What is the criteria before a band is considered a "sell out'?

For some people, as soon as a person accepts money to play/write their music, they have sold out... For others, it's when an artist sells their song for commercial use, i.e., TV commercials... And to others, it's when half the douche-bags on the baseball team start listening to your favorite band :)

I used to consider someone a "sell-out" when that artist gave up creative control to someone else in the hopes that other person/company would make them more commercially successful, which is VERY different than hiring someone to make you sound the best you can as an artist/band. Hiring an outside ear that helps you become the artist you were meant to become is very different than hiring someone to help you appeal more to the douche-bags you never liked anyway. But, with the way our entire world has been monetized, I can't blame anyone for trying to make a buck.

The most perfect line from this discussion at www.FaceBook.com/Fisher97X came from Emily, "All "sold out" really means these days is "the band made a business decision I don't personally agree with (even though I have no actual connection to them)"

So with that, I'm retiring "sell-out". It's going in the same retired category as "whore" and "slut"... Artists invented the term out of jealousy/envy bc more people wanted to buy OTHER artists stuff and not theirs, "That-a Michelangelo... He is-a sell out-a! I would never have-a accepted money-a to paint-a the ceiling of that-a chapel." That is spot on early 16th century Italian. Thank you Rosetta Stone!

-Fisher