Exactly. Thanks for proving my point. Clearly the playing field is not level. The only reason that "Grizzly Bear" is not as popular as Maroon 5, is because they dont have the outlet (iTunes or anybody else) in which to present themselves and compete. Maroon 5 is not the hottest thing since sliced bread. Trust me. There are many unsigned artists out there that are just as good and better, and that people would search for and request, and buy songs from, if they had the opportunity. An opportunity that is spawned from the people, music lovers themselves, and not major labels and the FCC.

That's great that "once" a month Apple releases a new indie pack. As if that truly compares to the amount of heavy rotation that major artists receive on iTunes. Not. Sorry to tell you, but that indie pack with 20 new bands once per month, is not getting anybody any significant exposure, nor helping any unsigned musicians to really earn a living from their music. Especially not in comparison to the millions Maroon 5 and others are getting.

Lets take notes from YouTube and Digg.

Look, I see where you're coming from (and I'm irritated that you're treating me like I don't know what I'm talking about), but this is and always has been Apple's achilles' heel. They are not the sort of company that attempts to subvert the mainstream. As a company, in fact, they're practically forbidden from showing any personality, because it goes against their message. That means they've got to side with the masses, give people what they want, and generally dominate the mainstream, because it's what's expected of them.

My point is that Apple's aware of that and does what it can, little as that might be. They use indie music in most of their commercials, promoting an artist at a time (though never anything edgy), they offer free promos of musicians, though not many. That's all they can do. There are thousands of indie artists, Apple can't show them all off, and to be honest most people don't care about them. They care about Maroon 5, because Maroon 5 is easier to swallow.

iTunes isn't trying to make a statement. It's trying to reflect popular opinion. I wouldn't doubt Apple would be glad to be able to show off something more diverse, but our culture isn't diverse and so Apple's not going to do a thing until that changes.

Points taken. Hopefully we can come up with a better formula in the future. The game needs change, and iTunes needs to finally have a viable competitor. Its been great debated with you on here on this topic. By the way, what do you do? Keep posting.