Indies

1. Beggars Group's Martin Mills To Be Honored At A2IM's Inaugural Libera Awards

   May 30, 2012 3:52 PM EDT At the June 21 Libera Awards, Beggars Group founder and CEO Martin Mills will be presented with a lifetime achievement award presented by Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein. The Amercian Association of Independent Music will launch its inaugura ...

2. Amanda Palmer Hits $1 Million Mark on Kickstarter Campaign

   May 29, 2012 1:00 PM EDT Amanda Palmer has been burning through milestones since launching a Kickstarter campaign to help fund her new album May 1, and today she hit another, surpassing $1 million raised with more than two days to go . Moments after reaching the milestone ...

3. Fool's Gold's Nick Catchdubs on The Goldmine, Indie Label's New Premium Digital Service (Q&A)

   May 23, 2012 8:05 AM EDT Fool's Gold, the Brooklyn based indie electronic and hip-hop label, announced last week the launch of The Goldmine, a premium digital subscription service powered by Drip.fm. For a monthly subscription fee of $10, Fool's Gold fans will g ...

4. Watch the Billboard Battle of the Bands (Live Stream)

   May 18, 2012 10:45 PM EDT The Billboard Battle of the Bands begins at 8 pm (PT) with six of the country's best and most talented unsigned acts as voted on by Billboard readers, one from each of six regions: Saints of Valory (Southwest), Savannah Outen (Northwest), Tak ...

5. Fool's Gold Launches 'The Goldmine,' Premium Digital Subscription Service

   May 17, 2012 11:29 AM EDT Brooklyn-based independent label Fool's Gold announced today it is launching a premium digital subscription service called The Goldmine. The new service will provide access to new Fool's Gold music as high quality 320 mp3 / WAV downloads ...

6. Yep Roc Label To Celebrate 15 Years With 3-Day Concert With Nick Lowe, Robyn Hitchcock, Jon Doe, Others

   May 16, 2012 2:48 PM EDT Yep Roc Records will celebrate 15 years with a three-night birthday party. The indie label's Yep Roc 15 concerts will be held October 11-13 at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina, and feature artists from throughout the label� ...

7. Deezer Signs Worldwide Licensing Deal With Merlin

   May 11, 2012 8:30 AM EDT Merlin CEO Charles Caldas spoke both on his organization's new agreement with Deezer and his disagreenment with the Universal merger. Streaming subscription service Deezer has signed a global licensing deal with independent rights agency Merl ...

8. Exclusive: The Orchard Acquires IRIS Distribution

   May 09, 2012 11:30 PM EDT The Orchard has acquired fellow digital distributor IRIS Distribution, bringing further consolidation to the digital distribution marketplace, according to an email apparently addressed to IRIS-distributed labels from that company's co-founde ...

9. Exclusive: Frenchkiss Label Group Announces First Distributed Labels: ATP, White Iris, Underwater Peoples, More

   May 09, 2012 8:00 AM EDT Frenchkiss, which announced the formation of the Frenchkiss Label Group earlier this year, has announced the first nine labels joining the fold: ATP Recordings, Cavity Search, Cult, God Mode, Holiday Friends, JAXART, Pendu Sound, Underwater People ...

10. Vince Gill On Going Indie

    May 09, 2012 7:12 AM EDT NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Vince Gill can do whatever he wants. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Country Music Hall of Fame member doesn't have a record deal. He got signed by a label in 1983 and had been on the MCA Records roster sin ...

11. Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter Campaign Soars Past $500,000 -- and It's Still Going

    May 05, 2012 6:40 PM EDT Amanda Palmer's record-setting Kickstarter campaign blew past the $500,000 mark Friday evening and stood at $536,275 Saturday afternoon. The project, to raise money to promote her new album, has received more pledges and a greater value of pl ...

12. Cooking Vinyl's Martin Goldschmidt On Universal-EMI Deal, Marilyn Manson, the Rise of Indies

    May 03, 2012 12:45 PM EDT The current Cooking Vinyl homege features Marilyn Manson whose new album "Born Villain" is just out. Label founder Martin Goldschmidt says Interscope "dropped the ball" with his last album. Cooking Vinyl, a label founded in 198 ...

