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Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, OK Go, they all already have established fanbases because they signed with a major label. We still have a long way to go until an ar
by chrisbolt 17y ago
Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, OK Go, they all already have established fanbases because they signed with a major label. We still have a long way to go until an artist can establish a significant fanbase without the help of a label.
- ricree 17y agoI agree with you in the case of NiN and Radiohead. But while OK Go did have one single that charted via traditional means, their last two big successes came in large part due to the popularity of online videos. The videos for "A Million Ways" and "Here it Goes Again" were fairly low budget affairs that were likely within the range of an independent band. While I'm sure that the label did provide some help, it seems to me that their breakout success was largely achieved in ways that can be duplicated by a talented unsigned group.
- mikepurvis 17y agoI know Jonathan Coulton is not a representative case, but he's always been totally independent, AFAIK. I mean, he also doesn't have mainstream success in the way that Ok Go has mainstream success, but whatever he has has been built up from nothing.
- dflock 17y agoThis is basically what everyone always says when someone suggests that it's possible to be successful in the music biz without being signed to a major label. Every time they say it, the list of exceptions gets longer and the bands get smaller. At what point does everyone realise that the emperor has no clothes?