As we continue the Mondo tradition of this important opening panel, Variety Executive Music Editor Jem Aswad kickstarts our Mondo 2025 conference with a panel of industry experts and provocateurs.

How have indies evolved to compete in today’s music environment? From adapting to a streaming-dominated market, the migration of physical to chiefly vinyl, navigating D2C and other revenue streams, and the changed working environment and lack of artist touring during the pandemic, today’s indies are operating markedly different businesses than only a half-decade ago.

What are the advantages to artists to work with indies? Has the economics of a frothy new artist signing climate affected indies? How do indies compete and continue to offer a different value proposition from majors, service companies or distributors?

We’ll also look at what the pandemic has taught us unique to our business that we can utilize in future years; competing in a DSP-dominated streaming business; the roles of press and radio for indie labels and their artists; and the roles of digital and conventional distributors.