13. Amanda Palmer Raises $368,000 in Two Days, Sets Records on Kickstarter

    May 02, 2012 12:29 PM EDT Musician Amanda Palmer has raised $368,000 [Ed note: the amount went up to $379K in the screen shot taken 4 hours after the story was originally posted] in just two days on fundraising site Kickstarter to promote and distribute her latest album. T ...

14. Edwin Schroter, PIAS MD, Talks Nordic Expansion, EMI-Universal Merger

    April 30, 2012 1:00 PM EDT Edwin Schroter, PIAS Group Managing Director explained how PIAS Nordic's localized expertise in marketing, promotion and sales is one way to combat the decreased label services distributors can provide . Independent labels are increasingly ta ...

15. Latin Conference: the Value of Going Independent, 'Breaking Out of the Latin Industry Ghetto'

    April 25, 2012 5:24 PM EDT (L-R): Intocable's Ricky Munoz, The Entity co-owner Sergio Rosenblat, and Venetian Marketing Group president Jeff Young at the Billboard Latin Music Conference. (Photo: Michael Seto) The first panel of the Latin Billboard Music Conference ...

16. eMusic Rolls Out Record Store Day Heat Map App

    April 20, 2012 2:36 PM EDT Saturday is official Record Store Day, which means it's almost time to implement your H2BB (home-to-business bicycle) to purchase vinyl music, if you're the type, as even relatively young digital music consumers appear to be . Record Sto ...

17. How the UK Folk Music Scene Is Quietly Making Ends Meet

    April 06, 2012 1:30 PM EDT Bellowhead, one of the UK's more successful folk groups which sold 60,000 copies of their 2012 album "Hedonism." This year's U.K. BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards showed one thing about the U.K's folk music scene: With increased co ...

18. Soul Asylum Signs With 429 Records, Releasing First Album in Six Years

    March 26, 2012 7:20 AM EDT Soul Asylum has signed with 429 Records, which will release the band's first album in six years, "Delayed Reaction," on July 17. Exclusive: Macy Gray Covers Album on 429 to Feature Songs by Kanye West, Metallica and Radiohead Founde ...

19. A2IM Partners With eMusic for Fan Voting at Libera Awards

    March 21, 2012 12:15 PM EDT A2IM's newly-minted indie-centric Libera Awards (or the "Libbies," as A2IM is calling them) are partnering with eMusic to sponsor an "Up and Comer" category at the award show this June. The category will be split into two ...

20. Other Music Launching Label With Fat Possum

    March 13, 2012 5:15 PM EDT Other Music, New York City's small but enduring bastion of independent music retail, yesterday announced it is launching a music label in partnership with Fat Possum Records. The Other Music Recording Co.'s first release will be by Brook ...

21. Domino Records Releasing Flexi Disc Zine For Record Story Day

    February 24, 2012 7:50 AM EST Indie label Domino records and its subsidiary Ribbon Music today announced they are releasing a zine/flexi disc exclusively for 2012's Record Store Day. The five individual, multi-colored discs will contain exclusive, unreleased tracks by lab ...

22. A2IM To Produce First Ever Independent Music Awards

    February 22, 2012 1:02 PM EST The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) annonuced that the launch of the first-ever American Association of Independent Music Libera Awards, or the "Libbies," this June 21. The award show will be the first of its kind to hon ...

23. How Ana Free Became A YouTube Phenom, Topped Charts, Opened For Shakira Without Label or Mgmt

    February 14, 2012 3:30 PM EST Ana Free is a YouTube phenomenon. Her video channe l has recorded 82,000-plus registered subscribers,nearly 3 million channel views, and her videos have more than 31 million views. Without label, manager, booking agent or publisher, this young Ang ...

24. Indie Labels Win 34 Grammys, Says A2IM

    February 14, 2012 7:30 AM EST Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, whose sophomore self-titled album on the Jagjaguwar label, biting one of his two 2012 Grammy awards won for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Album. (Getty) Led by Bon Iver's two Grammy wins, the American Ass ...

25. Sports Illustrated To Highlight Indie Bands in Swimsuit Issue, Music Festival

    February 02, 2012 6:14 PM EST For nearly 50 years, Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue has been the ultimate showcase for the hottest models (and, technically, swimwear) in fashion. But for the first time ever, the No. 1 sports magazine's biggest annual iss ...

