Amazon got 30 different music companies to work with it on this project.  To be honest, I didn’t recognize any of them (guess I’m not indie enough), but some of the more interesting names are Alligator Records, Bloodshot Records, Epitaph, Fat Possum, Hellcat, Matador, Smithsonian Folkways, Vagrant, and Yep Roc.

And, judging from the official comments of Andy Kotowicz, vice president of sales and marketing at Sub Pop Records, those companies are pretty happy about this collaboration. 

“In this day and age, it’s rare that a retailer carries the full range of our releases, so thank God for Amazon.com,” said Kotowicz.  “They are the perfect partner to help us showcase the scope and breadth of the Sub Pop’s current artists and diverse catalogue.”

From the consumer side, things also look promising.  Nearly 700 “handpicked” titles are available through the Go Indie store; 150 of them are being sold for just $9.99.  A truly interesting feature is the “Indie Artists’ Picks” section, in which Tom Waits recommends material from Bill Hicks and Frank Sinatra (both late and both great, but in very different ways).

One other aspect of the store may rotate in new content, as well; “[t]he ‘Go Indie’ store will also feature video content from six indie artists,” according to Amazon.  The list currently includes the Black Keys, Air, The Shins, Sam Bush, Robyn Hitchcock and CéU.

So, regardless of the connotations, Amazon’s new Go Indie store may have something for just about everybody.