Better Music From Indie. Labels Or Mainstream Media Big Labels?

[PACKY]

I am a music fan,
i am realy not feeling this processed, chopped, instant music, stuff that the major labels have been flooding the mainstream radio with, I prefer many Indie labels and their artists, i feel like the major labels and their "artists" lack something......hmmmmm... TALENT!
what do you think?

 

[KristianJ]

It really does vary from genre to genre - there are gems in all the different record company categories and there are flops, but I think that there is no doubt that the attitude of independent labels is more music focussed than image focussed. And if an independent band can move onto a major label and not be influenced to alter their image for the sake of the listening public, then more power to them.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

Im tending to agree with you. As more and more bad music is produced out there, I am starting to lean towards Indie, and Independant record labels.
I have recently gotten into Death Cap, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, Postal Service etc.... and I am quite enjoying the different sound.

I guess the more I think about artists being produced like Hillary Duff etc, the more it makes me wonder how many artist's there are out there who are actually very talented and deserving of record labels are being shot down.

 

[PACKY]

Im tending to agree with you. As more and more bad music is produced out there, I am starting to lean towards Indie, and Independant record labels.
I have recently gotten into Death Cap, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, Postal Service etc.... and I am quite enjoying the different sound.

I guess the more I think about artists being produced like Hillary Duff etc, the more it makes me wonder how many artist's there are out there who are actually very talented and deserving of record labels are being shot down.

modest mouse is good if it is a recording they are not to yummy live..
postal service yes i am a fan ....the hillary duffs of the world are nothing more then future rehab. stories waiting to come into bloom.....
I am a fan of bright eyes, (i need to hide my bright eyes cd cases or my G/F will drool on them ) ilike the faint, the no appologies project, walkmen, moving units, of course gotta give some love to the get up kids, radio head.
the record label i like the most right now is, saddle creek records..

Yeah nowa days you need a PR rep, a agent, a case of acid reflux and a already pop diva'd out sister.. er... i mean talent? before you can get your very own teen heat magazine cover.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

Geez is that all it takes?
man I could be rich and famous then!!
But I dont have a sister.... oh well!

 

[PACKY]

I like artists who dont care if their faces are on the covers of zines... but care if their music actually touched someones life, or use their music as a artistic expression of themselves,,I t saddens me when a artist makes it then does the whole 'sellout' thing in pursuit of the almighty dollar!

 

[twosteppin]

Yeah, i've heard MM isnt too great live.
I think some "mainstream" music is very good.
Modest Mouse is now mainstream...and they are still talented. good for them.

 

[Western Deity]

As far as rap is concerned, mainstream artists give it the negative "Bling bling bloaw I'm'a shoot'cho momma" image, excluding maybe 4 artists at most (Nas, Bis, Kweli and somebody else because I always manage to forget somebody ).

 

[Qyöt27]

I'm just waiting for the backlash, then there might be some decent music in the mainstream again (chances are that as long as the RIAA exists, though, it'll be flooded with trash). I'm not particularly drawn to any side, really, but I respect independent labels more for their integrity. I'd rather just listen to music I like (which, usually, is a divided line - 50% catchy, 50% intelligent, or some variation thereof), regardless of it's affiliation with such-and-such-type record label.

 

[Western Deity]

^ That's the truth right there; I'm not completely opposed to style, something likeable about an artist themselves- I'm just bothered by boy-bands who are all style, no substance and multi-platinum. I'm also not going to say "so-and-so isn't hip-hop because they're too mainstream", I just judge them on the basis of who they are and what they do; who knows, there are a few underground rappers near to cracking the mainstream, and they might be signed to a big label soon... am I supposed to dislike them if they're making the same music while signed to something bigger? Of course not. There'll always be the type of Indie fan who "only listens to underground heads" or whatever, but true music fans will give everything a go before judging it .

 

[nadroj1985]

I just judge them on the basis of who they are and what they do...

Not to pick on you personally, but I'm starting to wonder whether that's a fair statement to make, although I've said the same sort of thing countless times before. I'm even beginning to question whether it's an ideal worth striving for. The more I think about why I like a given piece of music, the more I have to admit that I can only do so under my (sometimes very petty, non-musical) biases, and I tend to think that everyone else has this problem, too.

Granted, some people's biases are more obvious than others- it seems to me that when we berate the indie kid who stops liking Modest Mouse because they went mainstream, we really shouldn't disparage him for having an unfair bias, but for not hiding his bias as well as we have

 

[Western Deity]

OK.

 

[PACKY]

Not to pick on you personally, but I'm starting to wonder whether that's a fair statement to make, although I've said the same sort of thing countless times before. I'm even beginning to question whether it's an ideal worth striving for. The more I think about why I like a given piece of music, the more I have to admit that I can only do so under my (sometimes very petty, non-musical) biases, and I tend to think that everyone else has this problem, too.

Granted, some people's biases are more obvious than others- it seems to me that when we berate the indie kid who stops liking Modest Mouse because they went mainstream, we really shouldn't disparage him for having an unfair bias, but for not hiding his bias as well as we have

deep thoughts by nadroj1985......

 

[PACKY]

indie labels and their music survive by teh most basic means of advertising,,, word of mouth and selling t-shirts at shows out of boxes...... they dont have the money to do a live concert on TV to get their artists face and name out there. big media is just that....

 

[mewithoutyouska]

with my styles, indy is better, cuz the major labels are scared of it

 

[PACKY]

with my styles, indy is better, cuz the major labels are scared of it

AMEN BROTHER!!!!

 

[ps139]

There'll always be the type of Indie fan who "only listens to underground heads" or whatever, but true music fans will give everything a go before judging it .

I cant stand people who only listen to Indie just because its Indie, and then stop liking the band if they get big and popular. If the band changes its music and caves in to the record label thats one thing, but that doesnt always happen.

 

[ps139]

Granted, some people's biases are more obvious than others- it seems to me that when we berate the indie kid who stops liking Modest Mouse because they went mainstream, we really shouldn't disparage him for having an unfair bias, but for not hiding his bias as well as we have

Well it really depends on what you mean by "going mainstream."
If they changed their music style, and "sold out," then yeah the kid is probably "right" in that his band is not like they used to be, and he doesnt like them anymore.

but if he stops liking them solely because a lot more people start to like them, well then he is really not about the music, is he?

 

[stonetoflesh]

I'm just waiting for the backlash, then there might be some decent music in the mainstream again (chances are that as long as the RIAA exists, though, it'll be flooded with trash). I'm not particularly drawn to any side, really, but I respect independent labels more for their integrity. I'd rather just listen to music I like (which, usually, is a divided line - 50% catchy, 50% intelligent, or some variation thereof), regardless of it's affiliation with such-and-such-type record label.

A lot of what I listen to wouldn't be touched by major labels with the proverbial 10-foot pole; that isn't to say though that I listen to indie/underground labels exclusively.

 

[PACKY]

By all no means am I saying that "we" should listen to only indie labled artists, What Ia m saying is that we need to show our lack of approval for what record execs do to our indie artists when they do make it big...changes in looks, sound, genre.. Look at Kelly clarkson from American Idol.. 1st she was a pop singer,,,2nd she did some eay R&B and now shes saying she going punk? ( not sure whos definition of punk she's using) thats three changes of looks, styles and genres i what 3 years? ...record execs want to keep their "stable" of performers fresh and in the spotlight and we MAKE their artists do whatever it takes,,, or they will sue them for breech of contract. only to be let go when their popularity wanes.