It’s funny how most major labels at one point could be considered an Independent Label considering they were all independently owned and operated during the early 20th century. But as more labels sprouted up over the years, the bigger and more popular labels started buying up all these new labels to form this sort of monster music corporation. Then all this non sense starting happening where music labels were just as bad as cigarette companies and doing everything possible to make a buck even at the expense of the music they put out. They created crimes such as payola and screwing their artists out of money if they didn’t perform the way the public wanted them to perform i.e. “selling out”. This happened for years and many artists were never really in control of the situation that they were put in.
This happened to a lot of the big names in music such as Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash who had spanned decades and in their early career were being manipulated by the labels to only put out music that would be number 1 on the radio even if it sounded the same over and over again. Naturally independent labels started appearing around the country and signing smaller and more regionally local acts that were popular in that area to put out albums. The method and style of ownership hasn’t really changed much, in that the label doesn’t worry too much about the band’s sound because they signed the band for a reason and the reason being to put out good music.
Some of these labels have grown into huge corporations but are still independently owned by either the same owner or somebody who had bought out the original. You may have heard of a little indie label called Sub Pop who started in the late 80′s by signing a small local band called Nirvana, I heard it worked out for them and the band. Since then the label has been noted for signing various talents to the likes of Mudhoney, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Shins, Wolf Parade and Band of Horses. The label signs acts of all different styles and holds the traditional ethics of the indie label by signing a proportionate amount of artists for the label and letting them do their thing. Now major labels are in a frenzy over the mp3 stage because they are losing millions of dollars a year in record sales and all because they sign up all these artists because they sound like Fall Out Boy in hopes they sell millions of records but they just end up throwing them to the curb without even much of a chance to earn money touring. It’s no wonder most artists are preferring to stay on their indie labels who gave them the first shot and were willing to stick it out with them for a few albums. Laugh hard majors, it’s a long ways to the bank.
Here is a song by an indie band off Sub Pop that I enjoy.
