I understand what you are saying here, but some punk ideology is ignorant and self sacrificing.
All ideologies do, perfection isn't a destination, it's a concept used to motivate and improve.
The story goes that Op Ivy disbanded because of the success they were getting and were offered a record contract, no? Then 2 of the members go on to form one of the most successful punk bands ever in Rancid. Turning down money which could be used to spread your message seems rather dumb when you look at the big picture.
Rancid turned down a huge offer from Madonna, she also sent nudes pics of her (implying there would be sexual perks involved as well). Instead Tim started Hellcat records and they did things for themselves... Tim must be loaded by now.
Fame is a funny thing. If you like your space and anonymity then it can be a nightmare. Fame is a type of power, and power tends to corrupt. There's nothing wrong with living a blue-collar life. I can understand why Jesse wouldn't want that kind of a life for himself, but it's really unfortunate as a fan. If Tim was able to retain the rights for that album (that Lookout records own) then it would still be in almost every music store in the world.
Pearl Jam were gods in the early 90's. Eddie Vedder couldn't take it, they stopped making videos, refused to work with ticketmaster and went on strike, they stopped releasing singles, then finally they just totally changed their style. To some people fame is a nightmare. PJ was able to make a lot of positive changes in the musical world by providing alternatives to ticketmaster, but it almost drove Eddie off the deep end.
Turning down money from major labels comes from the "one dollar one vote" ideology. We should try and spend our money responsibly, and for the same reason we should also try to earn it responsibly. I can fully understand not wanting to make money for companies that you disagree with.
The three big major labels are Universal, Sony, & Warner Brothers, they have many smaller subdivision labels.
Universal is owned by Vivendi. A French media conglomerate. They own TV stations, large media publications, film studios, phone companies, video game companies, French version of ticketmaster etc. Does anyone start playing music to make billionaires richer? Certainly no punk rocker ever has. Why share your profits with them?
Universal is another massive company whose board and directors surely looks down on punks as the scum of society. Sony owns banks. That company is huge, I wouldn't want to share my profits with them, why not support the scene. Offspring, Rancid & NOFX reached massive success, on their own terms. Bad Religion worked with a major label, they did it on their own terms, and it got them the global distribution rights that they were unable to obtain otherwise, due to politics. That was unfortunate but the system is set up that way, sometimes punks have to work with them.
Punk planet magazine did an entire issue about major labels, with interviews from almost every punk/emo/ska band that signed with a major in the 90's. Courtney Love also did a scathing breakdown of the way the labels work, when Metallica was whining about Napster. She said 95% of the bands only make money from touring, she encouraged pirating since it was just stealing from the labels, and then she encouraged people to go see live bands instead. She was a terrible person but that was the best thing she ever said/wrote.
The labels give you a contract for say $100,000 (if you're a successful band) Out of that contract they take money to pay for the recording of the album, then they take out money to pay for the marketing campaign, which the band has no say over. By the time everything is done, and the remaining money is divided up by the band members they're making maybe $10k each. All their money comes from touring, and even then the promoters, and ticketmaster, and the labels are all taking their share of the profit. People think boxing and mma promoters are bad (and they're right) but major labels can be pretty fucking evil too.
Not to mention the power the labels have over the band, do you know how many bands have had their albums rejected because the label doesn't like the direction they're going? It's fairly common. Also the labels have managers who represent approximately 50-100 bands each. When they get a popular band, or if you're making obscure music like punk/ska you can often end up at the bottom of the pack, fighting for attention.
Sorry for the novel, but it's a complex subject
