Today, the 'indie' genre is one of the most popular musical genres, perhaps even the most popular genre among young people. However, the term 'indie' can refer to several things and there are great variances within indie music, and 'indie' is today something quite different to what it was when it first appeared.
Initial Movement, Meaning & Ideology
When the term first appeared, it was used to describe music independant from popular music, i.e. the dominant genre(s) of the time, hence why 'indie' is an abbreviation of 'independant'. Consequently, indie bands weren't signed to major record labels, but rather controlled each aspect of their music (e.g. production, performing, recording etc.) themselves and often refused the help of commercial record labels. Regarding the musical movement, indie bands began to form as far back as the 1960s, where lyrics were mostly inspired by themes of peace and anti-war. Perhaps the earliest, true indie band was Velvet Underground, who did everything themselves regarding the production of their albums and thus created a break from traditional styles of music and the traditional musical culture as a whole. However, as a result, Velvet Underground were not commercially successful and sold very few albums, although they are today widely regarded as hugely influential in breaking ground for future bands.
In the 1970s and 80s, more sub-genres emerged, such as "progressive rock", "new wave" and "alternative". These all represented slight diversions from existing, popular genres, upholding the ideology of indie music being different from what is regarded "mainstream". However, during the 90s this ideology was jeopardised as so-called indie bands began to sign major labels rather than remaining loyal to their respective indie labels. As a result of this, indie music began entering the maintsream and the term indie began to refer to a musical style rather than the ideology it represents.
Modern Indie Music
A crucial change has taken place regarding indie music over the years. This is the concerned with the relationship between music and ideology. What was originally termed indie represented a very specific ideology of differing from current trends, therefore the term indie referred mainly to this ideology rather than the actual style of music. Today, however, the pendulum has swung almost completely to the other side, and indie music refers to a particular musical style rather than a radical ideology. This is perhaps due to the fact that the popularity of indie music has grown vastly, to the point where such bands can be commercially successful, and to the point where it can no longer be a "radical ideology" because it has in fact become a part of popular culture and is the current trend.
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