Continuing the music industry to start-up scene analogy as used above, the same could be said for start ups.

I do have to agree with what you said, though. Most mainstream successes really are puppets of the big labels. If you notice, all the songs sound (about) the same sound, same shitty lyrics about whatever, ego-stroking, and bits of flamboyance to flaunt how much money they are making. They all even have the same career trajectory of talk shows, scandals, dating habits etc. Makes me wonder if the labels are, indeed, behind this or if these new "artists" are all just really damn similar.

Lots of good Indie Music out there (in every genre), but too much of it sucks. Surprisingly in the last year or so, T.V commercials have been a decent source for finding good Indie Music. Sam Adams, Sprint, and Cigna commercials all turned me on to great artists that I would have otherwise had no idea existed.