stick around. And that, more than anything, has offered indies some insulation from the avalanche being suffered by the majors. In previous years at Midem, we actually bumped into indies having great years. But this year, a number were saying something different. Specifically, that good fan engagement seems to be getting overpowered by the forces of platform shifts, format shifts, and free acquisitions. In other words, technology seems to be winning despite fan loyalty, and just reaching indies later. “The problem used to be that people stopped buying T.I. albums because it wasn't really a strong bond to begin with," one executive told Digital Music News over a late-night drink. “Now that's happening to [indie labels] with 'real' artists."
This gets confusing pretty fast, simply because the lines between major, indie, and even DIY are often blurry. Taylor Swift, for example, technically qualifies as an indie, while a band like Interpol has indie cred but has released albums on Capitol. And, lots of indies are losing money, and facing tougher conditions than ever. On top of that, we're not at liberty to point to the specific indies in question, based on the confidentiality of the conversations.
But generally speaking, smaller labels have always been playing in a different space, and recently, have enjoyed some advantage over majors. And the real eye-opener at Midem was that this may no longer be the case.
