The reason is because there was no other outlet that had the ability to make them rich and famous overnight. The major labels controlled all of the media outlets until the internet came along.
Nowadays hardly any band would choose a major label over a large independent. There is no benefits anymore. Anyone can reach that critical mass of users without having to use Rolling Stone or MTV.
The people that sign to major labels, for the most part, want to be rich and famous. They aren't trying to make a career out of their music but more a career out of themselves. If not then they would be playing a local club in New Hampshire on the weekends.
So, in my opinion, it's more about the artists being retards. They see that major labels are a fast track to millions of records being sold. They don't want to spend years in clubs to gain traction. They don't want to sell CDs out of their cars. They don't want to save up to produce their own record. They want to take the easy way out and have someone else do the work. It is their own fault for signing a major label contract that takes advantage of them. If they are incapable of seeing better outlets for their music then they deserve to deal with the horrible circumstances of being on a big label.
Nowadays hardly any band would choose a major label over a large independent. There is no benefits anymore. Anyone can reach that critical mass of users without having to use Rolling Stone or MTV.
The people that sign to major labels, for the most part, want to be rich and famous. They aren't trying to make a career out of their music but more a career out of themselves. If not then they would be playing a local club in New Hampshire on the weekends.
So, in my opinion, it's more about the artists being retards. They see that major labels are a fast track to millions of records being sold. They don't want to spend years in clubs to gain traction. They don't want to sell CDs out of their cars. They don't want to save up to produce their own record. They want to take the easy way out and have someone else do the work. It is their own fault for signing a major label contract that takes advantage of them. If they are incapable of seeing better outlets for their music then they deserve to deal with the horrible circumstances of being on a big label.
Sorry this is so long.