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Comment by _pius | Hacker News Reader

100% 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

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Your 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.

I 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.

Because 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.

I assume this means you think U2 is much better than the average indie artist making $300,000 per album, right?

Nope, 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

U2 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.

Willie Nelson stopped paying taxes altogether and wound up $17MM in debt to the IRS. He's still an artist!

I 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.

" ... than, say, a Jerry Bruckheimer movie."

Man, that's cold.

It's cold because I'm right.

uh, Bono is a columnist for the NY Times.

And a private equity investor. What's your point? Is Maureen Dowd an artist too? How about Michael Milken?

was intended to be a joke equating being a columnist with being professional.

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