It turns out that 2006 was a cracking year for some of the indie labels. Two thirds of UK albums achieving Silver status – that’s selling more than 60,000 copies – were from independents.  On top of this, 8 acts on indie labels went on to hit Gold status – the big 100,000 mark.

The Association of Independent Music has criticised supermarkets, who as any Art Brut fan will tell you, only stock records that have charted, for stocking policies that rely heavily on major label releases.

Whether or not Tesco ceasing sales of CD singles and the other developments surrounding changing chart rules have anything to bear on indie success in 2007 is yet to be seen, but with indie labels frequently being fronts for the majors to add a quick veneer of underground cool to something they’re throwing vast amounts of cash and promotional weight behind, whether or not “true” indie labels are punching above their weight is up for debate.