I"m not saying there aren't tons of bands that put creative freedom over a few bucks, but I doubt there are any who wouldn't trade in their indie respect for Maroon 5 level success. See what I'm saying?

Because success is measured in the amount of people who listen to you?

Yes 100%.

Perhaps not to each individual personally, in fact more often then not probably not.

But in terms of perception of success yes 100% and perception is reality.

The point of making music is sharing it with feel and sharing the impact it can have, so obviously the more people you expose your sound to the higher the potential for success and validation.

But that's the whole point success is whatever you want it to be. If it wasn't your goal in the first place then it isn't really a success. To me and many people selling tons of records =/= success. Making a good one does.

Personally I'd take the millions over a slight feeling of satisfaction...

Well to some people being creative and having fun is more than just a slight sense of satisfaction. If every band held your attitude music would be composed entirely of pop crap.

Considering the number of great mainstream bands...Not currently(There are quite a few though), I would say it's possible. Like I said there are a lot of bands which just don't make the type of music big labels are looking for, and won't because they just plain can't.

So basically what you're saying is indie music can be summed up in two categories.

1. Bands that want to be Maroon 5
2. Bands that aren't talented enough to be Maroon 5

1. I'm using Maroon 5 as an example.
2. I'm not saying they aren't as talented(Although Adam Levine is a great hook writer), they just don't have the right sound.

Okay then, let me fix it.

So basically what you're saying is indie music can be summed up in two categories.

1. Bands that want to be a pop band
2. Bands that aren't talented enough to be a pop band