history of the indie genre

2.  Indie rock is a genre of alternative
rock that started off in the United
Kingdom and the United States in
the 1980s. Indie rock is a genre
with many sub-genres that include
indie pop and jangle pop.
 The definition of ‘indie rock’ is
argued about today by many
musicians. Many use the term
‘indie’ to describe any rock music
produced by artists working with
independent record labels and
music venues that emerged in the
United States and UK which begun
in the 80’s.

3.  Others see indie rock as a distinct
genre of rock music with a specific
artists individual style, and care less
about the context in which it is
made. Some however use both
meanings of the word, believing that
the style of the genre and its means
of production are linked together.
 Indie artists are acknowledged for
being able to maintain control of
their music and careers, releasing
albums with independent record
labels, making them different from
other artists from other genres. This
fits the indie conventions if you will,
as ‘indie’ stands for individual and
unique. However, in the 2000's many
acts with an indie music style signed
to major record labels and began
promoting themselves through more
traditional media methods. Due to
this major change the definition of
‘indie’, being unique and different
from everyone else can not always
be an acceptable description.

4. 1980s
In the 1980s, alternative rock, used as a
term, was more or less synonymous with
indie rock. In the United States, the term
"indie rock" was particularly associated with
the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of
Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat
Puppets and Dinosaur Jr. R.E.M. is often
associated with the college rock movement
of the 1980s.In the United Kingdom, indie
pop artists such as Aztec Camera, Josef K,
and Orange Juice emerged in the 1980s. This
era also saw the birth of the C86 indie-pop
movement and the twee pop of Sarah
Records artists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock#Dev
elopment:_1990s

5. 2000’s – Present day
In the 2000s, the changing music
industry, the decline in record sales,
the growth of new digital technology
and increased use of the Internet for
music promotion, allowed a new
wave of indie rock bands to achieve
mainstream success. Existing indie
bands that were now able to enter
the mainstream including Modest
Mouse (who reached the US top 40
and was nominated for a Grammy
Award) and Bright Eyes (who in 2004
had two singles at the top of the
Billboard magazine Hot 100 Single
Sales). This new commercial
breakthrough and the widespread
use of the term indie to other forms
of popular culture, led a number of
commentators to suggest that indie
rock had ceased to be a meaningful
term.