What is indie? To the Wall Street Journal, which had an article on "indie" musicians today, an indie artist is one not signed to a major label. That's a fair definition, and the traditional one. Most people would probably agree.

But in the context of today's shift in artist-enabling technologies, the term "indie artist" could mean just about anything. A singer-songwriter with a great management company and an indie label is an indie artist. A band that plays local pubs on weekends are indie artists. Someone who tours regionally, uses social networking pages to build a community and sells CDs and downloads through CD Baby is an indie artist. The latter two are DIY ("do it yourself") or very close to it. The first example is what I would call top-tier indie.

The focus of the story, Greg Laswell, has had songs "featured in two movies and 11 TV shows, including 'Grey's Anatomy.'" Definitely not DIY. Oh, and Laswell got into Whole Foods' Artist Discovery Series. Absolutely not DIY. By the way, Laswell is managed by Nettwerk Music Group (which also represents Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies, Josh Rouse and Jars of Clay) and records for Vanguard Records.

The article is indicative of a common misunderstanding about the many roles performed in an artist's career. Artists can succeed without a major label, but a decent career is going to be hard to achieve without the other traditional components: manager, lawyer, booking agent, publisher, web designer and maybe indie label. As you can see, an indie artist is independent only of a major label contract, not of agents, consultants, representation or standard expenses that take up their share of the artist's income.

I get the impression that people think any ol' Tom, Dick or Harry can call up the music supervisor of "Grey's Anatomy" and get a song into an episode, or that those handful of career-changing music supervisors are always serendipitously stumbling across complete unknowns and placing songs in their series. But even though one facet of a career may have changed -- the type of record label -- the name of the game is still relationships and getting your phone calls returned. Major labels have relationships with the most brick-and-mortar retailers. They cornered the market and are a requisite for wide distribution. Music distribution has changed, obviously, but there are still plenty of gatekeepers to get through.