[card_zero]

Sell meant "give" in Old English, including the sense of "give up", "surrender", "betray". (Their word for sell was equivalent to *be-buy.)

https://www.etymonline.com/word/sell

Etymonline says the meaning "betray for gain" is from 1200. So this is probably where "sellout" comes from. Compare with "he sold us out".

There's an entry for sellout too: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=sellout "corrupt bargain".

[mr_toad]

Maybe. There’s another meaning for sellout - an event that is all sold out.

That makes me wonder if the meaning of a sellout artist was an analogy to an event which became commercially popular, and was (literally) no longer accessible to long-term fans.

[norome]

I believe you missed the point

[wholinator2]

I dunno, the guy likes words. At least i learned something :)

[card_zero]

I also like the Ramones and my Ramones shirt. I was trying to implicitly say what Arkhaine_kupo above me has now said.

I suppose there's often another layer to it, which is that you might think your favorite band (or, say, Apple) has principles and will stick to expressing certain important things. But then they might lose sight of the principles and start churning out lowest common denominator shit for money. It's not as simple then as money=bad. It's more that money as the goal means you have no goal (and your corporate mission statement is a feeble apology for that).

[smcin]

Noone expects the etymology inquisition.

[lelanthran]

No one expects the etymology inquisition.