Urban Hat€monger ?

The whole Mainstream vs Independent argument is redundant anyway.

Many indie labels have major labels handling their distribution, many indie labels are part owned by major labels who have a minority stake in them. A lot of indie labels are not even indie labels but just subsidiaries of major labels. Sometimes major labels will form a label specifically to appeal to non mainstream music.

Also bands have different contracts with different labels in different countries. Primal Scream & My Bloody Valentine were signed to Creation Records (An indie label) in Europe but in the U.S. it was CBS/Sony who put those records out.
Even Rough Trade which was considered the indiest of indie labels was owned by BMG between 2002 & 2007.

So unless you're prepared to go by an individual case by case basis this whole argument is a sham.

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