While it’s popular among the tragically edgy to be all gloom-and-doom all the time, honestly, we’re currently living in a golden age of independent music. More people have more access to instruments, merchandise, equipment, software, and digital music distribution platforms than ever before.

After roughly a century of music being controlled by monolithic record labels, there are finally real options for indie artists who don’t want to end up in the clutches of “the system.”

In our opinion, that’s doing a whole lot of good for the industry. In fact, we’re downright thankful for indie music! (And not just just because it’s our job…)

Four Ways The Indie Music Scene Is Making Music Better

1 – Artists keep song ownership.

One of the most insidious practices of the old label system is they’d take ownership of a band’s songs. Plenty of artists have had to either fight extended legal battles, or pay huge amounts of money, just to have the right to free profit from their own songs.

The indie music scene is creating a new breed of artist who won’t give those rights up!

2 – Merchandising is universally available.

Labels also had a stranglehold on merchandising options, but not any more. At this point, CafePress and dozens of others all offer custom-printed merchandise for anyone, at affordable rates.

Great merch is one of your best profit-makers. Why pay a cut to a label when you can commission your own?

3 – Digital music is global.

Between Wi-Fi and cell phone coverage, the number of places on this Earth where you can’t download music are shrinking fast. Digital music distribution means you can make fans and sales literally everywhere.

Labels used to be the gateway to music promotion, but with digital music distribution, they’re out of the picture.

4 – Better music!

The indie scene is full of talented, creative people pushing musical boundaries and expressing themselves in new ways. The label system is full of suits constructing boy bands based on predictive computer models of optimal mass-audience listening preferences.

You tell us which approach is going to make better music.