26. Martin Mills, Beggars Group CEO, Honored by IMPALA

    February 02, 2012 5:23 PM EST Martin Mills, founder and CEO of the Beggars Group, has been awarded the 2011 IMPALA Outstanding Contribution Award, in recognition of his achievements in the independent sector. Mills, who set-up Beggars Banquet in 1974, initially as a London cha ...

27. Indie Music Biz Gathers @MIDEM To Create Global Manifesto

    January 30, 2012 12:10 PM EST Leaders of the independent music community gathered in MIDEM this week to hammer-out the first global manifesto , a 10-point blueprint which is hoped could pave the path to a better future for the indie sector. The overarching theme of the manifes ...

28. Lookout! Records Co-Founder Larry Livermore On Label's Shuttering

    January 19, 2012 9:30 AM EST Last week, Lookout! Records President Chris Appelgren announced on the label's website that the seminal Berkeley, Calif.-based punk rock label had completely closed shop. The label, which hasn't released any new material since 2005, will ...

29. Lookout! Records, Former Label of Green Day, Rancid, Ted Leo, Calling It Quits

    January 17, 2012 4:39 PM EST Last week Lookout! Records President Chris Appelgren announced on the label's website that the seminal Berkeley, Calif.-based punk rock label had completely closed shop and will no longer keep their catalog in print or have it available on di ...

30. Caveman Sign to Fat Possum Records

    January 10, 2012 4:01 PM EST New York five-piece Caveman announced today that they've signed to Fat Possum Records. The signing includes the band themselves, in addition to their own label, Magic Man!. In concurrence with the signing announcement, Fat Possum rereleased C ...

31. Web Trends: Watch The Flaming Lips Collaborate With Neon Indian

    January 06, 2012 4:35 PM EST Google Music Trends: 6. van halen Twitter Music Trends: 5. Rick Ross Digg Music News/Video 24 Hours: 1. The 100 Sexiest Album Covers of All Time NPR Music Most Viewed: 1. Tinariwen: Tiny Desk Concert 2. Music To Make You Move: Help NPR Create The ...

32. Web Trends: Watch Black Star, Guided By Voices Perform Live On 'Fallon,' 'Letterman'

    January 04, 2012 4:35 PM EST Google Trends: 2. nick cannon kidney failure Twitter Music Trends: 5. Killswitch Engage"> Digg Music News/Video 24 Hours: 1. X-Factor Winner Signs A $5 Million Recording Contract With Epic Records 2. Michael Jackson's Ex Dermatolo ...

33. The Rise Of Classical Indie Labels

    December 21, 2011 12:30 PM EST With EMI in meltdown and money hardly pouring forth from the major labels into niche classical projects, it's no surprise that the U.K. classical world is taking matters into its own hands. The 2011 BPI figures show that existing classical in ...

34. Mac Miller, Recent Billboard Magazine Cover Artist, Named One of Forbes' 30 Under 30

    December 19, 2011 6:52 PM EST Mac Miller, the 19-year-old rapper from Pittsburgh whose first album, "Blue Slide Park," was the first independently-distributed album since 1995 to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 , was named as part of Forbes' "30 Under 3 ...

35. Web Trends: Watch A New James Blake Video For 'A Case Of You'

    December 19, 2011 4:47 PM EST Google Trends: 1. lil kim some mistakenly thought the rapper had died when people jokingly tweeted RIP Lil Kim rather than Kim Jung Il Twitter Music Trends: No music-related trends at this time. Digg Music News/Video 24 Hours: 1. From The Clash to ...

36. Web Trends: Watch Cults On 'Yo Gabba Gabba,' Hear A New Four Tet Song

    December 16, 2011 3:35 PM EST The Cults on Yo Gabba Gabba! from stereogum on Vimeo . Google Trends: No music-related trends at this time. Twitter Music Trends: 1. Etta James 2. Britney Spears 3. Arcade Fire Digg Music News/Video 24 Hours: 1. We're sailing home for Christm ...

37. Web Trends: Watch A New Das Racist Video

    December 09, 2011 6:19 PM EST Google Trends: 11. rachel crow Twitter Music Trends: 5. #dubstepmemories Digg Music News/Video 24 Hours: 1. 5 Best (and Weirdest) Film Moments From Your New Rock N'Roll Hall of Fame Inductees 2. Adele is a beer Xenophobe NPR Music Most Viewed ...

