Define Indie Music Meaning

indie music isnt a difinite style of music, but most indie bands are influenced by each other causing a similar sound. the sound is melodic, the instruments are simple but well textured. usually includes a simple but origanal guitar riff, another guitar riff layered to complement it, bass doing the same, simple drum beat (but fitting the song well) either a keyboard or violin or something to bring out the underlying melody, and soft vocals, usually well harmonized. the lyrics are powerfully emotional (but not whiney). they spark emotion but they dont talk about how there lives suck (very tastefull)

as a scene: people who love indie love it for its music alone. they try to keep it small because they dont want it to be a huge scene, they want to keep it about improving the sound, thats why they know a million bands you've never heard it, they just want to find new things to improve the music, but with anything good, dumb high school kids will ruin it. and most definitions on this site are of those igorant little kids, not indie fans

Indie from independent

Came into usage in the late 1970s early 1980s to describe records distributed independently of the major record companies. Some of the larger independent record labels such as Rough Trade acted as distributors and at one point independent labels collaborated to distribute records through the Cartel.

Although in recent years the term has become associated with guitar bands it was not originally so. For example records by Kylie Minogue appeared in the indie charts because her record label used an independent distributor.

By the late 1980s the independent music scene ceased to have any real meaning as major record companies set up fake indie labels and some of the larger independent record labels sold out to majors.

Nowadays the term is associated with a style of guitar music and has to some extent become a pejorative term. For example in the phrase "landfill indie", expressing the lack of originality in much of the genre.

Should be used to describe any unsigned artists or strictly speaking, those signed to an independent record label -- where the term 'indie' originates.
Instead it is synonymous with the flannel and skinny jean-wearing baby-faced musicians, fitting into the "hipster" subculture, whose testicles are yet to drop. Their instrument of choice is either the acoustic guitar or the keyboard, that adds to their limp and poncy sound.

The practice of strumming slightly distorted guitar to a 4/4, bass, bass tom, drumbeat while wailing words ripped straight out of the rhyming dictionary. Exponents of this art are often seen trying to look like a replica of 1970's John lennon or, for the more alternative; cardigans, painted nails and eyeliner while banging on about being 'working class'.

Fortunately, for budding musicians, indie music is so easy to reproduce that most 'indie fans' are in a band within two months of picking up a guitar, or drums, playing various covers by their indie heros.

The main exponents of this art improve little from these meagre beginnings - eventually writing songs of their own, with the requisite 4/4 drumbeat and strummed chords. Those who make it big will be touted by the NME or the Guardian as being 'the next big thing' while getting rave reviews for their university tours of britain. Examples of these can be seen everywhere in Britain from Oasis to Radiohead.

Indie fans will further try to convince people that indie music is original from the introduction of a piano or (ghasp)a clarinet into the formulaic peice or, in the other direction, playing some power chords and sounding like Nirvana. Unfortunately this does little to relieve the boredom in indie music as the same hash is re-hashed again and again.

Really cool music that you wouldn't typically hear on the radio.

Sub standard music + hype + fashion/fad = Indie

The music is repetitive, simple and stolen from the past.

The fans think it's the best music of all time, not knowing that the above is true.

And of course, there are tonnes of the fans because who in being 'individual', are all the same.

terrible music written by british people with man buns, whiny over-ennunciated london accents and jazzmaster guitars. They all think their music makes them different, but it is this very attitude that makes modern indie all sound like superfluous samey drivel. The fact that this stuff is labelled as rock is depressing enough in itself.

Indie music is god-awful music. the bands seem to think that being popular is bad. boring riffs, boring, drums, no bass, and really bad singers. this music is straight bad. the bands always have to have obnoxious names that start with "the" and then 3 unrelated words. oh and concerts are "shows".

It's when a band is first starting out on a small independent label and hasn't become rich or popular yet.Ironically rich know it all college hippies all love indie music as long as the artists don't make one red cent from it.But the second the artists actually makes money the stupid rich know it all college hippies don't like them anymore and accuse them of being sellouts.If you are rich enough to go to college then you ARE a fucking sellout already so you should be such a hypocrite as to call bands who make it beyond an indie label sellouts.Also college retards like anything that's not popular even if it sucks balls and so in scrambling to find new shitty bands that haven't become popular yet these stupid gay rich college hippie faggots latch onto a new emo band every week,lol.

Original meaning: Any music that produced and released by independent bands or independent record labels, and consumed by adolescent and adults under 35 yro. Most of such music are produced with a low to moderate budget.

Modern meaning: bands with