It doesn’t mean that indie artists can’t sign up with indie labels, however.ĭIY or “do it yourself” is a different idea of independence altogether. But, as we discussed already, what indie music means, more than anything, is no contractual ties to major labels.

Sometimes, these names are used interchangeably. So, in the end, major labels are incredibly hard to avoid. In these cases, indie labels are often under-equipped to deal with the increased demand for the music and sign contracts with major labels or distributors. Sometimes, indie artists break through with hits that are popular with the general audience. Furthermore, they don’t force them to conform to a more watered-down, widely popular ‘commercial’ sound. Instead, they try to find and sign artists who they think will be popular or successful in their own niche genres. Indie labels also want to make money but aren’t trying to contend with the huge pop hits that the majors put out. This can include musical direction, songwriting and lyrical content, and appearance as much as the sound. Major labels exert considerable control over the music their artists produce… However, they can often turn better profits and pay out royalties to artists faster because they don’t invest nearly as much in the first place. Indie labels don’t have the same kind of money to invest in artists. Major Label: What’s Better?Īs I mentioned earlier, even though major labels pay lower royalty rates to their artists, they offer bigger advances and shell out more for recording, marketing, and distribution of music. Indie labels, on the other hand, usually let artists be artists. And, they mold their artists to produce the looks and sounds that they believe will be hits. Huge commercial labels literally control popular music. The main reasoning here is that indie labels usually give far greater artistic control to their acts than major labels do. So why do we still call these bands independent?įor most music lovers, the name “indie” can still apply to acts who sign to indie labels. However, indie record labels usually pay a lot more in royalties to their acts than major labels do. Of course, all this support is at the cost of royalties. They may turn to smaller, so-called “independent” record labels that can offer them support. There are many acts out there who do everything themselves, from recording to album art to booking their own tours. Just because you can play music, doesn’t mean you can sell it… This involves all sorts of skills that individual artists or people in a band may not have. It has to organize and play concerts, record, publish, market, and sell its music. To succeed and make a career out of music, an act has to do a lot more than play music.

Artists that aren’t can be called independent, whether or not they are connected to other, smaller labels or simply going it alone.

These Big 3 music companies are so huge and all-encompassing, that it’s hard for anyone NOT to be associated with them. Warner owns Elektra and parts of the old EMI.Īnd Universal, the biggest music company in the world, owns the rest of EMI, Interscope, Geffen, Def Jam, Island Records, Decca, and a whole heck of a lot more. Sony owns Columbia, Epic, RCA, and Artista. Universal managed to take over EMI, which was a huge label in its own right. These include Universal Music Group (UMG), Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Group.Īll of these massive labels call themselves “music groups.” This means that they have absorbed many smaller labels and continue to do so, growing bigger and taking over more and more of the music market. Despite a huge shift in how music is published and distributed (think Apple Music and Spotify), labels still support artists by giving them contracts for stability, artistic direction, marketing, recording services, and much more.ĭoing all of this without the help of a label is difficult at best.Įver since Universal and Warner split up and bought out EMI in 2013, there have been only three massive record labels that control the production of up to 80% of popular music. But, the general definition of indie music that most people will accept is this – Indie artists are independent of the Big 3 record labels. In truth, “indie” has meant all of this and more to some people. Ah, well there, that clears everything up, right? Wait, what does it mean to be an independent musician or artist?ĭoes that mean you can’t have a record contract or have any association with a label? Does it mean you have to produce all of your music in your basement, put up your own posters, and distribute your tunes by hand?

Searching for Some Awesome Tunes, Indie or Otherwise?Īs I said, indie is short for independent.

Indi mudic