Top 10 Indie songs of the century

The concept

The Top 10 Songs by independent-label artists, since 2001

Fans of independent-label and unsigned bands and soloists are asked to rattle off one to five nominations for this fun music poll. MyWikiBiz will compile the final list of nominees, then set up a public voting process, and do all the layout and audio sampling work from that point onward. Just so we're clear, the songs you nominate should be original music performed by artists who have not ever signed with one of the four major labels (which account for 85% of music sales in the United States), nor any of their imprint subsidiaries. Thus, we must exclude any song released by a band or performer who has ever been under contract with:

The Big Four labels

Universal Music Group

The Universal Music Group sells more music than any other major label. They accounted for 25.5% of the market in 2005, according to IFPI. The group's well-known label imprints include:

• Geffen
• Interscope
• Island
• Motown
• Universal

Sony BMG Music Entertainment

Sony BMG Music Entertainment is the second biggest major record label in music sales. They accounted for 21.5% of the market in 2005. The company's well-known label imprints include:

• Arista
• Columbia
• Epic
• J
• Jive
• RCA

EMI Group

The EMI Group is the third biggest major record label in music sales. They accounted for 13.4% of the market in 2005. The group's well-known label imprints include:

• Astralwerks
• Capitol
• EMI
• Mute
• Virgin

Warner Music Group

The Warner Music Group is the fourth major record label in music sales. They accounted for 11.3% of the market in 2005. The group's well-known label imprints include:

• Asylum
• Atlantic
• Lava
• Reprise
• Rhino
• Warner Bros.

How to nominate

The song should have been released after January 1, 2001. (Yeah, I'm still a stickler for the new century not having started until 2001, not 2000.) Please pick the songs based on what you consider to be the "best" songwriting, musicianship, and production, in the aggregate sense.

Registered Centiare Users: In the space below, submit the song, the artist, the year released, the recording label (to confirm it's not owned by one of the Big Four), and if possible a link to where a sample of the song might be heard for free on the Internet. This is not a vote, but rather the nomination process. (We will put these to a vote later -- probably on a site like Vizu.com, or maybe here on Centiare with a widget script for polling!)

Centiare Visitors: You may e-mail your nominations to greg@centiare.com, and your nomination will appear in this space in short order.

The nominees

Please model the format of the previous nominations.

• Artificial Light, by Rainer Maria (2001) from Polyvinyl Records. *Listen here*

• Belong, by Deccatree (2004) from Asphalt Palms. *Listen here*

• Just Breathe, by Rachel Fuller (2006) from Barnes & Noble. *Listen here*

• Our Velocity, by Maximo Park (2007) from Warp Records. *Listen here*

• Out of the Low Times, by Alexi in Winter (2001) from Garageband.com. *Listen here*

• Transmitter, by Spiraling (2002) from Brizmuzik. *Listen here*

• Where Are You Now, by The Hint (2006) from ZK Productions. *Listen here*

---

ADD MORE NOMINEES alphabetically by Song Title, above the line.