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As someone who used to be a musical elitist in high school, I can definitely say that these "indie" kids are definitley full of themselves, as I was when I was younger. Fortunately, I realized that I didn't have to hate Oasis just because they were super-rock stars. (Sure, they're complete asses, but their songs are fucking incredible) If I would have continued on my path, there is no way that I would have ever started listening to half of the music I listen to now.
And just because something is popular doesn't mean it's not indie. There are tons of indie labels out their that are putting shit on MTV. When the Offspring and Rancid exploded in '94, Epitaph Records, their label, came to be the most successful indie label of all time. I think it's incredible that Rancid still, to this day, releases their stuff on Epitaph. It doesn't hurt their sales one bit, and they still maintain the punk, or indie spirit. Same thing with NOFX. And even Dashboard Confessional is still on an indie label, Vagrant. Hell, they even put out an MTV Unplugged album out on that label.
Labels like Vagrant, Epitaph, Fat Wreck Chords, etc. and the bands on them totally deserve respect for what they did. They said "fuck you" to the major labels and all thier shitty little subsidiary labels and DIY'ed it to success. That's what the indie spirit is about.
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