um, i dont and i was on the ground floor of this whole, whack, "punk scene" that hot topic thinks theyre promoting, when it fact its more like profiteering.


and yeah, im listening to Less Than Jake right now, what's it to yah?

 

True, but don't other businesses change so they can keep in bussiness and get different customers. Just enlarging our customer base. Consider it a band signing to a major label.

 

let me see that thong-tho-thong-thong-thong-thong-thong

 

yeah, thats how a lot of things go, especially with pop culture. things that start out as underground often start to become mainstream, and eventually gain more of a pop status - like punk and alternative. i guess everyone has a selling point

 

the very essence of "punk" makes it's "sellout" status impossible and a hyopcrisy. Anything that leaves the basement automatically loses its "punk" nature.

 

I agree... Hot Topic is a public company (HOTT:NASDAQ), and thus while their image is to the "scene", their true duty is to better the shareholder's profit. You can't get any more basic than that... They are legally obligated to follow that doctrine above all else, and, believe it or not, the WHOLE reason they're selling that stuff is to make a profit off of YOU, the captive consumer with tastes that Hot Topic has cultivated from you and into you.

I just pray that Hot Topic stays far away from the junglist scene... I don't want to see it popularized...

 

I agree completely! Most of the "Punk" stuff you hear on the radio is just really edgy pop, not "punk"... Though, I think it's possible for true punk to hit it kinda big, but only as long as they stay under the national radar... i.e. one music video and it's all over for their "punk"ness

 

i more or less agree, but it depends on what you classify as punk music. all of the hardcore punk fans i've met tend to be really defensive about classifying the popular punk bands (like blink 182, and the 500203961221586 others on mtv right now) as actual punk music. but that is what happens when things start to get all corporate.. while the "underground" may still exist, the popularized form is what surfaces and what most people see.

i do, however, think its possible for a "true" punk band to gain mainstream popularity and keep it, without losing their "punk status".. record companies and MTV and such have too much control over things, but i don't think that makes it impossible. just because no one's done it yet, doesn't mean its not possible