The US should create a program for giving grants to independent record labels, similar to successful programs that Canada and the UK have implemented. Some of the most influential, groundbreaking music that American artists have created--like the Ramones, the Velvet Underground, Black Flag, the Pixies and many, many more--has been a labor of love that independent labels (like Motown, Def Jam, and Sub Pop) have undertaken. Turning a profit in music has always faced obstacles, in the past from the near monopoly of the major labels and today in the form of illegal downloading and the legal crypto-piracy of streaming services like Spotify. We should stop treating the music that is invaluable to our lives like a market commodity and begin treating it like the common good that it is.
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