Thank you for acknowledging independent music by signing the petition and supporting the most important tag for independent content. The open letter has now been sent to Daniel Ek (Spotify), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Susan Wojcicki (YouTube) and Tim Cook (Apple).

We’re waiting for their reply!

Acknowledge Independent Music

We believe that equality and diversity within music is not only about gender and ethnicity. It is also about who is behind the music in terms of creation and ownership. Today, the global independent market share of streaming is 19.55 percent. The rest is controlled by three major record labels.

We want this to change and we want to give independent music creators the most important tag for independent content to acknowledge independent music.

Want to know more? Read our open letter and see who has signed the petition.

See signatures

2207 people have signed the petition.

03:34
independent
This is a tag for explicit music.
We want to add one for independent music!

The most important
tag for independent content

The Open Letter

Dear Madame/Sir,

We believe that it’s time for a change. The music industry needs to become more equal and diverse – and it needs to happen now. Even though music consumption has changed completely, and technology has created new opportunities for music creators, the power structures within the industry are not changing fast enough.

I’m sending you this letter since I believe that you and your company, as leaders for the development of the music industry, has a crucial role to play within this change. When you continue to read, I will give you a contextual background to the daily struggle independent music creators face, and a suggestion of how you could help to make the music industry more democratic, accessible and transparent – for all.

But let’s start with some contextual background.

According to a calculation by Music Business Worldwide, the global independent market share of recorded music is 29.88 percent. Of streaming it is only 19.55 percent. The rest is controlled by three major record labels. This means that independent music creators are struggling even more in the era of streaming and playlists. According to a survey we’ve conducted among more than a thousand independent music creators, 69 percent believe that today’s playlist culture favors mainstream music rather than independent artists.

We believe that equality and diversity within music is not only about gender and ethnicity. It is also about who is behind the music in terms of creation and ownership. The survey referred to above shows that 50 percent of the independent music creators believe that a major label would restrict them to explore lyrical content and innovative musical styles. Hence, it is critical to even out the unfair structures that characterizes the industry, in order to keep and develop the diversity and power of music.

So, how can you help?

We know that we won’t change the industry overnight, but the first thing we would like you to do is to acknowledge independent music. We want independent music creators to have the ability to tag their music in your product – just as you tag explicit content. This would help independent music creators to stand out in a crowd full of major label backed artists and it would also help consumers to actively choose to listen to independent music. But in order to integrate the most important tag for independent content, we need your help!

I sincerely hope that you want to be a part of creating a new era for independent music creators and thereby contribute to a more equal and diverse music industry and music climate.

I’m looking forward to hearing back from you!

Best Regards,
Johan Svanberg, CEO of Record Union

Independent by choice

Being independent by choice means that you have taken the active decision in becoming independent, by leaving a major record deal behind, or the decision to stay independent, in order to follow your inner creative vision.

It could be a big challenge and a real struggle to be an independent music creator. But it could also be extremely empowering and valuable in terms of ownership and creative freedom as well as being in full control over your music and destiny. The same goes for the music creators running their own independent record label.

Watch the videos and listen to some brave independent music creators that have actively chosen to become or stay independent. What do they see as the biggest pros and cons in being independent by choice?

What do independent music creators think of the industry?

Between the 4th and 25th of October 2018, we’ve conducted a survey among 1 191 Record Union customers, that have released at least one single with us, in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, The UK and The US. They were asked different questions about their view on the music industry in general and their career in particular. Download the report to read the full version and take part of all results.

Download report

69% of independent music creators think that today’s playlist culture favors mainstream music rather than independent artists and/or niche music.

50% think that a major label would restrict their abilities to explore lyrical content and innovative musical styles.

34% say that the biggest worry in their career is being forced into a mold in order to succeed.

Questions & Answers

Record Union Liberating music since 2008

For more than a decade, Record Union has been part of the music industry by providing independent music creators and labels with digital music distribution. We have been an active part in breaking down technical barriers, which has led to new opportunities for independent music creators to get their music heard and acknowledged. We will continue our work to break down more barriers within the music industry, to reach our vision to support and enable music creators all over the world to reach their full potential.

By combining our love and understanding for music with technical and data driven solutions, we’re aiming at making the music industry more democratic, accessible and transparent for the many – not just the few. One important milestone within this work is to shift the power into the hands where it belongs (the music creators) and change the power structures within the music industry.

Want to join the Record Union family and become an independent music creator yourself?

Sign up

Are you a journalist? Visit our press room here.

independenttag@recordunion.com