Despite the playing field levelling capabilities provided by the internet, for most musical acts it remains a fact of life that the four major labels simply have more power than the numerous independents. When it comes to negotiating licensing deals the independents are still at a disadvantage - or at least they have been until recently.
Now independent labels have been getting organized into a new "virtual label" called Merlin. Merlin, which counts labels from around the world as members, was originally organized more than a year ago. Since then they've grown to include more than 12,000 labels, which account for around 8% of all music sold in the US. While that may not seem like very much, it's approximately equal to the market share of EMI, which is the smallest of the four majors.
According to Merlin's chairman Bob Frank, who also runs indie label KOCH Records, Merlin is "in discussions with Last.fm and MySpace as well as other major digital companies" to distribute members' music.
If nothing else, this is their big chance to show they can do a better job of thriving in the digital world than the major labels.
According to Merlin's chairman Bob Frank, who also runs indie label KOCH Records, Merlin is "in discussions with Last.fm and MySpace as well as other major digital companies" to distribute members' music.
If nothing else, this is their big chance to show they can do a better job of thriving in the digital world than the major labels.
