Obstacle3

Hi everyone, first post.

A few questions for discussion.

Indie has always meant an independent band to me, one that is not affiliated with a major label.

Interpol (a band I like, hence, my username) are no longer an independent band (some would say the detrimental effect of major label influence is evident on OLTA).

Despite this however, press releases, articles and promotions regularly still define Interpol as having an "indie" sound.

I wonder how this is possible, given the origins of the term. It is not definable in anyway shape or form. It has always been a term to discuss the financial affiliations of a band, not a sound.

Does it concern you that the term has been hijacked by major record labels to sell and promote product?

Does it concern you that journalists that are too lazy or too incompetent to draw accurate musical comparisons bandy the term around to define a "sound" when the term inherently does not have a sound associated with it?

Figure8

Well, music journalists have always been perfectly happy to conform to the opinion of major labels, though most wouldn't admit it. It is concerning, but it's a trend that will pass.

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Obstacle3

Thanks for the response.

Yeah I guess you are right, much like the "alternative" movement of the 90s, the key difference being that Indie has actually always stood for something - Financial independent of major labels. That meaning is being washed away at present, the line is being blurred by majors to push product.

white_gangster

Indie isn't a genre, it is a type of label. Led Zepplin had a major label, but they sound just as good as a lot of my "indie" stuff.

Plastique80s

I think the richness of 'Indie' has disappeared.

There used to be a time that The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Fall, Danielle Dax, Kylie Minougue(!), The Stone Roses, PWEI and The Cure would all fall under the same umbrella.

Now the current wave of 'Indie' seems to be trying it's best to kill that off.

UglyCasanova

Indie is to Indie Rock as America is to the United States.

America originally a reference to the continent, but is mostly used as a country name. Same as Indie. Doesn't matter to me. I'm calling it Indie either way.

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Zombeels

Indie doesn't necessarily mean indie label. If a band started out on an independent label and then signed to a major label does it mean they lose their indie status? Of course not. Indie just took over the "alternative" label because the music corporation exploited the term "alternative" after bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana became popular. Next thing we knew there were alternative stations and corporate driven alternative bands bombarding the mainstream and most were shit.

Bands like Modest Mouse, death Cab For Cutie and Built To spill have all signed on to major labels and some of these bands get lots of airplay and promotion. Does this mean they've stopped being indie? I don't think so. They still have an indie sound. An indie sound is not a genre but any style of music that doesn't fit into the corporate mainstream image.

UglyCasanova

True, Modest Mouse is nothing like the other mainstream bands

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brian

I think the pointer is that the indie labels were more to sign acts that would seem too experimental to the major labels to back. So there'd be a more varied sound. But if a sound was picked up by the masses, then the major label would move in. The music was still the same - the big label just wouldn't dare back such an "independent" sound early on.

So IMO it's about roots - where you'd been, rather than where a band is now.

2c.

masque7

Just over half of those I'd call post-punk

LMAO. MM used to be okay (reminded me of the Pixies), then they went too polished and glossy, and every hipster and scene kid out there started to like them.

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jessebuckelew

I think mass media phenomenons like the soundtracks to the OC and Garden State turned indie rock into a completely different thing than it was before. Now it seems more linked to a certain sound and aesthetic than pertaining to the act of actually being on an independent label.

xtaster1

What is Indie, i dont think anyone knows any more, you have bands like The Hoosiers and Scouting for girls being classed as indie and in fact they pop bands. The Futureheads are on the otherhand indie, but who really knows what indie music is.

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Miss. A. Nonymous

As previously mentioned 'indie' did, and does refer to those bands which are and have been signed to 'independent' music labels. However, bands who later move on to major labels (assuming they don't conform to a mainstream sound) to me are still considered 'indie'. It's difficult to classy as a genre, but I still answer "Good Music" when people ask me what type I listen to, most of which is considered some form of 'indie'.

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ToffsCantDance

Aside from it's traditional meaning, for me Indie is what you make of it. Why do we need to pigeon hole everything in the music world these days?

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brandydog22

I think its just a certian kind of sound, regardless of how the industry behinde it is formulated