I Ate Your Microphone

There isn’t a more complicated industry in the world than indie rock, a fact that is demonstrated by the way indie rock fans bristle when the movement is called an industry. The paradox represented within the world of indie music is beautifully apparent in the success of major player Matador Records. There is little doubt from any quarter that Matador at least began as an indie label. By the standards that define indie music, Matador continues to represent the movement in its practices: artists such as Liz Phair and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion still retain control of their music, the label has little power within the commercial world, and is still relatively small. Unfortunately, when it comes to indie, relative is a death knell among some fans. The fact that Matador has 40 artists and a staff, as well as the fact that the more popular artists mentioned above have distribution deals with big labels, is enough for some indie fans to have declared the label passé, entirely dismissing its continued adherence to the unwritten rules of indie. The regards in which the label is now held pose the ultimate question for indie music, one that is as old as the movement itself: is a certain type of music or artist to be dismissed simply because it or they become "too" big? What is the point of making music just to be heard? Shouldn’t all music have some appeal? And why is it that if an artist or a label produce music that many find relevant they are dismissed by so many more within their original fan base? As noted in some other blogs, this essential conundrum is a facet which indie music fans must come to terms with if the indie scene is to survive.

There isn’t a more complicated industry in the world than indie rock, a fact that is demonstrated by the way indie rock fans bristle when the movement is called an industry. The paradox represented within the world of indie music is beautifully apparent in the success of major player Matador Records. There is little doubt from any quarter that Matador at least began as an indie label. By the standards that define indie music, Matador continues to represent the movement in its practices: artists such as Liz Phair and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion still retain control of their music, the label has little power within the commercial world, and is still relatively small. Unfortunately, when it comes to indie, relative is a death knell among some fans. The fact that Matador has 40 artists and a staff, as well as the fact that the more popular artists mentioned above have distribution deals with big labels, is enough for some indie fans to have declared the label passé, entirely dismissing its continued adherence to the unwritten rules of indie. The regards in which the label is now held pose the ultimate question for indie music, one that is as old as the movement itself: is a certain type of music or artist to be dismissed simply because it or they become "too" big? What is the point of making music just to be heard? Shouldn’t all music have some appeal? And why is it that if an artist or a label produce music that many find relevant they are dismissed by so many more within their original fan base? As noted in some other blogs, this essential conundrum is a facet which indie music fans must come to terms with if the indie scene is to survive.

There isn’t a more complicated industry in the world than indie rock, a fact that is demonstrated by the way indie rock fans bristle when the movement is called an industry. The paradox represented within the world of indie music is beautifully apparent in the success of major player Matador Records. There is little doubt from any quarter that Matador at least began as an indie label. By the standards that define indie music, Matador continues to represent the movement in its practices: artists such as Liz Phair and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion still retain control of their music, the label has little power within the commercial world, and is still relatively small. Unfortunately, when it comes to indie, relative is a death knell among some fans. The fact that Matador has 40 artists and a staff, as well as the fact that the more popular artists mentioned above have distribution deals with big labels, is enough for some indie fans to have declared the label passé, entirely dismissing its continued adherence to the unwritten rules of indie. The regards in which the label is now held pose the ultimate question for indie music, one that is as old as the movement itself: is a certain type of music or artist to be dismissed simply because it or they become "too" big? What is the point of making music just to be heard? Shouldn’t all music have some appeal? And why is it that if an artist or a label produce music that many find relevant they are dismissed by so many more within their original fan base? As noted in some other blogs, this essential conundrum is a facet which indie music fans must come to terms with if the indie scene is to survive.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Independent Labels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.