Yes they are indies by definition of "not working for a corpo", but clearly there is a big difference between these indies and the regular ones

Regular ones built their brand from ground up, whereas these "indies" have a cheat code that give them extra headstart. If Saba debuted as Saba without being a Holomem beforehand, she would be half as popular as now or even worse, and the stats are even lower for the rest if they didn't join Holo beforehand

So putting them on the same field as other indies feels unfair for the ones who don't have an established fanbase on the fly and discouraging for the ones who have to spend years to have even half the size of Nimi fanbase