Too true, El Roranous. It's partly due to profit loss of the record companies and largely because more and more artists are seeing they can finally profit nearly 100% from their work via the web. Still, record companies have their place. Any band, establised or new, needs the right advert campaign to launch a record or tour. Yes, these things too can be accomplised independently but that's one hell of a chunk of cash to come up with, especially when you haven't made much money from your work because you need the advertising to make the money. Vicious circle there. Not to mention the cost of producing physical CD's in any noteable quantity.
The film industry is a good example. Many good movies are made independently, without any "corporate" Hollywood involvment. But when the film is done, you still end up crawling to one studio or another to find the money for distribution and advertising. If not your movie goes straight to DVD (if you're lucky) and no one ever knows it exists except a handful of critics who purposely watch the indie film scene.
Not defending labels here. They take way too much from artists and always have. And they'll flat-out rip them off for every cent if they see the opportunity. Sometimes the artists themselves are at fault, as well. Most would rather waste their money on cars and crap than keep track of where it's going and who's stealing it. I think the best solution would be more ARTIST OWNED labels like Trent Reznor's NOTHING label. We need more of those, especially ones run by artists who themselves have been victimized and know how it feels.
