Smaller indie labels are still gatekeepers. In this age, the benefit you describe is gone because there is no longer any reason to be buying music without first listening to it.
That's not really true. There are time constraints and filtering out the good music can be a difficult proposition in 1 in 100 kind of scenario at best.. it's fatiguing.
Many djs, for example, rely heavily on labels to curate their offerings and once they find a label they like, they pay more attention to whatever they release than random discoveries.
But what's the reason to be listening to the music you never heard before?
There is something like 20 milion different tracks in the wild. Why listen this unknown band with icky name (they all are) and not to something other in those 20 millions?
You still need to be pitched with the band to make you try listening to it.
