What's in a name?

By signing just two companies to  Music- Merlin Network and Beggars Group- Apple has secured over 20,000 “indie” labels and their artists.

Here’s my question….

If you’re a brand that represents over 120,000 labels and artists (as Merlin reports to do), at what point are you no longer “indie?"

Sony music’s wikipedia page only lists a few hundred artists.  No small feat, but no where near the 20,000 that Merlin and Beggars are bringing to the table.

And yes, none of this changes the fact that and one of Sony’s top acts are probably earning more and getting more exposure than most of Merlin’s or Beggar’s artists (although I hear Adele does pretty well for herself…) but my point is really this.  At what point does “indie” become just a marketing term?  Like “craft” in beer.  

Oh, and by the way, for the TRUE indie artists,  Music is the best thing that could happen.  At 71.5% take for self-published albums is huge.  The ability for ANY artist to create and engage through Connect is huge.  Look close and you’ll realize that  Music is leveling the playing field unlike any other service out there.

But that’s just my opinion...