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The vinyl movement is an interesting element of indie/hipster culture. It is objectively and scientifically a lower quality per volume it can reach before sounding god awful. I understand it is a lot to do with people's interactivity with it. The care it takes and the added work to play might speak to peoples desire to interact with it. .....
Could the indie scenes growth be due to the reduction in the profitability the major labels?.................
Not sure exactly what you mean in the second setence, but...... While I wouldn't totally discount some of the other factors you mention, I'd say that most people on this Hi Fi related site who listen to vinyl do it because in the end it can sound great. Well-produced vinyl on a decent setup is fantastic. Sure, it can be a little more finicky than other formats, but that can also appeal to the gadget/gearhead in us as well.
Later on you said you were getting a lot of surface noise and asked what would be a good setup. Haven't been personally looking for equipment in a while, but I think entry level stuff from Rega and Project is well-regarded, and I can personally vouch for Music Hall turntables. But the thing is, if you were finding vinyl really noisy, it could have been just poorly manufactured LP's, and no equipment could fix that. That's why it's a fun hobby, there's a lot that goes into it, and if you prefer simple plug and play, it's probably not for you. Lots of HF enthusiasts have tried it and then just gotten out because they just found it a hassle. But anyway, people who like vinyl aren't necessarily just doing it to try and be cool, ha ha.
On the indie/non-indie topic, it's been done to death. You're probably overthinking it a bit if you think Doug Martch's massive beard might be a result of some major label's balance sheet. I'm of the age where much of the rock type music I listen to could be considered 'Indie', and I all can really say is, it's just (some of) the counterculture music of the time. It really just comes down to the music. You know it when you hear it/see it. A few quotes regarding music genres:
'It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line.' Duke Ellington
'There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.' Duke Ellington
That's not to say that genres don't help narrow down and aid discussion, there's nothing wrong with that. It just doesn't need to be taken too too seriously. Anyway, I'll be trolling this tread looking for newer bands to check out, since I'm not so up on the current scene. The good kind of trolling, not the other kind, ha.
