Indie rock originated in the UK and USA in the 1980s as a genre of alternative rock that was produced by independent record labels outside of the mainstream music industry. It is a diverse genre with many subgenres that was originally used to identify bands not considered part of the prevailing punk or Britpop styles of the time. In the 2000s, as the internet became more widespread, indie rock bands found greater success by distributing their music online to audiences outside traditional commercial outlets.