Indies Labels Now Have 34% Of The Market

Once upon a time the music world was dominated by the major labels, who had the vast majority of market share. Today that's no longer true as the mid-year numbers from A2IM reports that indie labels now own 34.4% of the overall market share. This is based on the number of masters, not distribution, but it's still a radical departure from the days when the majors rules and such an idea would have been laughable.

It's truer than ever that you don't need a major label to get ahead in the music business. As an example, here's the top selling indie artists so far this year:

Mumford & Sons - 1.1 million albums (combines total of all their releases)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - 670,000 albums
The Lumineers - 660,000 albums
Taylor Swift - 650,000 albums
Jason Aldean - 310,000 albums
Vampire Weekend - 275,000 albums
Alabama Shakes - 250,000 albums
Queens of the Stone Age - 150,000 albums

We are definitely in a DIY age. It's not just a dream anymore

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