Indie Artists

Independent labels have had an important presence in the music industry since the 1940s, beginning with King Records whose significant artists included James Brown. Then, in the 1970s, the popularity of punk rock started an explosion of independent labels, and, in 1980, the first UK Indie Music Chart debuted. Today, with the development of accessible and inexpensive recording technologies, social networking and video sharing websites, such as MySpace and YouTube, as well as new digital marketing companies, including iTunes and CDBaby, the once closed music industry has opened its doors wide to indie labels and their artists.