Singer Tori Amos put an end to her six-year collaboration with Epic Records urging fellow artists to "stop being dependent ... on any system that has become undependable."

According to the artist's manager, John Witherspoon, Amos followed the example of "many of her contemporaries," trying to devise "new and exciting ways of getting her music to the masses without the boundaries and limitations of the major music companies."

The 44-year-old singer/pianist, who has been working within the major-label system for the past 22 years, first for Atlantic and then for Epic, has "chosen the path of independence for her next work," Witherspoon told Billboard.

Amos explained her decision in a statement posted on her website saying "Artists need not fear structure, we just have to design and partner with expansive ideas."

"It is time for us as artists to stop being dependent, dependent on any system that has become undependable. Only then can we help to create a new system that propagates and secures independence for each creator," she added.

Currently writing a musical for the British  National Theatre as well as a graphic novel inspired by her work, the Grammy-winning singer is set to start working on her upcoming album sometime this summer. Described by her manager as "a project of new music and visuals," the record is scheduled for a Spring 2009 release.