Protecting The Small Label Band

I've been spending the evening going over Slowcoustic's 'best of the year' postings. There is some really good stuff over there and I highly recommend spending some time there if you are a fan of the kind of music that drives you to drink. However, I wanted to address this post I found on their site mentioning the desire to protect Bon Iver and Justin Vernon.

When I say “protective”, I mean that sometimes when the light shines bright on the lesser know artists it can feel like they are being drawn away from the listeners that might consider to have “discovered” that artist.

I have seen and heard similar comments before and never really understood it. Popular acceptance means more albums. Commercial success means the ability for the artist to devote more time to their trade. A combination of the two means that major labels might spend a bit more time looking at other groups and artists like Bon Iver and stop hyping the next Brittney Spears album (hey a guy can hope). I can't tell you the number of times I have found some track from a band, gone searching for more and discovered that they folded up shop years ago. A few more successes from the indie world like Bon Iver means that some of those yet to be discovered acts might be able to hang around a little while and turn out another gem or two.

I especially find this desire to protect bands from success rather strange when it comes from a music blog. The very purpose of a music blog is to introduce music to the masses. Hell, that is one of the main reasons why I do the overnight music. I think the world would be a better place if more people listen to groups like Bon Iver, not less.