What does "Indie Music" mean to you?

[rbro]

I'm trying to come up with a domain name for a website I'm working on for musicians who create, produce, market and sell their own stuff and I keep coming back to the term "indie" Like indie music, or indie musicians etc. But for some reason Indie seems to imply a genre or sub-set of genres as well, almost like "alternative music." Am I wrong? Is the term "Indie Music" not tied to any genre? Can you think of a better term for what I'm trying to describe?

[ollyb303]

Indie certainly implies a genre to me. I believe the term indie came about through independent artists releasing on independent labels, but came to represent a genre of music, much of which has been released, ironically, on major labels...

I'm struggling to think of a better term for you...

[intergalactic pedantic]

D.I.Y.

[tadpole fingers]

Independent Artists

OR

Independent Musicians

OR

Independent ______

Indie music may have taken the word Indie from you but lucky for you thats just a lazy way of saying Independent, which is still a fresh word as far as I can tell.

[rbro]

Independent Artists

OR

Independent Musicians

OR

Independent ______

Indie music may have taken the word Indie from you but lucky for you thats just a lazy way of saying Independent, which is still a fresh word as far as I can tell.

You're saying Independent is still a fresh word? So "Independent Musician" connotes something different than "Indie Musician?" (even though technically indie is just short for independent) I suppose an "Independent Artist" could be someone OTHER than a musician....hmmmm...Independent Musician may be the best fit.

[beats me]

Independent music now means the labels spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a sound that sounds like they didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars producing it. Ironic much?

[rbro]

Independent music now means the labels spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a sound that sounds like they didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars producing it. Ironic much?

It is ridiculous. But to my mind, the term Independent Music seems less tied to any one genre than the term Indie Music.

[MacGuffin]

it means it's from india

[djsynchro]

I like indie currie but the next day on the toilet ooohhhhh ==>>

[leedsquietman]

Having worked for a major record retailer back in the day, the definition of indie was a smaller record label which was not distributed by a major label (i.e. sony bmg, universal, emi, wea etc).

An example would be Indolent records, home to The Wannadies, 60 foot dolls, Sleeper etc, who were distributed by Vital, which was a distribution company independent from the big major playas.

For a lot of people it means kind of college/alternative rock, even though quite a bit of that stuff was released or distributed by major labels - Creation records for example, home to ride, slowdive, my bloody valentine, oasis etc was part owned by sony records. However, they were still classed as indie because they used Pinnacle and Vital to distribute instead of Sony BMG to get around that loophole.

[MacGuffin]

excellent explanation, Leeds.

[Poop_Smear]

For me, "Indie Music" evokes an image of disposable mediocre McTunes made mostly by smelly unemployed marginally talented Gen-Y or Gen-X "artistes" with cheap retail grade sound gear. Basically, this shit is made by faux-musicians with no formal musical training or real knowledge of music theory who make up the ubiquitous masses of lazy morons too lethargic to get a real job and who like to get high and hang out at Starbucks to siphon off the free Wi-Fi. The REAL labels probably fill several trash barrels each day with the crap "demos" they receive from these cretins. Oh yeah...you'll also find Indie Musicians frequently hanging out in the keyboards section of the local Guitar Center banging on the Korgs...you can't miss them...just look for the crappy haircuts and stinky Birkenstocks.

[rbro]

For me, "Indie Music" evokes an image of disposable mediocre McTunes made mostly by smelly unemployed marginally talented Gen-Y or Gen-X "artistes" with cheap retail grade sound gear. Basically, this shit is made by faux-musicians with no formal musical training or real knowledge of music theory who make up the ubiquitous masses of lazy morons too lethargic to get a real job and who like to get high and hang out at Starbucks to siphon off the free Wi-Fi. The REAL labels probably fill several trash barrels each day with the crap "demos" they receive from these cretins. Oh yeah...you'll also find Indie Musicians frequently hanging out in the keyboards section of the local Guitar Center banging on the Korgs...you can't miss them...just look for the crappy haircuts and stinky Birkenstocks.

Stop beating around the bush and tell us how you really feel

[Guff Tong]

When I hear 'Indie' I immediately think of labels like Rough Trade from the 80's and the NME Independent Charts.

Back then you'd have some pretty off-the-wall / hardcore acts in the same Indi charts as main chart topping Depeche Mode (and others) just because they're label was independent (Mute in this case)

Back then you couldn't get records out without using the Indi's (Our band used the label Spiderleg Head Records which was just part of rough trade as was Mute)

These days I suppose Indi as a genre is a reflection of those early days of DIY music/art.

[djsynchro]

For me, "Indie Music" evokes an image of disposable mediocre McTunes made mostly by smelly unemployed marginally talented Gen-Y or Gen-X "artistes" with cheap retail grade sound gear. Basically, this shit is made by faux-musicians with no formal musical training or real knowledge of music theory who make up the ubiquitous masses of lazy morons too lethargic to get a real job and who like to get high and hang out at Starbucks to siphon off the free Wi-Fi. The REAL labels probably fill several trash barrels each day with the crap "demos" they receive from these cretins. Oh yeah...you'll also find Indie Musicians frequently hanging out in the keyboards section of the local Guitar Center banging on the Korgs...you can't miss them...just look for the crappy haircuts and stinky Birkenstocks.

My explanation was better.