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Reader question: In this sentence (We used to love her before she sold out last year – She used to be a decent artist), what does “sold out” mean? My comments: Are we talking about a singer here, or? Anyways, to say an artist sold out is to suggest that they betrayed their artistic principles, ideals or ideology. Take a pop singer for example. He/she used to sing good songs. In fact they might have even written their own lyrics. Their songs were meaningful and their singing was sincere, giving all the right vibes. But they were more or less unknown – having only made it a few times to the local television. Last year, however, things changed. They signed for a big record company and have been touring big cities ever since as well as having a few concerts broadcast live on national TV. Yeah, they’ve made it to the big time. The money was coming in bundles and so all appears cool and comfy. Except, except that now they look like just another popular singer out there. Among other things, you see, they began to dress scantily – the record company asked them to. Naked bodies sell tickets, they are told. Which is true, of course. To an extent. Thing is, the singers are losing their fans of yore. The old fans say they sold out on their spirit in exchange for fame and a quick buck. Some fans may have said that they sold their soul to the devil, which is the stock phrase to describe such situations – Selling one’s soul to the devil, of course, was from the famous legend of a doctor who sold his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. | 
