Now thinking about baseball teams in the dark days of the reserve clause, minor and major league teams also realized revenues through selling contracts to bigger, wealthier teams. To look at revenue as strictly items downloaded or in retail misses the other opportunities to realize revenue. An independent record company should perhaps keep in mind Sam Phillips and Sun Records (or the Chess Brothers or other regional independents) who found talent, recorded single after single to see what hits, and then profited on the sale of the masters and recording contract. Let's also note that it's easier to find the capital for a two song session than for an entire album's worth of recording, let alone the issue of how quickly can a band write and record 10 great tracks.

The road for independents has always been rough. My sense is that a developing model of digital single downloads holds more flexibility for an independent than the old model where vinyl or shiny disks are pressed and held in inventory waiting for a possible customer. Independents are supposed to be closer to the street, doesn't digital offer a more rapid way to respond to demand?