The End of Independent

The definition of indie or independent (music/film/etc) is debated almost as loudly as emo. Unlike emo boys and girls taking one word and ignoring the dictionary independent art sprung from actual independence. That is to say, they were created independent from large corporate money. Now, I know what you're thinking, aren't all bands started in garagse with money borrowed from parents or films thought up by some writer in his apartment. Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this but not always and in the case of independent art where it began has nothing to do with. It's all about who paid for it. So, the story goes. Once upon a time a bunch of boys and girls became frustrated with large entertainment corporations. They didn't want to change their sound or their stories to fit target demographics. Instead they borrowed, pawned and sold blood for every bit of cash they could scrounge and made their cd/film/book. But they didn't stop there, they couldn't stop there. They marketed that thing (the origin of gorilla marketing) till their eyes bled. Some of these ventures failed and some of them succeeded. In their success they were noticed, adored, made cultish and then bought by the large corporations to be redistributed under their label. It was this expenditure of money and human struggle that incited popularity. The whole indie scene formed after a fairytale that said anyone can make it if you try hard enough. People began buying and seeing independent art till the point where it became socially cool to count yourself a fan of the indie arts. Here we are today where it seems like everyone forgot or at least those that didn't' know were lied to and told that all that indie art meant was that the work was quirky/different and maybe of a less technical quality. Blasphemy, I say. What has happened is some very smart guy/gal up in corporate figured out a way to make money off the indie idea. The big daddy's began fronting money to produce work that was different from the things on the pop charts. They formed subsidiary companies throwing independent into the title and sold these things as if they were what we once new to be indie. They sold and marketed to such an extent that it began to obscure what we once knew. Then one day I walk into an "independent" movie theater, one of those places that shows old films or the films that chain theaters aren't showing. The lights go down the movie rolls and the first thing you see is the name of the corporate production company that paid to have this film made. You have to admit they're smart. They've taken the films, once known as "b" movies, put them on the screen in limited distribution instead of sending them straight to video like they normally would. And we still pay nine dollars to see it. These are the days where the billboard charts has an Independent section and the record labels are big companies and where independent films have a multi-million dollar budget instead of the ten thousand dollars they use to have. Yes, the sole of independent art lies somewhere in experimenting and experiencing art that you wouldn't normally but you can't have indie without it's other half. Creating your work with out the help of a million dollars and doing it your way all the way. Indie was a way to subvert pitching to executives, brown nosing scouts, dealing with agents, legalities and selling out. If one where to adhere to that you could never ceased to be indie as someone might have you believe. People would like to say or think that once you've made it "big" then you can no longer be indie. Indie has little to do with how much money you make but who you make it from and what you do with it. What it sounds like is that most people can only see the goal as being bought by a big company and making millions. Not true, there are several indie artists out there that make what they can off their work, never selling to big companies, contining to make the work they want and when they have enough money they invest it in other struggling artists. Looking at the new indie social scene of kids talking art and indie while buying from big companies I can see the end of independent. The true independent artist can't compete with big money advertisement and persuasion and so their work slowly loses income to the companies that they were trying to subvert. It's the end of indie for now with people who are "indie" to be popular buying the things that are not indie at all.

The Author:
Vallance Michaels
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