. Lindsey does not want to make "commerical" music but wants the benefits of being commerically successful.

Rickypt · #4 10-11-2006, 10:00 AM

I think if Stevie were a sell-out, she would have done more than one solo album in the last 12 years.

BlackWidow · #5 10-11-2006, 10:01 AM

Stevie is all business..no push over there.

BlackWidow · #6 10-11-2006, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickypt

I think if Stevie were a sell-out, she would have done more than one solo album in the last 12 years.

That is more about fear.

strandinthewind · #7 10-11-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackWidow

That is more about fear.

Well, that and The Dance, Enchanted, and SYW

I mean those three took up like five years and then TISL took up like two. Then, for the last two years, she has been touring. So, its not like she is stagnant.

Actually, if she were really money hungry, she's get FM back together becuase they sell concerts better than she does at the sheds.

SpyNote · #8 10-11-2006, 10:51 AM

I think she sells out to some degree when she records other people's songs, which are clearly inferior to her own. On the flip side of that, she has also always been a generous person who's willing to help out her peers, no matter how bad the song actually is.

golddustwoman77 · #9 10-11-2006, 10:59 AM

I think that Stevie is being intellegent. You have to give the people what they want. All bands want their album to be successful. You don't release something that you think is going to fail. If they are smart, they will give it the best shot with the buying public. Also, you don't want to totally sell your band's style and beliefs to the industry devil. Having said that, I don't believe at all that the Mac has done that. They have remained true to their musical ideals and are still trying unique things as well...look at SYW.

Johnny Stew · #10 10-11-2006, 11:37 AM

In my opinion, she's a saavy business-woman who has figured out how to get her art to as many people as possible.
She knows that her lyrics are often vague and esoteric and that her voice is highly unusual, but she makes those things work for her by choosing producers who craft her songs in an ear-friendly style, filled with hooks, harmonies and all the necessary bells and whistles.

I think, of anyone in Fleetwood Mac, she's the one who best walks that fine line between art and commerce. Instead of constantly railing against the system and then scratching her head as to why she didn't succeed, she makes the system work FOR her. She gives The Powers That Be a "Say You Will" so she can also record an "Illume."

Of course she's had some missteps along the way, but, overall, she has a terrific batting average.

DavidMn · #11 10-11-2006, 01:35 PM

I say to each their own.

BTFLCHLD · #12 10-11-2006, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Actually, if she were really money hungry, she's get FM back together becuase they sell concerts better than she does at the sheds.

WOW I had no idea she was in charge of that!!!

strandinthewind · #13 10-11-2006, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTFLCHLD

WOW I had no idea she was in charge of that!!!

Of course she is not, but I think she could make it happen. I mean LB seems still up for it and seems to have paid the burden on her in recent interviews when he goes on about healing, winding up in a good place, etc.

sparky · #14 10-11-2006, 03:24 PM

I don't know that she is a sell out per se. But the touring is all about the money. They don't make money on the records anymore. All the money is on the road. Plus, she can play to half the people when she is solo. The staff is the same size but she doesn't have to split the profits 4 ways. Oh, and pay for everyone elses entourage to be on tour. Only her own posse, which comes along on mac tours as well.

BTFLCHLD · #15 10-11-2006, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Of course she is not, but I think she could make it happen. I mean LB seems still up for it and seems to have paid the burden on her in recent interviews when he goes on about healing, winding up in a good place, etc.

yathink? I believe it will be a mutual decision among the bandmates. As to sway, I think they are all equally capable of that in their own special way. How do you suppose Stevie would go about making that happen? And, Lindsey's journey generally includes healing...he spoke of that during SYW.