Summarize the difference between major and independent recording labels during the rock and roll craze of the 1950s. Address their differences in terms of how they operated, how they responded to the new style of rock & roll and the kind of music in which they specialized.

Key differences between the Major record labels and their Independent more daring counterparts:

i) The majors held the monopolies to music distribution and licensing while the independents struggled for market shares.

ii) The majors had better distribution networks and were generally much more profitable than the independents.

iii) The majors were huge on promotions and tours while the independents were more interested in record sales.

iv) The majors would only promote what they felt was the sure thing while the independents gambled with novel genres that were rather abandoned by the majors.

v) The independents were mostly responsible for the popularization of some rather obscure genres previously neglected by the majors only to have the same majors turn around and play catch up.

vi) The majors were usually very restrictive on their artists forcing them to turn out records at a fairly difficult pace while the independents allowed artists more flexibility in the way they pursue their music career.

vii) The majors were better organized and had more complete assemblage of production members as opposed to the usually short staffed independents.

Explanation:

In the 1950s when the rock and roll music genre was getting into a frenzy, significant differences can be discerned in the modus operandi  of the Major record labels and their Independent more daring counterparts.

The Major labels appeared to be set in their comfortable, more assured ways of doing things while the independents were more willing to gamble with genres abandoned by the big corporate players.

These risks at unpopular but promising niches gave rise to genres like rock and roll and allowed independent labels like Atlantic, Sun and Chess to break the exclusivity of the major corporate record labels and into mainstream music business.

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