“Fascinating… When it comes to the topic of punk, or more specifically, the iteration of the genre that existed during the last era of the traditional music industry, Dan Ozzi’s Sellout is poised to serve as a definitive text.” - San Francisco Chronicle “A forensic and uniquely sympathetic dive into one of the most uncouth actions for an artist-selling out, baby.” - Jeff Rosenstock “ looked at the major label debuts of different bands in this genre, tracing a music industry in flux, fans betrayed by their idols, and bands trying to navigate the machine.” - NPR’s All Things Considered “Engrossing…a rigorously researched look at how labels targeted bands and fought to sign them.” - Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times Sellout is both a gripping history of the music industry’s evolution, and a punk rock lover’s guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era, featuring original interviews and personal stories from members of modern punk’s most (in)famous bands: Focusing on eleven prominent bands who made the jump from indie to major, Sellout charts the twists and turns of the last “gold rush” of the music industry, where some groups “sold out” and rose to surprise super stardom, while others buckled under mounting pressures. In Sellout, seasoned music writer Dan Ozzi chronicles this embattled era in punk. The result was a schism: those who accepted the cash flow of the majors, and those who defiantly clung to their indie cred.

But the DIY punk scene, which had long prided itself on its trademark authenticity and anti-establishment ethos, wasn’t quite ready to let their homegrown acts go without a fight. Looking to replicate the band’s success, major record labels set their sights on the underground, and began courting punk’s rising stars. After indie favorite Nirvana catapulted into the mainstream with its unexpected phenomenon, Nevermind, rebellion was suddenly en vogue. Punk rock found itself at a crossroads in the mid-90’s. 'Ozzi's reporting is strong, balanced and well told.a worthy successor to its obvious inspiration, Michael Azerrad's 2001 examination of the '80s indie underground, 'Our Band Could Be Your Life.''- New York Times Book ReviewĪ raucous history of punk, emo, and hardcore’s growing pains during the commercial boom of the early 90s and mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they “sell out” and find mainstream fame, or break beneath the weight of it all THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER, NOW FEATURING NEW INTERVIEWS WITH DASHBOAD CONFESSIONAL, CURSIVE, LESS THAN JAKE, AND MORE.

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