Controversial music streamer Grooveshark is locked in a nasty lawsuit with Universal Music and an ongoing dispute with EMI. In fact, no major label has an official relationship with Grooveshark. But despite these ongoing battles and widespread criticism, some independent artists and labels are embracing the platform and even finding success there.

Today Grooveshark announced that they had finalized deals with 10 mostly smaller independent labels: Paper + Plastick (Less Than Jake), Warrior Records, 1320 Records, Bang Gang Records, Duckhead Green, Palaver Records, Amplifi Digital, Accendo Media, Dox Records, and Eponymous Entertainment.

And while many indie artists are critical of Grooveshark, others are jumping on board and gaining fans. A recent case study by music marketers Fame House, showed that during a two month promotional partnership with Grooveshark, artist Billy Van added 140,000 YouTube views, 10,000 clicks on Grooveshark’s homepage, 8,000 additional clicks through to http://billyvandubstep.com, and 40,000 song streams.