Indie Labels Push Genuine Artistry and Success

Written by Camila Sorrentino

In recent years, it has become common for artists, many of them key players in the industry, to leave their major labels and sign with smaller, indie ones or even reach immense levels of success completely independently. While the reasons for this vary,  leveraged-artists are searching for an increasingly favorable deal, and there are more expansive opportunities available to DIY and indie-label artists now.

While record labels provide a myriad of services to help artists develop, like finances, recording resources, marketing, tour support and connections/networking, they also come with their limits, rules, and controversies. Influential names in the industry like Taylor Swift and Rebecca Ferguson have gone public about their issues with their labels and management. A prominent topic of discussion, Swift expressed frustration at the loss of ownership and sale of her master recordings from her uncooperative label Big Machine Records and music industry-mogul Scooter Braun. Ferguson took to Twitter to call out her team for mistreatment according to her and her fellow artists’ experience.

In search of a new perspective, Australian pop-rock band 5 Seconds Of Summer (5SOS) departed from their own Hi or Hey Records and Capitol Records [under UMG] to sign with Interscope Records for the release of their fourth studio album CALM. Only a few months later they announced their switch from said rather-small label to BMG. According to 5SOS, they craved the ample freedom of expression and dominant decision-making power along with the financial and expert support that BMG provided. The majority of the band’s latest album 5SOS5 was thus composed by the four members only, and more than half of the tracks were produced by guitarist Michael Clifford. 5SOS5 also has copyright and phonograph rights to 5SOS LLC (under exclusive license to BMG Rights Management), unlike any of their previous records.

Similarly, Louis Tomlinson eagerly revealed on Twitter in July of 2020 that he and Syco Music (under Simon Cowell) had “agreed to part ways” after 10 years together, from working with One Direction to collaborating on his solo music for about four years. Soon after, Tomlinson also shared he had ambitions to build his own label/management company that would enable him to advertise and sign smaller artists, something he has shown to be passionate about through his yearly “Away From Home Festival” in the summer. Finally, in May of 2021, both Louis and BMG informed the public of their newly signed partnership, which enabled Tomlinson to explore the rockier, pop-punk-ish sound he had been zealously yearning to make.

Streaming services and the various qualities of the internet create an accessible pathway for artists to gain a significant listening and even make it in the competitive industry, raising doubts about the fundamental need for labels in such a change of environment. Multiple globally renowned independent artists such as Grammy winner Chance The Rapper make the DIY aspect of the industry extremely appealing to beginning musicians. The creative freedom that comes with working with smaller labels, as seen in the shifts made by big artists, could also result in music that is genuine and furthers connectivity, thus pushing success along with it, too.