Eh, sellout?
First and foremost, I want to hear nothing about the Travelling Wilburys!
Second, what better way is there to try and reach a younger generation than through whatever medium they are currently obsessed with. While Dylan might be a legend, aside from most college kids who claim they listen to him because it makes them sound cool, how much of his audience is part of the iPod generation?*
I should think as an artist who was most popular 40 years ago, that I would jump into whatever medium I could to get new interest from a new generation. As for the money side of it, yeah - Bob Dylan
probably doesn't need it... haha... however, its always nice to make the cash, so why not go for both at the same time.
Plus, did any of us see the big bag of money in his hand as he walked off the sound stage? I'm not saying he's doing pro-bono work for massive corporations - I sure as Hell wouldn't - but it was Apple who produced the Martin Scorsese documentary No Direction Home, so he is already involved with them. It seems it was a matter of convenience that he make this package deal and put out some publicity to the youngins just getting into music now.
On a smaller scale, I would love to be able to sell my music and make a living doing it... I'd rather be popular than starve to death just so my music was considered "art"... I'm sure this is a topic for another forum, so I think I will go and find it to rant over there
*I don't have an exact age group for the range of the iPod generation. I know that people of all ages use 'em, but let's face it, most of us think of the teens to 20-somethings who haul them everywhere they go... I know I am guilty of doing just that, but they are so damn convenient!