The Major “Exposure” Of Macklemore And The Myth Of The Indie Artist [Updated]

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, along with Team Macklemore & Lewis by extension, have recently come under attack by writers at media outlets with solid brands such as NPR and Rap Radar because, though they claimed the status of indie artists as they topped the charts with their collaborative effort, they were also being distributed and promoted by a major label-owned entity. Sadly, this attack is simply a reminder of the final collapse of "indie" as a meaningful term.

Since tone is not always as clear as we'd like on the web, please read the following as a heavy dose of sarcasm, tinged with a hint of dismay, finely marbled with disgust and smothered with the self-righteous anger of one who is sickened by the stench of delusional purist stances.

Yeah, that's how it is.

The Collapse of "Indie" as a Meaningful Term

The more I hear the term "indie," the more I realize that it's usefulness as a communicative term has been exhausted. Nobody defines it adequately and when you ask them what they mean they either duck the question or provide variations on a purist stance that, if followed to the letter, would remove large swaths of artists and labels from the lists of those who can claim indie status.

In fact, the intensely ideological use of the term reminds me of the kind of strictures on thought and behavior that I usually associate with commie fringe groups and separatist lesbians. And I say that as someone who knows a lot about how such purists think having learned much from various face-to-face encounters in the 80s, close study of their