[bwethera]

In a series of awkward ideas i thought if it were even possible to eliminate the need for a record label and the relationship it has formed with artist and consumers a couple of things come to mind in this:
1 The whole point of a label on any scale is to distribute, fiance and sell an artist work
2 the offer something no one on itunes or myspace can, focus based marketing again the scale is irrelevant. an artist does not have the time or the resource to create synergy and a niche for itself some time once in a great while a group does this on its own but it is not standard fare and sometimes like in the case of discord this DIY legend status doesn't take hold until many years later.
3 A label can afford to do what you cant avoid and out spend market saturation
basically any act you name has been able to avoid this in some way or any other b/c some one else is handling everything else besides touring and the overall music aesthetic.
4 On the major players end they are on a whole owned by a larger group be it viacom or a group of board members it will find a way to adapt

5 same with Indies due to the vision of the group or individual will find a way to appeal to is current sub culture or a way to utilize new technology

*also it should be noted a number of Indies are now what they call boutique labels or funded by major labels or owned by them

6 distributors will only deal with an entity that can either fiance a record or has a history of being able to move units try to get in with southern or Caroline without being incorporated

7 sub culture appeal is apart of a label as much as it is apart of a band that is why in general they sign artist in the same movement making it easier for you to expand off of one artist

I am sure there is more but i cannot extrapolate on how entertainment economics interact with changes in the market further without more thought