there is nothing wrong with an "indie" who isn't hypocritical, but it's hard to find them, that's the thing.
there seems to be a disconnect about what "indie" refers to.
I see it as those who listen to music that avoids consumerism.
I mean, avodiing consumerism is something I actually admire, to do this as a practice of not trying to contribute to billion dollar bank accounts, that could be admirable. If it were entirely based on these prinicples it would be one thing.
Pretending artist X has more credibility than artist Y because of the label that issues their labels is ridiculous. The problem is with this perceived credibility. It is all associated with images and trends, it's their very own fad of not conforming to coroporate America, when in fact it is almost impossible to do. It's a nice theory and all that has been practiced for decades by the "underground", but it's not practical, at leats not in 99% of the cases.
To look for underground and independent artists and labels is fine all by itself. It's the next step of the elitism, which pretends that something coroporate cannot be as good by default, because it works for insane amounts of money.
The problem should stop and end with selling your goods for a price. If you sell your album on the internet for $15 and you are on on indie label, what difference does it make if it's on a major label? It's possible that the indies recieve a HIGHER portion of the gross because the profit margins for indie labels is smaller. That might not be true in all cases, but probably is in some. Of course, the problem comes from popularity, and selling masses of albums is a turn off because it contradicts this elitism.
If you make money off of your music, you are whoring your music for a price. You are shelling your art for money. It makes no difference if you make a thousand dollars a year or a million dollars a year. Everything in between this consistency is images, fads and association with an elitist trend. It is a product and it is most defintely consumerism.
My point is, how can you differentiate?
It has been around since the inception of rock, now they call it "indie" it will have another name in several years. It is the same thing. It's the idea that a group of people are "in on"
something that the masses aren't. Most of the time the music is a lot better. If this is because of new, fresh ideas coming thru undiscovered ranks of musicians, that is great. There is ceratinly a number of unknowns who are making great music on small labels who may or may not want to avoid the mass consumerism of corporate America.
But if they choose to go major label, are they selling out their ideals any more or less? It's the same idea, different product arena. The problem is the association of those groups with something more credible just because of where it comes from.
It doesn't make any sense or have any consistency.
When I was 18-22, I beleived in a whole pack of artists who I thought probaly were "in on" something that the others werent. As I am older, it was really simple in the first place. It was just better music. There was no difference at all in where it came from, or what it supposedly represented, it ultimately is always about the music. Because if it's not about the quality of the music, what is it about?
There is no question an artist not making a ton of money is more likely to remain true to ideals without worried about radio play or singles, but it doesnt mean more credible music. It's not absolute, you have to go case by case. The whole train of "indie" thought defies this. There is good and bad in everything, corporate and independent. To discount something just because of the images surrouding the music, not only removes you from being an actual fan of music, it makes you a trendy just like all the rest.
The idea is. If you follow this book with consistency, you can't like any music associated with corporate America. It goes against the core belief, the only consistent belief of this whole "faction".
If you can adhere to that, you have my admiration. If you can't, well that's the problem, more than most can't.