Is calling a band "indie" based on what type of label they are on or i!
Question: I have seen a few questions about indie lately and I don't really understand. For instance, Buckcherry is on an indie label, but I don't consider them "indie". Rilo Kiley is on an indie label and I think their sound agrees with that. How do you define indie? Label or sound?
Answers: I have seen a few questions about indie lately and I don't really understand. For instance, Buckcherry is on an indie label, but I don't consider them "indie". Rilo Kiley is on an indie label and I think their sound agrees with that. How do you define indie? Label or sound?
For me growing up, Indie was label based and pretty much only played on college radio. The line blurred a little bit when bands like R.E.M. & Sonic Youth crossed over and had some major success. The line blurred a little more with the alternative explosion of the 90s.
Now it seems to be classification by sound, not label, for the most part. I tend to gravitate more towards the label designation due to what I grew up with. there are valid arguments on both sides....but I tend to stick more towards the label
Indie is SUPPOSE to be based on label only, and shouldn't be a music genre, but there's a specific alternative folk rockish sound that is now associated with indie and bands that are no longer or never part of an indie label (Snow Patrol, Modest Mouse etc.) still get labeled indie.
Genuine Indie is supposed to mean like good alternative/rock bands that are sort of underground and not mainstream and not a lot of people know about them. A lot of great music though.
It's actually kinda funny. Fall Out Boy and Paramore aren't considered "indie," even though they are on an independent label, yet The Hush Sound, who's also on Fueled By Ramen, is often said to be "indie." Death Cab For Cutie and Hot Hot Heat aren't on independent labels, yet they're somehow "indie." And they don't sound anything alike, so I don't see how "indie" defines a certain sound. Some people define "indie" as stuff that doesn't get played on the radio or MTV, but Silversun Pickups's is on an independent label, and even though their song "Lazy Eye" is basically everywhere, they're still categorized as "indie." Honestly, I don't think the word "indie" means much anymore.
The term "indie" was originally used to describe a band on an individual record label rather than one of the main record labels. However recently the term has started to be used to describe the music itself. The original "indie" band originated in the 80's when they wanted to be different from all the bands who use synthesisers in there music.
I knew GCSE music would come in handy one day, lol.
Great question. Mostly, it's about the style of music. It just so happens that several of those bands are on independent labels. Perhaps more than anything, it refers to a body of music that is somewhat below the mainstream's attention. The other trend I've noticed during the past couple of years is how modern day indie is reminding me a lot more of adult alternative. The lines become even blurry when you consider a performer like Liz Phair. I miss the days when indie was raw and loud, like back in the 80's and most of the 90's. Today, it's all about Rilo Kiley and Cold War Kids <yawn>. The funny thing is that I'm not really a fan of Buckcherry. They'll never be confused for being indie. Yet, there are times I wish the current crop of indie bands had a little more Buckcherry in them. Isn't that crazy?
The answer is both. There is the indie rock genre, which you described and indie music which is simply bands that are on an indie label. I tend to go with the indie sound when I refer to indie bands since I find the term doesn't really have much descriptive power when you're talking about it in an independent sort of a way. That has been the major impact of the strides in low budget recording. I know a guy, for instance, who can make his little set up in his garage sound like it's out of a professional studio. It used to actually make a sound distinction if you didn't have a major label and their money backing you. That is no longer the case. Therefore bands like Fall Out Boy can make a record on an indie label and have it sound just as legit as if it had come from Capital or Dream Works or what have you.
There is an indie rock sound, and as ambiguous as it is, it's the term that they ran with so I'll use that personally, but I get that it isn't the best way of going about classifying it. With the way it works these days between the recording industry and the way that it is easier to get the distribution that you need indie as far as labels go should be looked at in a new light. It's a much different landscape than it was 10 years ago. Some indie labels now-a-days have as much street cred and name recognition as a lot of the heavy hitters. That and conversely, the name brand recognition doesn't seem to mean what it used to. If anything, it seems to lean towards the indie label's advantage, as unlike the major labels, often the indie labels stay within a sound and have fan bases of their own. An indie label could fesably have as much industry power as a major label in some cases, just less money and no big unbrella corporation to be a division of.
Anyways, I guess the answer is both. Though when I refer to an indie band personally I'm referring to the sound, and it always looks funny to me when I see someone write "indie bands, like Fall Out Boy."
Indie in strict terms means they are on an indie label. But in the past few years Indie has come to sort of replace the term alternative, which became very diluted and meaningless because everyone claimed to be (or were labeled) "alternative."
Nirvana is the perfect example...they were called alternative even though their first album had a mega hit that was played on every manner of station. How is that alternative?? (To my understanding, the orgin of the term alternative was that it was an alternative to what is being played on the radio.)
So now, in a general way, indie means what alternative used to mean.....music that is not played on the radio or part of mainstream popular rock or pop.
indie is label to good rock bands that only cool underground people know about.when a band becomes bid , the corporate music whores use this term to say "hey this band was cool before and we discovered them".
Indie rock is a supposed genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground music scene. Used of independent film companies in the 1920s, the term "indie" is used to incorrectly describe the sound of music in regards to the artist's affiliation with independent labels. In no way does it accurately set parameters for the sound of the music. "Indie rock" is shorthand for "independent rock", for many of its artists are or were unsigned or signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. It is not strictly a genre of music (although the term is often used to reference the sound of specific bands and the bands they have influenced), but is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists and styles, connected by some degree of allegiance to the values of underground culture, counterculture, and (usually) describable as rock music. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include lo-fi, post-rock, sadcore, C86, and math rock, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include shoegazing and indie pop.
Indie rock artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some end up moving to major labels, often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success.
about indie labels....
An independent record label (or indie record label) is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels.
The boundaries between major and independent labels, and the definitions of each, differ from commentator to commentator. In practice, however, the traditional definition of a 'major' record label is one that owns its own distribution channel. Some independent record labels, in particular those with successful performing artists, sign dual-release agreements (and make other deals) with major labels and may rely to some extent on international licensing deals, distribution agreements, and other arrangements with major record labels. Major labels may also wholly or partially acquire independent labels.
*so basically, indie is not strictly the music or sound or genre itself, it's about being independent, or creating your own style.
-hope this helps
by definition it is based on label, that is why there is such a range in music, i.e. "Beirut" vs. "shout out louds" vs. "regina spektor"--all indie artists with entirely different sounds--- so, no one can ever say "i listen to indie"--that doesn't explain anything other than they are a poser and trying to be cool..