Independent Music Wins 50% Of 2014 Grammys

Independent music took home 50 % of the awards at last nights 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the highest percentage of wins since indie label trade group A2IM began tracking the awards in 2006. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won in four categories, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album, for their independently released album, The Heist. Accepting one of his Grammys, Macklemore said, "we made it independently and appreciate all the support."

This year marked the sixth consecutive year that independent labels and artists led the industry with 50% of all nominations, earning 199 of 398 non-producer nominations.

"Independents take the risks, start every music trend, every new genre but sometimes its easy to forget that independents also bring the hits. From Macklemore to Vampire Weekend to all of the important genre category winners who make music listening so much more rich and interesting" said A2IM Vice President Jim Mahoney in a statement follwoing the awards.

Concord Music Group led the indie label pack with its artists winning six Grammy Awards including Best Blues Album, Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best American Roots Song.

XL Recording's Kris Chen said of Vampire Weekend's win for Best Alternative Album, "XL Recordings is so proud of Vampire Weekend for their Grammy win. They created the best album of their career so far, and certainly the best album released last year."

Said Naxos USA CEO Jeff Van Driel, who counted two label Grammys and two more for projects distributed by Naxos: "It no longer seems to be a question of whether independent labels will fare well at the Grammy Awards. To that point, the Naxos of America distribution family includes hundreds of independent classical, world, and jazz labels that continue to get the attention of the Academy voters and this year is no exception."

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