Independently-created music is a true joy. When sifting through the many rough nuggets of other people’s music, it is rare that I don’t find a few very good pieces of music. Is every independently-produced piece of music great just because it is independently produced? No. As with any art, there is always aesthetically-pleasing art and art that doesn’t appeal to one’s likings.

Music is fundamental to humankind (and some would say even to all living things, but that’s another post another time). People have been making music long before music was recorded, formally written (down on store-able media), or performed for masses of audiences. With this fundamentality in mind, why is indie music any different than any other type of music?

It has been my experience that many independent musical artists are “hungry”, in that they struggle to be heard.
-> Just waiting to be discovered…
-> Just waiting to be heard…
-> Just waiting to be accepted…
But are all indie artists creating innovative, caring and making wonderful music for the sake of the music? No. Many artists regurgitate other people’s music de rigueur. (BTW, this has been going on for millennia.)

Are all commercially-viable artists in eschew of innovation, emotion, or creation of music for the sake of fame and fortune? No. A great many commercially-viable and –backed musicians are innovative, caring, and wonderful. Only a few, it seems, are really only in it for the money.

In short, I don’t think one can competently classify the quality of the music or the musician – if only judging by their backers (or the lack thereof). I think it is very important to give lots of different kinds of music/musicians a chance. After all, someone once gave Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan a chance (or Randy Travis, or Led Zeppelin, or Yoyo Ma, or Johnny Cash, or John Coltrane, or…)