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Re-examining the concept of the ‘independent’ record company: the case of Wax Trax! records

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Stephen Lee
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Extract

In the American record industry, independent record companies have long held a cultural status that far exceeds the actual economic impact they have in the market-place. Independent record companies, or ‘indies’, have become understood as innovative and creative oases for new or unconventional musicians in the midst of a capital-driven and profit-oriented record business. The development of a wide range of musical genres and styles – from rhythm and blues and soul to punk and industrial – are often attributed to the small companies that operated outside of the control of the larger ‘major’ labels.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 13 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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