Conventions & Awards

Independents Continue Grammy Winning Streak

image from static.nme.comThe multi-year Grammy winning streak continued for independent labels last night, as they took home 36 of 79 non-producer awards, including Album of the Year and Best Album wins in 18 genres.  Leading independent labels, Concord Music Group artists won eight Grammy Awards and Naxos USA won six.


image from shorefire.comMumford & Sons’ win for Album of the Year (Glassnote) is the fifth consecutive trophy for indies in the category, following Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Concord/Rounder), Taylor Swift (Big Machine), Arcade Fire (Merge), and Adele (who is signed to and marketed by Beggars/XL outside of the U.S.).

Glassnote founder/owner Daniel Glass noted “I’m beyond thrilled and grateful to the band, the independent community that we’re so proudly a part of, to indie retail and the fans that have been a part of this effort.  On behalf of all indies, I thank the Grammy voters for embracing great music and great artists…this is truly part of an independent movement and we’re only just beginning.”

This also marked the third consecutive year that indie labels and artists led the entire industry with 50% of all nominations, earning 210 of 393 non-producer nominations.

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3 Comments

  1. Every one of those artists get airplay on the radio (the least of which Arcade Fire). How Indy do you think they are? I’m also pretty sure if I looked it up that their “Indy” labels are owned or affiliated with the big boys and enjoy some if the benefits if their connections and marketing muscle. So basically “Indy” has replaced the term Alternative and DIY has replaced Indy, so please stop acting like its an amazing thing that “Indy” artists picked up so many awards.
    http://www.chancius.com
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  2. Concord Music Group (an “Indie” label) is owned by Village Roadshow (publicly traded company based in Australia). VR had $1.2 billion in revenue last year, and Concord has a distribution deal with Universal.
    Indie? Really?
    –Scott Founder/ D.I.-Why
    (an indie (?) marketing company)

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