Small indie music labels to know
Reclaim your musical taste by curating it yourself!
Getting into the label scene is a great place to start. We’ve talked about underground labels to know. Moving up the label tiers, today we’re getting into small indie music labels.
A small indie label is a little bigger than an underground label, and perhaps a bit more professionally presented, yet still small enough that you might be unfamiliar with the majority of artists on their roster. Not many arena-filling pop stars to be found here.
Western Vinyl
Founded in 1998 originally as a lofi music label for just two bands to self-release their own work, they’ve expanded over the years and now have added several large-ensemble artists on their roster. I personally consider their larger ensembles to be the more interesting artists they’ve got.
A recent release called Canto Ostinato by Erik Hall with Metropolis Ensemble and Sandbox Percussion stands out as an example.
Secretly Canadian
Founded in 1996 by Indiana University musicology student Ben Swanson, his brother Chris, and others.
Some of the biggest artists this label has signed are Yoko Ono and The War on Drugs, but nowadays this label tends to specialize in up and coming songwriters in a fairly traditional sense. Not a ton of abstract multimedia artists to be found here; you’re more likely to see traditional touring acts, guitarists, rock bands, etc.
One of the most notable achievements of Secretly Canadian has been economic. Secretly Group is a family of independent labels that includes Secretly Canadian, Dead Oceans, and Jagjaguwar, all banding together to increase leverage, and operating as more of a logistics/distributor and representation/agency business than a traditional record label that “only” puts out records.
Prior to the founding of Secretly Group, major labels had all large-scale worldwide music distribution completely locked up. It was nearly impossible to manage a large scale international music release without either doing it yourself (not often feasible) or signing a very unfavorable distribution deal with a major, that had you traveling all over the world working for pennies.
Secretly Group is one of the first independent distributors with a large-scale worldwide reach. They provide distribution/representation services for many big name indie artists like Angel Olsen, as well as logistical services for smaller indie labels who can’t afford to do large-scale international distribution on their own. If you’re signed with Western Vinyl, for example, Secretly Group will be helping out with your distribution on their behalf.
