Friday, 28 September 2012

History of Indie Music


Indie initially meant 'independent', when it was shortened from the original word in the 1950s, and it originated in the UK and the US. It was created to challenge mainstream music at a time where huge labels dominated the industry. They combined arty, handmade posters and advertising, with a mixture of rock, blues and pop music . It encouraged mystery and creativity which lead to a whole new genre. 

Indie became more popular in the 1970s, with the 1976 Sex Pistols gig being considered as a major turning point for the genre, where people who could not relate to popular music had a genre they could relate to. Many bands came about at this time such as The Clash, the Ramones, the Fall and Joy Division.
In 1980 the first UK Indie chart was created, and indie bands began to appear on shows such as Top of the Pops.
In 1989, Reading Festival's line up was dedicated entirely to Indie music, and it began overtaking rock and pop in popularity. 
During the 1990s and 2000s, Indie became more mainstream and critics began questioning whether it had most its roots; bands such as franz ferdinand were beating rock and pock artists to the top of the charts. 
In 2006, Arctic Monkeys began using social media to self-publicise their new album, which quickly became the fastest selling debut album of all time, selling almost 400,000 copies in the first week. 
They brought the genre back to its roots and brought in a new generation of Indie fans. 

Nowadays, within the genre of Indie there exists many sub-genres such as Indie pop, Jangle pop, and lo-fi.

Google Definition of Indie Music : In popular music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing

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