Billmon has been one of my favorite writers in the blogosphere. Always intelligent, always detailed, the man helped bring out the best of the blogs with each post. So it was with some regret that I would see Billmon hang up his keyboard and call it a career in blog writing. I have to say though that Billmon took an approach toward explaining his thoughts on the blogosphere today that resembled an attitude I may still have but not as much as I used to. But, nonetheless, it's an attitude that doesn't help one's cause, even if that wasn't the intention.
That does not mean that I do not understand where Billmon was coming from in his LA Times editorial. I do. If Billmon's sole purpose for blogging was something that was free of charge, then so be it. But Billmon is appearing to be adopting the attitude that blogging is a purity that must not be tainted by the almighty dollar. He may not go as far as to say that, but his words led me, and other bloggers, to believe that that was what he meant - how else to put it when the title of his commentary was Blogging Sells, and Sells Out?
The term Sell Out usually refers to one person who utilizes their talent (writing, performance, technology creation, etc.) solely for the purpose of making money, instead of using it for a "pure good" or a solid principle. As I left college, I got swarmed with an anti-selling-out attitude about music and life. I hated the current mainstream acts that were said to be the best the industry had to offer. I hated them so much that I told myself I would not get caught up in such shananagans. But as I grew up, figuratively and literally, I began to understand why such an attitude is strictly for those who rather not make any money utilizing that talent, and/or those who want to live in poverty their whole lives. For the former, they usually would have some other job that would help pay the bills; for the latter, they live barely making a cent and living in complete dumps of civilization or reside reclusively in the boonies.
I can understand why people would choose to live that kind of life, but yet as far as I am concerned, while I would figuratively like to become something like the next Mozart, I surely do not want to die in complete poverty like he did. To each his own I guess, but as for me, I would at least like to have a decent life in as little poverty as possible. I want to enjoy life, and live life, not be worn down by it only for the sake of keeping all of my principles intact and pure. I don't even mind dying for a cause I believe in, but I'd rather try to take the steps I can from making my own life a living hell. In my belief system, I have one shot at this - I better make the most of it.
The point I'm trying to make is that as far as musicians go, the music business is just that, a business. You have to make money somehow, and you can do it one of two ways - you can make money living off of odd jobs that barely pay enough money for rent, food, clothing, etc., or you can make money doing the thing that you love. I'd choose the latter - there is nothing I would want more than to be able to make music my full-time, all-the-time job. But there are means of making that possible without becoming a "sellout." There are plenty of musicians that are able to do what they do, make a decent living off of it, and yet still hold true to the principles that got them there and/or that their music projects.
The blogs' evolution to this point was an inevitability. For many who wish to do nothing else for their lives but write blogs about politics and whatnot, somehow a form of income must be established. So, if you have no time left during your day that you can devote yourself to a regular-paying job, then the blog must somehow provide your funds. Not only that, since traffic bandwidth is a high-priced commodity for very popular and highly visited websites, extra money provided to blogs or by blogads may be needed to offset those extra costs that we may not anticipate.
Billmon has every right to his opinion, but it appears he's got himself a nice job that allows international travel. He doesn't need to make money off of his blog, so he is more in tune with blogs being free-form communication between various folks, and that's fine. But, if he didn't have that cushy job, wanna make a bet that Billmon would be figuring out how to generate income through his very popular blog? Kos and Atrios make their living from their blogs, and it's logical that they do, since almost all their time and energy is devoted to keeping their blogs updated continuously. They don't have time to pursue other employment ventures. For the sake of making ends meet, Kos and Atrios need their blogs - Billmon is among those that don't, just like I don't need this blog to make my ends meet. I work full-time and tour with bands on the road on the side, that's my living, that's my source of income. This blog is just a chance to say hi to a lot of folks, lay down an opinion I have of my own, spark a conversation, and that's that.
The bottom line is that while I can understand how Billmon feels about the current state of the blogosphere, I would not go as far as to say guys like Kos, Atrios, and others are selling out simply because they are using their blogs to make money. What is selling out is sacrificing your principles and beliefs for a tangible product, like the dollar, simply because you only care about increasing your own material wealth. That's why bands like the Black Crowes said no to Budweiser when they wanted to sponsor one of their tours - their music was presented by them, not Budweiser, and such a proclamation would be against their ideals.
As long as there is a real, spiritual, principled belief and attitude involved in what you are doing even as it puts the bread on the table, then it's not selling out - it's making an honest living.