[winternett]

Most people don't search for "Independent Music" on platforms, they look at what's displayed on the font page and their time lines... Independent artists don't make it on to either of those unless they pay a lot of money to be displayed there, still most can't match the higher amounts that big labels and sponsors can pay to be displayed first because there's no guarantee of ROI.

I'm not speaking from inexperience, I'm a musician and label owner myself.

You may see indie music on sites like YouTube now, that's because that's what you've previously searched for, but most others have no idea of where to start in finding obscure bands they'd like and the recommendation algos only provide default picks unless you search for specific artists, there's also a ton of drivel to sort through before you find the right artists, supermarkets and gas stations only play major artists on repeat all day -- that's why the streaming numbers are so vastly lower for pop versus indie musicians, and a lot of people are completely worn out on the process of trying to find good music they like.