I don't think anyone likes major record labels. Thing is, in the grand scheme of evils in the world, they're rather on the short list. jonnyrolo, you seem to have this idea that major record labels are the enemy. At the end of the day, a major record label only wants to make as much money as possible, like any business. The harm comes from when a record label forces a band to change or water down their sound to appeal to the masses and make more money, thus harming artistic integrity. There is nothing wrong with being signed to a major label as long as you can hold on to that integrity. I would argue that The Clash held on to theirs. There is, however, and advantage of a major label; distribution. More people get to hear what you have to say when you're on a major label. The Clash were able to spread their message to all kinds of people. The Crass, on the other hand, while a good band, were mostly preaching to the choir; their staunchly anti corporate stances led them to mostly play for people who were already also staunchly anti corporate. (I don't want to really get into this but also the Crass' social ideals were moronic at times; while It's commendable that the Crass were able to take the punk anarchy sentiment past it's almost cartoonish Sex Pistols roots into an actual political platform, anarchy will never be a feasible form of government).
Also, the punk scene WAS growing stale, and quickly. Classic punk is a great genre but it's essentially a musical dead end; there are only so many chords you can bash out. By the start of the 80s the original scene had, for the most part, imploded in on itself. The remnants of the original punk scene were picked up and shaped into either post punk or hardcore, depending on what side of the Atlantic you lived on.
Also, another small note. I was about to call out this entire exchange as foolish and detracting from the music, but then I thought about it and remembered the simple fact that punk is really only partially about the music anyway. It's almost equally about ideology.
"Punk ain't no religious cult, punk means thinking for yourself" - The Dead Kennedys
