1. Genre Research
Indie (Independent) Music
Bands and musicians that come under the Indie genre are ‘independent’ which
basically means that they are not signed to a major label and take a more independent
approach to recording. Indie musicians are basically more ‘do it yourself’.
In the UK during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much
power that independent labels struggled to become established. Some producers and
artist set up independent labels to advertise bands and musicians that they liked,
however because the major labels had so much power and control the indie companies
were never really able to take off, this was mainly because the artist that were any
good were quickly snapped up by the larger companies offering the bigger fees.
Indie music in the modern day is a widely recognized genre. This is perhaps because
the so called ‘Indie’ bands are now often signed to major labels; it is more the sound
of their music that classes them as ‘Indie’ rather than the way they produce it.
The Internet has allowed many Indie artists to break through into the major music
scene. Sites like myspace.com and programs like Itunes have allowed otherwise
unknown musicians to become successful. A great example of success of success
from the internet is Arctic Monkeys; at some of their earliest gigs they gave away
demos in CD from, fans later started sharing this on the internet through email. It
wasn’t long before the band’s fan-made myspace was unbelievably popular and the
band didn’t even know about it!