Indies Win 50% Of 2009 Grammy Awards
Whether it’s due to their stronghold in current popular genres (folk, blues, and the aptly named “indie” rock), or a genuine democratization of the playing field, independent music seems to be on the rise.
[via dailyswarm]
Independent artists and labels had a banner year at the 2009 Grammy Awards winning 56 of the 110 awards given or just over 50% of the total prizes.
“The continued growth of independent music is underscored by the success of independent artists and labels at this year’s Grammy’s. Music released by artists on independent labels scored 56 Grammys Sunday night out of a total of 110 awarded including Album of the Year and Record of the Year (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss), Best Alternative Music Album (Radiohead), Best Reggae Album (Burning Spear), Best Comedy Album (George Carlin) and Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Chick Corea & Gary Burton). Last year, independents won 36 awards,” stated Jim Mahoney, VP of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM).
I think a number of factors could be contributing to the rise of independent music, not the least of which is the internet. It’s no surprise that the net has provided a new distribution avenue for artists to get their music directly to fans without the help of labels. The 4 big labels were notoriously slow in getting on the right side of YouTube, MySpace, and other online means of streaming media. Independent labels were much more keen on trying anything that could get them closer to fans. Fast forward that trend over the next decade, and the music industry might start to look a lot more like it did in the 70s. The 4 bigs are slowly coming around to embrace social media and the influence it has on the arts and pop culture, but the tide may have already turned.
What do you think caused the sudden spike in independent music’s success? How can you apply that trend to your business model?
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I’m heartened to see the rise of indie labels. But let’s be frank. With the possible exception of Burning Spear, almost all the acts in the "indie" category are well-known musicians with fairly extensive histories. So, I’m assuming the "indie" tag is more about the label than the artists because it’s hard to argue that Robert Plant, Allison Krauss, Radiohead, George Carlin, or Corea/Burton are "indie" artists in the traditional sense.
And, in fact, even Burning Spear is not unknown. He had 11 nominations and 1 win at the Grammy’s in years past, starting as far back as 1986. He’s probably the real unknown to most people although that’s probably more due to his genre. In the reggae world, he’s well known.
I think the indie labels’ success is due almost solely to massive foul-ups on the part of the major labels. Reading Steve Knopper’s "Appetite for Self-Destruction" merely confirms what we have suspected all along. Out of touch old white guys really do run the majors and make many of the stupid decisions around strategy, marketing, and talent acquisition.
I’m hopeful that the indie labels will have more capital to seed more unknown acts rather than relying on disgruntled mega- (and former-mega-) stars to build their catalog.
The "indie" tag is definitely referring to the labels. I think it IS exciting though, that big artists are seeing the value in independent music, if that makes sense. Even if the artists are bringing a fan-base generated from a major label, they have elected to support independent music (and cash in for themselves) by moving away from the age-old "major label = distribution = success" model.
I also agree that the foul ups of the big 4 have led in large part to the success of indie labels, otherwise those big artists wouldn’t have left in the first place. By the same token, no one thing is solely responsible. The internet still played a huge part in those artists being able to develop distribution even away from the majors. I can’t imagine they would have left the labels had there not been an alternative music industry model for them to pursue.
At any rate, it’s good for music. These are exciting times.
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