Commercialism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it is mainly used as a critical term, referring to the tendency within capitalism to try to turn everything in life into objects and services that are sold for the purpose of generating profit; commercialization, where the value of everything, including such intangible things as happiness, health and beauty become measured in purely commercial, materialistic terms, and where public services are being privatised or outsourced to private companies.
The related term "commercialized" is often used in an accusing way, implying that someone, often an artist or musician, has compromised the quality of his work for monetary gain, which is called "selling out". It can, for example, be applied to a painter who uses his/her talent to do flattering, expensive portraits to order, an independent music band that signs a contract with a major record label and then changes its music and/or appearance to become more appealing to a mass audience, or a novelist who switches from writing difficult "highbrow" novels to populistic thrillers.
