Independent labels and artists received slightly more than half of the nominations for the 2011 Grammy Awards, according to an analysis by indie trade group A2IM: Out of 542 total nominations, 273 were for indie artists.

The most obvious indie nominations include the Arcade Fire — whose Merge release The Suburbs is up for Album of the Year, in addition to two other nominations — and Best New Artist nominees Mumford & Sons (Glassnote) and Esperanza Spalding (HeadsUp). But heritage and genre artists including Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock and Los Lobos also have independent releases that were nominated.

2010 Grammy nominees

A2IM noted that categories dominated by indies includes Best Pop Instrumental Album, Best Electronic/Dance Album, Best Latin Rock Album, and all of the Jazz, Classical, Reggae, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass and Folk categories. Indie label groups Concord and Naxos led the pack with received 20 nominations each.

Photos: Inside the Grammy Nominations Concert

Indie Artists & Labels Grab 50% Of Grammy Nominations [Hypebot via The Daily Swarm]

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