The music industry loves to paint a grim picture. Artists get screwed. Streaming pays pennies. Labels extract everything they can and leave musicians broke. But here’s the thing: that story only works if you’re talking about major labels. Independent record labels, it turns out, are actually doing something different—and a new study has the receipts to prove it.
A groundbreaking report from ORCA (Organisation for Recorded Culture and Arts) just dropped findings that should fundamentally reshape how artists think about signing deals. Independent labels return 77% of all profits directly to artists. Yeah, you read that right. More than three-quarters. That’s not just better than major labels—it’s a completely different business model. 1
And here’s the kicker: some of the biggest names in the study are legendary independent electronic music labels. Ninja Tune, XL Recordings, Secretly Group—these aren’t faceless corporate entities. They’re the labels that broke artists like Four Tet, SOPHIE, Burial, and Fatboy Slim.
The Numbers That Matter
In 2023, nine major independent labels—including electronic imprints XL Recordings and Ninja Tune alongside Secretly Group, Partisan, and others—invested $134 million into 569 artists. That money went everywhere: production, marketing, tour support, distribution. These weren’t vanity investments either. The labels generated $239 million in revenue from that investment, meaning the model actually works.
Break it down per artist and you’re looking at $236,197 in average investment per act. For context, that’s more than most electronic artists will make in a decade of grinding it out independently on SoundCloud and Beatport alone.
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“Independent labels have always championed a long-term mindset,” says Patrick Clifton, Executive Director at ORCA. “This report shows how this approach provides tangible and meaningful returns for artists, while sustaining a business model that benefits culture, the economy and society more broadly.”
Translation: They’re not trying to squeeze one hit out of you and move on. They’re betting on building something that lasts.
Electronic Music’s Independent Label Legacy
Electronic music has always been different. From Detroit techno’s Underground Resistance to Berlin’s Ostgut Ton to London’s Ninja Tune, the underground dance music world built itself on independent labels that prioritized artistic vision over commercial calculation. These labels didn’t just release music—they created movements.
What the ORCA report shows is that this ethos actually translates into better artist payments. When you’re running a label built on credibility with the underground electronic music community, you can’t just ghost artists on royalties or bury them in recoupment fees. Your reputation is everything.
Ninja Tune, founded in 1990, has released artists like Amon Tobin, Bonobo, and Andy Weatherall. XL Recordings, established in 1989, signed The Prodigy, Thom Yorke, and Adele (before she blew up and basically funded the label). These are institutions that survived on artist relationships, not on exploitation.
The Indie Label Advantage
Here’s where independent labels actually separate themselves from the major label machine. The money doesn’t just come from streaming. While Spotify makes up 59.5% of revenue, independent labels are pulling 25.9% from physical sales and 7.4% from sync licensing. That’s revenue diversification that matters when the streaming landscape is absolutely saturated—there are over 202 million tracks on audio streaming services right now, with 99,000 new tracks uploaded daily. 2
Physical sales, in particular, tell you something about how independent labels operate. They’re not chasing TikTok algorithms. They’re building actual communities around music. The 25.9% figure they’re pulling from vinyl, CDs, and cassettes is way above the industry average of 16.4%.
For electronic music specifically, this is huge. Vinyl sales for electronic and dance music have exploded. Limited edition pressings, colored vinyl, box sets—these are the things that keep independent electronic labels afloat while building direct relationships with collectors and fans. That’s not an accident. That’s culture.
The Artist Growth Reality
But here’s what actually matters: do artists actually see their careers grow? The ORCA report tracked this obsessively. Artists on these nine labels saw their Spotify followers jump by an average of 44% between 2023 and 2025. Independent labels are hitting about 0.67 additional Spotify followers for every dollar invested in artist development. In a world where visibility is the actual currency, that’s significant.
“Through it all, the constant has been independent record labels doing the heavy lifting,” says Anna Bond, Director of Planning and Initiatives at Secretly Distribution. “Not only to keep up with these changes and to get important musical recordings to market, but to invest money, time, and energy to develop artists—in the truest sense of that word.”
Why This Matters for Electronic Music Right Now
The EDM world is fragmented. Major labels own Spinnin’ Records, Ultra Music, and Astralwerks. Independent labels like Armada Music, Mad Decent, and Monstercat dominate the rest. But here’s the problem: smaller EDM labels often operate on a different model entirely. You sign, they release your track, and you’re lucky if you ever see a check. They’re betting on exposure, not payment.
The ORCA report proves this doesn’t have to be the case. When independent electronic music labels like Ninja Tune and XL operate with transparency and artist-first models, they generate massive revenue and artist growth. They prove that credibility, artist investment, and profitability aren’t contradictory goals.
For a DJ or producer trying to decide whether to send your EP to a major label, an independent electronic imprint, or a micro-label, the data is clear. Go where the artist alignment is.
What Independent Labels Are Actually Building
The genius of the independent label model isn’t complicated. It’s just actually aligned with artists’ interests. These labels invest comprehensively—production, mastering, artwork, marketing, booking support for tours and festival placements, DJ pool submissions, Beatport support. Revenue from every source flows back into the pot. 33.5% of all revenue goes directly to artists. Profits are split with 77% going back to the artist ecosystem. 3
That’s not charity. That’s not some indie label martyrdom complex. That’s a business model that works because artist success and label success are the same thing.
At a time when Spotify pays out roughly 70% of its revenue to the industry overall, but individual artists see far less due to label overhead and recoupment, independent labels offer a radically transparent alternative. You know what you’re getting. You know how the money flows. You know the label wins when you win.
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The Bottom Line
The ORCA report doesn’t prove that every independent label is perfect or that signing with one guarantees success. What it does prove is that a sustainable business model exists where artists aren’t getting systematically exploited. That model is real. It’s profitable. It’s working for hundreds of artists right now.
In electronic music specifically, where the independent label tradition runs deepest, the data backs up what the underground has always known: labels built on credibility, artist investment, and long-term thinking aren’t just more ethical—they’re actually more successful.
For musicians trying to navigate the modern music landscape, that’s not just encouraging. It’s essential information.
- https://www.orcaformusic.com/s/ORCA-Report-2.pdf ↩︎
- https://dittomusic.com/en/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream ↩︎
- https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/orca-independent-music-labels-return-a-third-of-revenue-to-artists/093158 ↩︎
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