'The Year Of The Indies' At The 53rd Grammy Awards

Arcade Fire

The 53rd GRAMMY AWARDS (NET NEWS 2/14) provided more than a few surprises this year, one of which was the success of smaller, Independent labels receiving more nominations and victories than in years past. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports, "the rest of music industry is trying to figure out if the unsung acts from smaller labels are winning major awards because of the viral nature of the Internet -- or in spite of it.

"This was a major, major night for the independents," said GLASSNOTE RECORDS CEO DANIEL GLASS told THE AP. MUMFORD & SONS, who performed during the show is signed to GLASSNOTE.

ARCADE FIRE, a MONTREAL CANADA based indie band "won for album of the year -- an unprecedented third straight time an indie label act has taken the top crown," notes the AP. "In all, independent label artists won awards in 45 of 108 categories, the most since 2008, and they accounted 273 of the 542 nominations, up from 231 three years ago, according to THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSIC."

ARCADE FIRE is distributed by MERGE RECORDS, who's founders MAC MCCAUGHAN and LAURA BALLANCE were not prepared for the win, and were in JAPAN on tour supporting their band SUPERCHUNK.

Jazz bassist and vocalist ESPERANZA SPALDING provided the biggest shock of the night, besting JUSTIN BIEBER for the "Best New Artist award. SPALDING is signed with the CONCORD MUSIC GROUP.

"I think the truly sophisticated voters, the member base of (THE RECORDING ACADEMY) ... had no choice but to vote for her. This is an artist that really has undeniable talent and superior musicianship," CONCORD Chief Label Officer GENE RUMSEY told THE AP.

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