Especially for Mac ~ agree or disagree? ~ Sooz

yeah. completed it yesterday at noon.

let me first say that this article is very well written, and gets most of the major points. and i think that it is ESSENTIALLY correct.

as to the major point that the INDIE brand has become diluted, i MOSTLY agree. the genie has kinda come out of the bottle- or more directly to the point, the bottle has gotten so large, that nobody can buy or move it.

i am not sure he got the historical reasons for that right. INDIE used to mean "non commercial". but the problem with non commercial brands is that you lose that branding when you advertize. and these small labels DO advertize. and truthfully, they are not really that small. they have million dollar record budgets for production and marketing. they have access to chains like WalMart and BestBuy. and they have 50-somethings in three piece suits running them. and there is a reason for that. the brand has been coopted.

but the essence of the brand remains. Dirty Projectors is a great example actually. i would defy anyone to find a commercial station that plays them regularly. they will never appear in any commercial or probably any film soundtrack. they are consistently challenging and mindbogglingly different. they are, in effect, the ESSENCE of INDIE.

and so, here is what i would argue: that the brand is diluted by getting coopted, but the essence- the IDEA of INDIE is still there, and always will be. it just doesn't mean The Pixies any more.

there are far more bands out there than there once were, because the means of production has been democratized considerably. you can now produce and distribute your own album for about $5,000. and while many bands can't afford even that meager amount, there are a LOT that can. this has really changed things.

and the fact that you can find out about band X on a blog or facebook is huge too. before, you could only find out because your local record store subscribes to a magazine that carried a $5,000 print ad which showed it, or maybe a track from band X appeared on a compilation album. that is a pretty heavy filter that would insure that you PROBABLY would never hear band X. so, it is far easier to hear a Rambo Amadeus or a mrr-adm now than it once was.

i think this might be a good time to note that artists never REALLY made money off albums. they mostly make money off touring. and that will still be the case in the future.