Indie rock originated in the UK in the 1970s to describe independent record labels, but soon became associated with the music produced by those labels and linked to alternative rock. In the 1990s, as grunge and punk bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream, the term "indie" took on meaning to describe bands that retained an outsider perspective. In the 2000s, as the music industry changed and the internet grew in importance, some indie rock bands began achieving unprecedented commercial success, bringing the meaning of "indie" into question.

1. Music industry genre research:
Indie rock is a genre of music, and a sub-genre of rock, that originated from the United
Kingdom in the 1970’s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term
“indie” quickly became associated with the music they produced and was initially linked
closely with “alternative rock”. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US, and then
Britpop bands in the UK, broke into the mainstream music scene in the 1990s, the term
came to be used to identify those acts that retained and outsider and underground
perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing
importance of the internet, some indie rock bands began to enjoy unprecedented levels of
commercial success, leading to questions about the meaningfulness of the term.
Although some may argue that punk rock band the Buzzcocks effectively kick-started the
Indie phenomenon in 1977,Indie rock really got going in the 1980s, with indie bands such as
The Smiths and R.E.M dominating college playlists (and rejecting the popular “synthpop”
style of the early 1980’s) , thus being referred to as “college rock” bands. In the 1990s
alternative music entered the mainstream like never before, with grunge bands such as
Nirvana and Pearl Jam achieving huge commercial success in the US, while Britpop bands
such as Oasis and Blur also enjoyed unprecedented commercial success in the UK and
around the world. As a result of the alternative music acts moving into the mainstream, the
term “Indie” began to lose relevance in relationship to the record company, and instead
took on a new meaning of describing the type of music you could expect the band to
produce. In the 2000s major changes in the music industry and the increasing importance of
technology and the internet as a tool for music promotion allowed a new wave of indie rock
band to achieve huge commercial success, with The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives
and The Vines paving the way for the more prominent modern indie rock bands such as The
Killers, Kings of Leon and The Artic Monkeys, whose debut single “I bet that you look good
on the dancefloor” topped the charts in the UK.
Indie rock music typically includes lots of guitar and strong, recognisable vocals as opposed
to lots of effects and extremely similar vocals that make up the majority of modern pop
music today, ensuring that it stands out from the crowd, and thus linking back to its
independent roots.