Independent record label
An
independent record label is variously described as a
record label operating without the funding or outside the organizations of the
major record labels. It typicaly has
indie philosophies such as
DIY and
anti-corporatism.
The boundaries between major and independent labels, and the definitions of each, differ from commentator to commentator. In practice, however the traditional definition of a 'major' record label is one that owns its own distribution channel. Some independent record labels, in particular those with successful performing
artists, sign dual-release agreements (and make other deals) with major labels and may rely to some extent on international licensing deals, distribution agreements, and other arrangements with major record labels. Major labels may also wholly or partially acquire independent labels.
Other nominally "independent" labels are started (and sometimes run) by major label artists but are still owned at least in part by the major label parent. These spin-off labels are also frequently referred to as
vanity labels and are intended to appease established, powerful artists and/or to give them lattitude in discovering and promoting new talent. Examples of this include
Madonna's
Maverick Records,
Trent Reznor's
Nothing Records, and many others.
Independent labels have existed for almost as long as there has been a market for recorded music. Even as the music industry has become more centralised, independent labels have continued to be a significant, if small, part of the overall market. In a number of cases, independent labels have assembled rosters of recording artists that rival those of the majors. The 1960s and 1980s are regarded as having been particularly fruitful periods for independent labels. Independent labels are no longer simply business entities but since the early 1980s (and exploding in the 1990s) have formed the core of the cultural indie music "scene".
Starting with the widespread
piracy lawsuits of the early-2000s, non-membership in the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) or its non-American counterparts is increasingly seen as a prerequisite for a label to be truly independent, although this view is not universal. Some music consumers have begun to actively boycott RIAA member labels by purchasing only music from independent artists. Given the number of RIAA labels, this can be difficult unless one checks a database such as
Downhill Battle's
RIAA Radar. In the UK, all of the independent record labels are jointly represented by the
Association of Independent Music.
*
Indie music*
List of record labels*
Open source record label*
DIY ethic*
Record distributor *
Punk rock*
Alternative rock
