The major label vs. independent label argument has been going on forever. Which is the best, depends on the goals of an artist? Many people think that independent labels are a place to settle if you can’t get a record deal with a major label, which is far from the truth. Country music especially has embraced the growth of independent labels. There are multiple independent labels in Country music that are extremely successful. If you ever look at Country radio airplay charts you will see that around 30-50% of the songs are from an independent label, for instance today (2/22/16) there are 13 out of the top 30 (43%), with five out of the top ten (50%). There are four main independent labels in Nashville that have pushed these artists into the spotlight including: Big Machine Label Group, Black River Entertainment, Broken Bow Music Group and Curb Records.
Scott Borchetta, founder of Big Machine Label Group named the company with big dreams in mind and has surpassed what many thought was impossible for an independent label. Some of the biggest artists at Big Machine include: Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Brantley Gilbert, Thomas Rhett, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, The Band Perry, Steven Tyler, Maddie & Tae, Reba McEntire and many more. Taylor Swift of course is arguably one of the biggest icons in all of music today, while Florida Georgia Line has the most downloaded country song in history with their smash hit “Cruise.” The Label Group has grown to include five separate imprint labels, which are Big Machine Records, Valory Music Company, Republic Nashville, Dot Records and Nash Icon.
Black River Entertainment is the newest and smallest of the four main independent labels. Black River has a wide scope of artists including country acts, a country comedy duo and Christian acts on a separate imprint. As for their country acts they have Kelsea Ballerini who is the first female to have her debut single go #1 on country radio since 2006 and also the first time a female-topped Billboard charts sine 2012. Kelsea just reached #1 once again with her second single “Dibs” first making her the first female to have her first two singles go #1 since Jamie O’Neal in 2001 and one of only five women in the history of country music. Other artists on the label include: Kellie Pickler, Craig Morgan and John King. Their country comedy duo is The Raging Idiots, which is made up of Bobby Bones and Eddie Garcia who recently won the National Personality Award at CRS for their morning country radio show, The Bobby Bones Show.
Broken Bow Music Group has recently started another imprint, which brings the total to four including: Broken Bow, Red Bow, Stoney Creek and Wheelhouse. BBR Music Group is on fire right now with two of the top five and four of the top twenty songs on country radio (2/21/16). BBR’s biggest star is Jason Aldean, which they have catapulted to become the best selling digital male country artist in history. Other acts at BBMG include Dustin Lynch, Randy Houser, Thompson Square, Trace Adkins, Joe Nichols and many more.
Jason Aldean performs on Brooks & Dunn’s Last Rodeo Tour at the Tacoma Dome.
Curb Records is the biggest of the four independents with labels in multiple genres including: Christian, classical, country, dance, holiday, instrumental, jazz, pop/rock, soundtrack, specialty, urban, rap, and R&B all with massive rosters. Curb country artists include Lee Brice, newcomer Dylan Scott, Lee Greenwood (many more) and also have iconic country acts including Merle Haggard, Mel Tillis, Wynonna and countless others.
The success of these labels are giving new artists a reason to think about signing with indies instead of just focusing on getting a major record deal because they can create the same if not more success than some majors. In the end it’s all about whether an artist fits the culture of a label and how much they want to make their dreams come true.
Nashville Country News 