i totally understand you're POV. been there, done that - i called it college haha.
i think there's one other downside to the way you describe independent music though. where you're spot on about how anyone with a mic can release music, it also makes it really easy for groups to simply disappear. i'm not saying it's a reason to abandon looking for new stuff. but it can be disheartening for someone starting out to find a great band online and then - poof. a webpage that never updates again and knowledge of an album you'll never get unless you travel to a remote little town somewhere on the other side of the planet.
like you said, it's like a drug. some people will keep chasing the dragon. others will chose to walk away. and others, like the bearcat implied, will simply use their knowledge to assert some level of perceived intellectual superiority over their peers to cover up some other insecurity from within their psyches.
i think there's one other downside to the way you describe independent music though. where you're spot on about how anyone with a mic can release music, it also makes it really easy for groups to simply disappear. i'm not saying it's a reason to abandon looking for new stuff. but it can be disheartening for someone starting out to find a great band online and then - poof. a webpage that never updates again and knowledge of an album you'll never get unless you travel to a remote little town somewhere on the other side of the planet.
like you said, it's like a drug. some people will keep chasing the dragon. others will chose to walk away. and others, like the bearcat implied, will simply use their knowledge to assert some level of perceived intellectual superiority over their peers to cover up some other insecurity from within their psyches.