Independent Labels

[10topprs]

So, Tremonti's album made it into the top 30 in the USA... very cool!! They're calling it a huge score for independent labels... haha. While I guess that's kinda true, it's Mark Tremonti!! Between his existing fan-base and Fret 12 slapping a sticker on the cover that says Creed/Alter Bridge on it, was there any doubt that the album was going to sell??

I guess what I'm saying in the way of independent labels is, it's not like Joe Shmo from the middle of BFE can put an album together, start his own label, and sell 12,000 copies in the first week of sales. Fret 12 still has their little black book, I'm sure, with tons of industry contacts and whatnot as well... between the star power and their industry ties this was a sure thing...

eh... maybe my argument is geared more towards independent artists... there are some pretty big and successful independent labels out there...

Discuss haha!

[TenaciousBe]

I think you hit the nail on the head. There's a world of difference between being an independent artist (at least in the early days) and being on an independent label. I think it's a sad truth that if you want to develop any kind of real world fame, you kind of have to sell your soul to the corporate devil for a little while before you go "indie" and ride the coattails of that fame. Some of my favorite music from the early 2000s was stuff from the local Orlando scene that I stumbled across thanks to my involvement on these forums, and it's stuff that, to me, blew what was on the radio out of the water. But, since they were just local independent artists, it was hard to spread the word and get anybody to care.

I look at things like the comedy specials that Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, and Aziz Ansari have done in the past year - published and distributed solely online, for a $5 download, and they KILLED it. Well, Louis did at least, I haven't heard much about Jim or Aziz, but I've heard they were similarly successful. And I think they were afforded the opportunity to try this DIY approach because of their existing fame/fanbase thanks to their years in the industry.

Same with Tremonti, I think. If he didn't have the Creed/AB fame and fans behind him, this would have been a much tougher sell. That said, I'm always in favor of artists taking control back into their own hands rather than relying on a label to dictate their direction.