I personally agree that there is such thing as Musical Integrity/Honesty or what have you. Sure, certain bands may become household names over time as a result of wider exposure thanks to being part of big labels; those bands may also drastically change their sound as a result of the exposure or for other creative reasons, but for me it's all about "keeping the fire" if you know what I mean. Bands that do change their sound or become mainstream should be passionate about what they make for the music consuming public and continue to have good creative ideas for new albums no matter which direction they take. The very moment they place "fame, fortune, and bitches" above their musical craft (a'la Kiss) or go through the motions making listless, boring works just because their brand name is on it (Geoff Tate, Nickelback [not that I liked them to begin with], etc.) is the moment I stop supporting the artist. You cannot achieve the ends without perfecting the means, and by going through the motions when making music, it means you just don't care about the fans expecting you to further enrich their musical experience, rather than cynically going along for the ride just because you're famous. If the artist retires because they have run out of ideas, I'd be okay with it, since they're at least being honest. Sorry for the long post, hopefully it makes sense.

I think Xasthur is one of those musicians who is an exact example of "Musical Honesty/Integrity " , I can also name Subrosa and Kylesa, Lunar Aura and so on...

Ac/Dc -- I Played ball like 50 times and I did not get bored

Written by Bad English on 09.10.2014 at 23:21

Ac/Dc -- I Played ball like 50 times and I did not get bored

Well I think it's not related to how many times you listen to a song and if you never get bored of it I'm not sure

There are two kind of creators: artist and crafter. Only first group can create true art. The second one is only imitating; creating and illusion of art by using learnt (sometimes sophisticated) techniques. Sure, it does need skills as well but only artists can create art with that specific, inimitable quality and add their spirit into it. Without it we can only get hollow form. Most of so called musical industry is just full of emptiness.

Yes I think this is something that exists.

I think so long as the artists are playing what they want to play then it has musical integrity. Letting a label edit your song so it can get more airplay would be an example of having low integrity in my opinion.

Nothing wrong with becoming popular in the mainstream, so long as it's done on your own terms.

My opinion on musical integrity is that it ties to things such as performing live (without backing tracks or lip-sync) or writing their own music (excluding the occasional cover song). Musical integrity to me means that the musician is passionate enough about the art form to produce the best they can, and to personally deliver the best they can live.