Indie Music Artists Always Face Challenge in This Most Competitive World Indie music artists have always faced the challenge of competing with artists represented by larger, more influential labels. In early April, Spotify announced a new licensing agreement with Merlin, a digital rights agency that represents many indie music artists. The agreement allows for indie labels such as Mad Decent, Epitaph/ANTI, and companies like Beggars Group to restrict streaming of their respective albums to paying subscribers of Spotify for up to two weeks. Larger companies included in the agreement — like Beggars Group — have power over many smaller indie labels. This restriction could possibly be applied to indie music artists like Dillon Francis, Japandroids, Bon Iver, and the xx. Though now out of the ordinary, this practice may soon become the norm for major and indie music labels alike. Pooling together members of indie music powerhouses like Franz Ferdinand, Band of Horses, and Grandaddy, Eric Pulido formed the new indie rock outfit BNGT. Along with Pulido, the group includes indie music artists Ben Bridwell, Alex Kapranos, Fran Healy, and Jason Lytle. After four years, BNQT released Volume 1, an album which included two tracks from each contributing indie artist. In an interview with Consequence of Sound, Pulido said of the formation of the group, “When I asked the guys about joining the party, it was an astounding ‘YES!’ and then I was all of a sudden really humbled, excited, and a bit scared of how we were going to pull this thing off now.” Pulido has already hinted at the possibility of a Volume 2.
New Carnival, another outfit of indie music artists from the UK, recently released a new track, “Run For Cover.” Though hailing from outside of the United States, New Carnival manages to create a track that taps into the current American political climate. The track is a biting build up of pent-up aggression. Brooding, the lyrics taunt, “You take me to church / And you tell me to run / What if I talk back / Two for the tongue” while the chorus drones, “And I run for cover, cover, cover, cover.” Though not intended to speak to the American masses, these indie music artists may have inadvertently given us a strong protest anthem.
Similar to BNQT, another supergroup of indie music artists is in the making. Sufjan Steven’s, The National’s Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and drummer James McAlister are releasing a collaborative album. The work, titled Planetarium, is to be followed by a small tour with one stop in Paris before visiting Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Oakland. “Mercury,” the first track off of the record, opens with the familiar tone of Sufjan Steven’s soothing voice. The video for the track is extraterrestrial — entirely in black and white, a large planet hovers and spins in mid-frame as lyrics flicker across its surface. As would be expected, the instrumentals of the track and intimate and intricate, combining the best of each contributing indie music artist. Planetarium is set to debut on June 9th, and its tour will kick off in July.