The role of the independent record label in the 21st century is to curate and to catalog music, even through the great multitude of pressures and distractions of society. Their mission is to represent a group of bands that set themselves apart and share an interest in preserving the important aspects of music. In a world where there wasn‰’t an Internet to preview music, one had to solely rely on the name and product of labels to determine what albums to purchase.

Jagjaguwar, the Indiana-based label, was created just like most – to produce albums for a single band. In this case it was the Curious Digit, a relatively unsuccessful band from Charlottesville, Virginia. But the fear from the Curious Digit remained the same for all bands in this situation, having a record label‰’s influence and strong presence in the sound.

But Jagjaguwar didn‰’t just stop at one record label, and in 1999 became partners with the label Secretly Canadian. From that point on, both labels shared office space, staff, and talent. Nowadays, it‰’s often that labels will work within each other to produce side-projects or even completely different bands. More recently, both Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian added a third label, Dead Oceans, to their offices and staff. These three continue to work together and release quality records.

Jagjaguwar has its diversification very high up on its priorities; many bands are progressive, yet some seem to stand still in time. Sunset Rubdown compared to the Cave Singers shows an aggressive yet quiet mix of upbeat, multi-instrumental music versus a simple riff with standard instruments combined with a raspy folk voice and lyrics of rural open space. Also look at Black Mountain, the distorted psychedelic rock band, versus Women, the ambient pop band. One can clearly see that Jagjaguwar picks bands based off more than just a specific sound. Label founders Chris Swanson and Darius Van Arman have discussed how their process of signing a band to the label not only requires listening to demos, live performances, etc., but it also involves creating a personal connection between the band and the label.

Secretly Canadian also has a notorious list of released music. The War On Drugs makes the list of the label‰’s newest and best music, and Jens Lekman and Yeasayer has released most of their discographies on Secretly Canadian. Dead Oceans doesn‰’t have quite as impressive resume, but they do have The Tallest Man on Earth, one of the best contemporary folk musicians in the genre.

Bon Iver definitely is the biggest success story on this progressive label. Justin Vernon released both of his albums under Jagjaguwar because he thought that the label‰’s ideals matched the closest with his own. The rapid commercial success of Bon Iver spoke to the ability of musicians in this era; Vernon produced all his own music and continues to do so. Considering his handful of Grammy noms he just picked up, it‰’s safe to say that Bon Iver is a common name among music enthusiasts, and with his collaborations with Kanye West, St. Vincent, and James Blake he‰’s made a name for himself in the independent community.

This small-town label definitely avoids the pressures of vast media industries. Starting out in a small city made money less of an issue and attention to the music the primary concentration. Although the label‰’s bands seem random, that is in essence the definition of a record label. After all “Jagjaguwar‰” comes from a random “Dungeons and Dragons‰” name generator. The smaller town sound is apparent throughout Jagjaguwar‰’s picks, since most aren‰’t typical and all are unique. Jagjaguwar continues to deliver quality records without the influence of a corporation or an urban setting. After all, it‰’s easy to compete with the others when you‰’re self-dubbed “the mightiest record label on earth.”