What Does “Indie Music” Even Mean?

Indie music has slowly been losing more and more of its meaning and I'm here to yap about it

THANKS FOR WATCHING!

#indiemusic

[Joseph-usti]

When someone says "i listen to indie" i think they're trying to say "experimental" or "not very well known" music

[bilbobaggins]

EXACTLY IT MEANS NOTHING. "I listen to a lot of indie" Yeah that tells me absolutely nothing

[danrandlehandle]

Indie is more of a “vibe” nowadays lmao

[dxtxzbunchanumbers]

context collapse. it's the same as what happened with "alt"/"alternative" in the 1990s. the thing that strikes me is that "indie" used to connotate a very "guitars on a four track or GTFO" and today it's moved on to become very melodic with layered synth/effect lines, almost entirely because of DAW-based recording and specialized guitar pedals. What I'd really like to know, though, is when did the actual inflection happen?

[NOCTACRY]

i thought indie just meant the artist(s) aren't signed to a record label

[leightonslang]

"Underground" Hip-Hop has lost its meaning as well it seems.

[youprettywow]

I don't think indie has ever been useful as a genre term.

[Cayla]

I've always assumed that indie/underground just means not popular. This is fascinating if Glass Animals and Billie Eilish are considered indie lol

[nadavshabat]

same with alternative like how is alternative pop even exist it literally controdicts itself

[tristandaries]

Having Tame Impala on the thumbnail reminded me of something, I love his laid back guitar and synth vibe, but I can’t even tell anyone I like his music because they’ll immediately assume I get all my songs from TikTok, and app I hate and don’t even use

[earthculture]

It used to mean D.I.Y. then that off-kilter style began to be associated with the sound which in turn made it a reason to sell that sound, sign indie bands to major labels with higher production and still call it indie. (Modest mouse being a good example)

Alternative went through a similar path, just at different times, both becoming umbrella terms just meaning not mainstream instead of pointing to specific styles.

My rule is that the sound has to be different enough to not be played on 90's top 40 radio but not so different that it veers into avant garde territory and away from it's pop/rock song structures.

[meghana..]

whenever i use the term indie, i do have a certain sound in mind. ig its stuff like clairo, fay webster, hippo campus, wallows, still woozy, declan mckenna just to name a few. these guys r very popular obv. its more of the vibe for me ig😭 but when ppl ask me what i like listening to i just say indie/alt rock and hope it makes sense. (ngl i would include tame impala in that category- but i dont think i even know the diff b/w alt and indie rock)

[earthculture]

If somebody says indie as a noun, like "I like indie music" I'm not gonna know what they're talking about.

But if they say it as an adjective like indie rock or indie folk, I know exactly what they mean.

[Maziedivision]

Indie was what happened to us teenagers of the late 2000s to early 2010s when we grew out of emo and started shopping at Urban Outfitters.
There is a distinct sound of a subgenre of rock that took off in the early 2000s to 2010s that was indie tho like you can’t listen to a band like Interpol and merely call them “alternative rock”. For that time, they were indie much like The Drums or Passion Pit was indie and indie they shall all remain. 😢

[KnockoutKO]

As soon as I saw Tame Impala I clicked on the video

[JacobRodriguez-pbrr]

When I tell people I listen to indie music, I basically mean just one music artist I listen is indie and it’s my favorite.
But my favorite indie artist is Good Kid

[alexlestat]

Paul McCartney's RAM is definitely my favorite indie album

[gilbertozo]

The other day, I was at the bank and I heard "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes over the radio.

[lettersletters]

hold up, live nightcore alex g goes kinda hard

i think the prevalence/accessibility of DAWs and recording software [aka DA COMPUTER] def played a role in nullifying what 'indie' meant as far as labels, since those labels weren't as needed to release or record music anymore. i think that kinda got replaced with the DIY/bedroom pop scene of the early 2010s, which didn't last but the sound/style trickled out and contributed to a greater wave of self- or collective-releases.

"indie" now definitely feels like a meaningless signifier that streaming services and labels will push onto music in order to make it have appeal for certain audiences; hopefully, this will encourage people to listen to truly independent music, but idk it's hard to be optimistic about that when someone wants more music like Glass Animals lol. of course, there are people genuinely curious about indie art, and hopefully they can navigate the shitshow of mislabeled bands and find the real stuff. good vid, appreciate the thoughtfulness!

[coolestcucumber]

i thought indie was like forest themed, slow gay pop