Indie Labels: Antidote for Mediocrity

With the closing of A&M; Records and transfer of ownership and ensuing downsizing of Geffen Records by Seagram Music Group (“This Cut Is the Deepest,” Jan. 23, by Robert Hilburn), all that’s left to say is that the chickens have definitely come home to roost.

We live, from bottom to top, in mediocre times, and contemporary commercial music is its chief indicator. Loss of jobs and corporate, bottom-line demands on art are always cause to lament, but I don’t believe the bloated ‘90s music-industry beast is any different from the ‘70s or ‘80s one that showered one-hit wonders with riches and support at the expense of long-term development of more worthy talent. It’s the nature of the business once an artist accepts terms with any major label.

Consequently, the antidote still appears to be independent labels, whose limited capital but abundant enthusiasm counters the creative deaths an act suffers once it gains acceptance by Robert Hilburn and the ensuing masses.

MARK OLAGUE

La Habra