Indie Update

If you were a fan of rock music (hell, if you listened to the radio) during the 1990s, the odds are that you know one or two songs by the band Collective Soul. The odds are also pretty good that you do not know that you know them.

If that sounds pretty confusing, you can chalk it up to yet another mistake by the big record labels. Collective Soul is one of the many bands that have a high sing-along quotient, but no overall recognition. For that, they place the blame squarely on their former label, Atlantic Records.

What sets Collective Soul apart from the many bands that create meaningful, appealing music that fails to get out to the masses due to the poor management of the label is that they decided to do something about it. Shortly after releasing a Greatest Hits album, the band parted ways with the label and began their own project, the El Music Group. In the fall of 2004, the band released the Indie label’s first album, entitled “Youth”.

The mission statement of El Music Group is clearly in opposition to the principles of the big name labels. The band’s goal is to create an integrated approach to music production while also distributing the profits generated by the music equitably. It’s a project where success will only be determined by time.

Unlike bands who enjoy success on major labels, indie artists have always had good reason to laud the advent of the Internet age.

It seems that now the Internet is more vital to the success of independent music than ever before. In the past, independent artists could always rely on the huge diversity available in terms of radio stations to have their art put out somewhere. Local stations were often a viable way for an independent artist to reach more people.

Unfortunately, a trend developed in the late 1990s that seems to be getting stronger in the new millennia: radio stations everywhere are being purchased by umbrella corporations, which often have intimate connections with major labels. One of the first rules of business is, of course, to beat the competitions. And make no mistake, big labels are business. They want to make money, not promote sound music. The result? Independent artists are being squeezed off of the airwaves in greater numbers, replaced by generic rap and pop.

Fortunately, the age of acquisitions is also the age of information. Sites such as Myspace and others give independent artists a new way to reach an audience. In many cases, this audience is specifically looking for indie artists, thus the new method of reaching the masses might be even more successful than the old media methods. For the sake of diversity, we had all better hope so!

InBlaze Entertainment, owner of this site and all round independent music champion, has opened a BurnLounge page to essentially hock the wares of some of the independent musicians you will see featured on the pages of this site. As will giving you access to some of the best independent music around it should also give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside for having given your money to the musicians instead of the major record labels. If that isn’t worth a few dollars, then what is? A library of 2 million tracks is available that does include all major labels but the real power here is the ability to get an independent’s music to the masses (via 40,000 retailers and growing) within a very short period of time. Benefits to the Independent Artist:

• You get to control your content as an artist
• You can make the music you want to make
• You get paid a much higher yield per unit
• You don’t need to produce any more CD’s
• The distribution channel is wide
• You can play in local BurnLounge events

Check out the InBlaze BurnLounge today! Technorati Profile

Anyone with any interest in music at all knows the history of the band that redefined the music industry. But not everyone realizes just how much of an impact the rise of Nirvana had on every aspect of music, even outside of the industry.

Nirvana’s move from Sub Pop to DGC Records wasn’t a move that they decided wholly on their own. No less an indie icon than Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon recommended that the band begin working on the follow-up to Bleach with Butch Vig.

Nevermind’s huge success redefined both Nirvana and the indie music scene. Up until the grunge landslide that Nirvana started, indie music and “alternative” had been largely interchangeable (in fact, in the UK “alternative” is still used to describe independent sound). With the label’s decision to market Nirvana and especially Cobain as the frontmen of Generation X, many indie fans regarded the move to the label as a sell-out.

The rest of the story is well known. Cobain himself struggled with the switch of his music from underground to popular and his subsequent role in the music marketplace. Nirvana’s story is important for fans of the indie scene and indie artists alike. For the latter, there is no more striking example of the colossal loss of independence that is lost with a big break. For the former, we should not be too dismissive of an artist who transfers to a major label as a sell-out. Cobain’s integrity as far as artistic expression was never compromised; instead, it was disregarded by the machine.

32 Leaves are a solid sounding rock band that lie somewhere between powerful progressive rock and heartfelt emotional rock music. They don’t conform to the recent trends of pop music that have flooded in to the world of rock, punk, or any other genres for that matter and we should all be grateful for that. It’s truly refreshing to be treated to something refreshing.The whole sounds smacks of talent. From Greg Norris, the lead singer who delivers a combination or melodies and hard rock sounds without having to scream and roar at every opportunity through the impressively catchy rhythms of the lead guitar to the solid backbone of the drumbeat. Make no mistake, 32 Leaves will improve on the reputation they have already started to build. They managed to beat bands like Velvet Revolver and the Foo Fighters in several radio battles and were also chosen to cover the song “Zero” on a recent Smashing Pumpkins tribute album. The album, Welcome To The Fall, offers just about everything in terms of pitch, tune, and rhythm. There are melodic, moody tracks and there are jump around effects loaded rock tracks to satiate the desire of every fan. Keep your ears open and your eyes peeled for more from 32 Leaves.