"Indie" Music

quote:

---

He says "Indie" is it's own genre (like rock, pop, elctronica, etc) with its own unique sound.

---

It pretty much is

I think the OP is more right. "Indie" means independent, which is reference to the record label used. Some people say that they like "Indie" music, which isn't really an accurate statement. This could either mean that they don't like the crap that is on mainstream radio and prefer the sound of more raw music, or it could mean that they are a total hipster douche and only like stuff that isn't popular. Some bands may sound "indie" but be under a major record label.

Really, I think it's stupid to say you prefer the sound of a band not on a major record label. This implies that all major record labels have a major or total influence over the sound of their signed bands, which isn't true.

There are two ways to get total control as a band on a major label. Plan A: Get so famous, you can do whatever you want with no interference (the U2 model). Plan B: be so small that the label doesn't really care what you do (the cut out bin model).

I refuse to use the term. It's meaningless to me. Almost as bad a punk.

quote:

---

Anybody who says that "indie" is a genre is just spouting nonsense and making everybody on this board stupider for having read what they wrote.

If I heard somebody refer to one band as rock and then another band as indie-rock, I would punch them in the face. And indie-pop is even worse give that it's a complete contradiction.

You define the music by how it sounds.

---

you mad, bro?

But "indie" DOES describe the sound, at least little. If someone says "indie pop", aside from making you unreasonably angry, you can mentally picture what the band sounds like. Or at least I can. That alone shows your argument is false. For lack of a better term, indie pop is "twee". It also is probably far more stripped down than the more bombastic pop songs on the radio. Indie pop is likely not to be a club song. It DOES mean something, whether you like it or not.

Now, I don't care about the genre arguments and trying to decide who is indie enough. I don't keep track of who owns who and I don't think The Head and the Heart is any less "indie" because Sub Pop is partly owned by the majors. Frankly, it doesn't matter and it's a pain to keep up with, so I don't.

While "indie rock" seems to mean less and less, it still means something, and is at least is rooted in something more than "alternative" ever was. Usually, it's production values, which is how the songs sound.

I just like how angry it's making people. Lighten up. I hate genre wars - as long as the descriptor gives the other party some idea of what you're talking about, it's fine. The best is if you can compare them to another band, but broad genres are totally fine. Besides, I'm a generalist anyway. I'm perfectly fine with calling rap part of "rock". Why isn't it?