Indie: The Independent Voices of the Underground Industry

Indie History

Throughout its lifetime, indie has been unrestricted by a certain sound, featuring a blend of psychedelic rock, electric pop, and an array of alternative subgenres mixed to give each artist their own sound.  The genre encompassed musicians who didn’t belong to a major record label, namely “Universal, Sony, Warner, and EMI” (THE INDIE MUSIC) which dominated the recording and production industry. Under those companies, revenue was heavily distorted, with unfair wages allocated to the artists for their work. Yet, despite this, it was hard for bands to get noticed without the attachment to one of the big names. Instead, they followed the idea of independence and creativity, which was inspired by artists of the 1960s like The Beetles and The Clash. Indie rock grew popular in the English rock genre, and when the Smiths debuted in 1982, their name dominated the charts. Following the punk ethos of DIY clothing and self-funded labels, where artists navigated venues, promotions, production, and management, Sonic Youth emerged in the 1980s to redefine rock-n-roll, and Nirvana in the 1990s with a mix of pop and rock that skyrocketed them to success. 

In the 2000s, the outreach of indie music bypassed what was originally restricted to local band performances and college radio stations, featured now in music festivals, online platforms like “MySpace, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud” (Jenna 2024), and music review forums, all of which boosted indie effort to the public eye. The development of streaming services allowed artists to spread their music to an even greater audience, who now had unrestricted access and recommendations to whatever artist, no matter their size. Listeners could pitch in money through crowdfunding sites like Patreon (Jenna 2024), supporting albums from artists such as Still Woozy, a prominent indie artist whose solo music career is run directly out of his garage. 

Indie continues to revolutionize music through sound experimentation, and as more artists emerge, pulling their roots from some of the top genres we know today, we will continue to see more unique songs ruling the music industry. 

Sources

https://theindiemusic.com/the-history-of-indie-music/

https://www.tjplnews.com/post/evolution-of-indie-music-underground-to-mainstream

Listen to an indie playlist here: