#I love the idea of BB keeping that money in PR - iconic

[statementlou]

To add to your independent post, Billboard considers Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift as Independent Artist because they are not under the Big 3. Bad Bunny is signed as a distribution deal with a Puerto Rican Label and releases in the US under a contract with Universal Latin and another company so it doesnt count as UMG and Taylor is with Republic Records. Billboard does an Independent Artist Chart each week www billboard com/charts/independent-albums/

thank you for this, very interesting!! (about this) I feel like this really shows how stupid this distinction has become, since obviously by any rational metric Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny (and Louis) have major league representation who operate in particular ways that are basically the same as the Big 3 and are playing on the same level. So it makes sense that despite technically being "independent" Louis considers himself a major label artist. He said that he considered going independent, which in the way he means would mean he (/his team) would have to handle promo, manufacturing, distro deals, wrangling with streaming platforms, everything, themselves, and without the infrastructure to just slot into that a big label have, a part of which is the handshake network of ins at radio stations and tv shows etc etc- but to get that he takes on the trade off of having a label who press for hits and for him to do certain things (both of which he mentioned in yesterday's interview wrt BMG who thought BTM was too alternative and that he should press for radio play, but it's worth noting that Louis got his way with BTM and didn't seem too bothered about going out to do the US thing, this isn't SYCO, it's just a little trade off). And the way Louis phrased it ("what I didn’t want to do is go out on my own and then be sat on me rocking chair when I’m 60, 70 going, maybe I should’ve had one more go with a major label") to me says that even though he had made the decision that his priority was to do what he wanted even if it meant not getting hits, he didn't want to cut off the possibility of having it all, the control and the hits. I love how grounded he seems about it all- like yeah wouldn't that be fun and I will try for it within what feels good for me but beyond that, no, and if it doesn't happen NBD. But yeah, he likes the numbers, he wants to fill stadiums, he's said it and I think he'd say it more if people could also believe that he's also good without it instead of latching onto that as unhappiness with anything less. Anyway IDK anything about the Billboard indie chart thing but I can't help but wonder if it used to actually be a chart for artists who were out there doing things small scale and DIY and because of the ridiculousness of this semantic issue is now just always topped by Bad Bunny or whatever. Honestly the definition should get fixed because there are still artists putting things out themselves or on small labels and not going through major distros or having access to major league promo and for them to share a category with these behemoths (Louis included) who are benefitting from corporate connections and handlers just doesn't make any sense. But since the (outdated and useless) definition does remain in place, I will point out that the fact that Louis can claim and play both sides works out quite nicely for him, and you know that's not just happenstance or luck, he's very clever about these things.