38. Exclusive: Frenchkiss Leaves RED, Takes Physical Distribution to Orchard

    December 08, 2011 2:10 PM EST Frenchkiss Records, the independent label founded by Les Savy Fav bassist Syd Butler, told Billboard.biz that they have left Sony distribution arm RED in favor of diving in 100% with digital-leaning outlet the Orchard. The label has worked with bo ...

39. Glassnote's Daniel Glass on Mumford & Sons Grammy Noms, Indie Success and Getting Props From Drake

    December 01, 2011 4:44 PM EST When they released their debut record "Sigh No More" in October 2009, British indie-folkies Mumford & Sons became unlikely superstars practically overnight. Glassnote Records, who scooped the quartet up in the U.S. two months prior t ...

40. Small But Mighty

    December 01, 2011 4:20 AM EST The Top Independent Artist Nominees 4 Nominations Bon Iver Nominations: record of the year ("Holocene"), song of the year ("Holocene"), best new artist, best alternative music album (Bon Iver) Jagjaguwar In perhaps the most sur ...

41. Altered Zones, DIY/Indie Blog Collective, Shutters After 16 Months

    November 30, 2011 6:45 PM EST This afternoon, DIY and indie fans are mourning the loss of the Pitchfork-associated blog collective Altered Zones, whose founders posted a farewell message to the site this afternoon, citing new endeavors. The site was a mere 16 months old, but b ...

42. Avery*Sunshine Builds Her Social Network Base Onstage and Off

    November 21, 2011 7:25 AM EST "The days when the artist is a lone island are over," says soulful singer/pianist Avery*Sunshine. And she would know. Emerging from the Atlanta area over the past two years, following the 2010 release of her self-titled debut album, she ...

43. Musicians On Tumblr: Ten Dos And Don'ts From Experts

    November 18, 2011 7:00 AM EST If you're an independent musician looking to grow an online fanbase, it's a good idea to start Tumbling. Since launching in 2007, Tumblr has become one of the internet's hottest blogging platforms, often exceeding 50 million posts p ...

44. Adele, Bjork, SBTRKT, Frank Turner Honored At UK's AIM Independent Music Awards

    November 11, 2011 10:05 AM EST Throat surgery may have temporarily taken her out of the live market, but Adele continues to dominate the awards season. The U.K. singer won two prizes at the inaugural AIM Independent Music Awards, held in central London last night (Nov. 10). The ...

45. CMJ 'Be Your Own Label' Panel: How Artists Can Go It Alone (With Some Help)

    October 20, 2011 2:55 PM EDT If you're an artist just starting out, and outside labels haven't noticed you yet, one solution might be to start your own. The Be Your Own Label panel at day two of CMJ, moderated by eMusic's Senior Label Relations Manager Sujan Ho ...

46. Merlin Reaches Global Licensing Deal With YouTube

    October 19, 2011 11:58 AM EDT Merlin, the independent label master rights licensing agency that refers to itself as the fifth major, has reached a global licensing deal with YouTube. Terms of the deal were not released, but the deal points have been published to its members, w ...

47. TheNewRecord.com, Digital Indie Music Hub, Launches With SubPop, Anti-, Epitaph, Rhymesayers

    October 18, 2011 12:20 PM EDT Bill Armstrong has a vision. The co-owner of Side One Dummy Records, a Los Angeles-based independent record company representing the like of Gogol Bordello and the Gaslight Anthem, believes that independent record companies, like the scenes they g ...

48. DIY Case Study: Erin Barra Uses Digital Software to Tour Solo for Cheap

    October 14, 2011 1:35 PM EDT Singer-songwriter Erin Barra's career had reached a breaking point a year and a half ago. After steadily gaining notoriety while playing around the New York City club scene, she caught the touring bug and realized it was time to step outside ...

49. Adele, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver Among U.K.'s Independent Music Award Nominees

    October 13, 2011 11:27 AM EDT Adele, Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver are among the acts vying for the inaugural AIM Independent Music Awards. British guitar bands The xx, Friendly Fires and The Horrors - all of whom are signed to London-based XL Recordings, label home to Adele - ...

50. Jezebels Big Winners At Australia's Independent Music Awards

    October 13, 2011 10:13 AM EDT Fast rising alternative-rock act The Jezabels were the big winners Wednesday night at Australia's Independent Music Awards in Melbourne, where they rang up two victories. The four-piece received gongs for best independent artist and best inde ...

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