Original meaning: Any music that produced and released by independent bands or independent record labels, and consumed by adolescent and adults under 35 yro. Most of such music are produced with a low to moderate budget.
Modern meaning: bands with <100k likes on facebook and not on any major labels. music they produced and released is considered "indie". But some of these bands are signed to subsidiaries of major labels, ie. Interscope, subpop...etc. In that sense, they shouldn't be considered "indie", rather major label artists with an "indie" aesthetic preference for marketing purposes.
Modern meaning: bands with <100k likes on facebook and not on any major labels. music they produced and released is considered "indie". But some of these bands are signed to subsidiaries of major labels, ie. Interscope, subpop...etc. In that sense, they shouldn't be considered "indie", rather major label artists with an "indie" aesthetic preference for marketing purposes.
by radchillradchill October 02, 2013
Generally music with a more obscure sound. Indie music consists of musicians who aren't in it for the big label, but to make good music, or music they like. Genres include folk, rap, electronica, acoustic, etc.
Anybody who considers Modest Mouse to be an indie band is incredibly ignorant.
The genre should not be mistaken with "indie kids". (Who the hell labels themself as an indie kid, huh?)
Indie music doesn't ONLY consist of acoustic guitar, whiny voices, and shouldn't be mistaken with teenagers who wear black rimmed glasses, put the Juno album on repeat, wear converse, and hang out at Starbucks.
Try some Gregory and the Hawk, he Dreams of Sleep, Robbie Snell, Wesley Bunch.
The genre should not be mistaken with "indie kids". (Who the hell labels themself as an indie kid, huh?)
Indie music doesn't ONLY consist of acoustic guitar, whiny voices, and shouldn't be mistaken with teenagers who wear black rimmed glasses, put the Juno album on repeat, wear converse, and hang out at Starbucks.
Try some Gregory and the Hawk, he Dreams of Sleep, Robbie Snell, Wesley Bunch.
by Speck Of Dust August 29, 2008
In it's true definition, indie music is any music that is produced by unsigned or non major label artists.
Today indie music most commonly refers to a genre of music that is heavily influenced by electronic, folk, and rock music. A good and what is probably the best known artist for this genre is Beck.
However the vast majority of indie music today is shit. The main components to an indie band are:
-A singer and a guitarist or a singer/guitarist
-A bass player, preferably a white male or an Asian female
-A guy on a synthesizer
-A drummer who only does 4/4 beats (I got that from another urban dictionary post)
-Some weird, obscure, or just plain obnoxious instrument
In the many horrible "indie music" bands, the musicians barely know how to play their instruments. The guitarist probably only knows the basic kumbayah chords (A, G, E, C, etc.) and power chords.
The synthesizer player will often times only alternate between the same 3 chords throughout the entire song and tune the synth oscillators to a setting that s/he finds the most unique- no matter how horrible it sounds.
And lastly, whatever weird instrument that they have, they will absolutely 100% not know how to play it.
Next are the lyrics which are dreadful. Anyone can write typical indie music lyrics in five seconds. They are usually about a girl with brunnette hair and her surrounding environment.
e.g.
The brown hair covers your eyes
And I see the ocean behind those eyes
You're like a flower in a vintage store
Unique like me- no establishment whore (its also important in indie music to talk down on companies, establishment, etc.)
****
and then there is usually about 15 seconds of the singer going
Nah, nah, nah, nah, yea, yea, yea, etc.
All of this is 100% true. Go listen to indie music and don't tell me that at least 80-90 percent of what I've said isn't in the music.
Today indie music most commonly refers to a genre of music that is heavily influenced by electronic, folk, and rock music. A good and what is probably the best known artist for this genre is Beck.
However the vast majority of indie music today is shit. The main components to an indie band are:
-A singer and a guitarist or a singer/guitarist
-A bass player, preferably a white male or an Asian female
-A guy on a synthesizer
-A drummer who only does 4/4 beats (I got that from another urban dictionary post)
-Some weird, obscure, or just plain obnoxious instrument
In the many horrible "indie music" bands, the musicians barely know how to play their instruments. The guitarist probably only knows the basic kumbayah chords (A, G, E, C, etc.) and power chords.
The synthesizer player will often times only alternate between the same 3 chords throughout the entire song and tune the synth oscillators to a setting that s/he finds the most unique- no matter how horrible it sounds.
And lastly, whatever weird instrument that they have, they will absolutely 100% not know how to play it.
Next are the lyrics which are dreadful. Anyone can write typical indie music lyrics in five seconds. They are usually about a girl with brunnette hair and her surrounding environment.
e.g.
The brown hair covers your eyes
And I see the ocean behind those eyes
You're like a flower in a vintage store
Unique like me- no establishment whore (its also important in indie music to talk down on companies, establishment, etc.)
****
and then there is usually about 15 seconds of the singer going
Nah, nah, nah, nah, yea, yea, yea, etc.
All of this is 100% true. Go listen to indie music and don't tell me that at least 80-90 percent of what I've said isn't in the music.
joe-"hey man I just found this acoustic guitar and an old drumset in my basement. Let's start a band"
will-"shouldn't we learn to play the instruments first? I mean we don't want to embarrass ourselves"
joe-"Nah it's all good, we'll just say we're playing indie music"
will-"Oh yeah! because it's the effort and our message of brown haired girls and anti-government feelings that count!"
will-"shouldn't we learn to play the instruments first? I mean we don't want to embarrass ourselves"
joe-"Nah it's all good, we'll just say we're playing indie music"
will-"Oh yeah! because it's the effort and our message of brown haired girls and anti-government feelings that count!"
by The Dicksborough Dpt. Store June 28, 2009
A band that sucks so bad they're not good enough to get a label.
Indie Bands will often think they're unique and breaking the mould when the only unique thing about them is they suck in a totally different way each time and the only thing they break are the ears of the people unfortunate enough to hear it.
Indie Bands often think they can shred a guitar like Eddie Van Halen just because they've seen a ShitKnot video.
It should also be noted that they think they're the first bunch of nimrods to use social networkng sites to plug their insult to music.
Indie Bands will often think they're unique and breaking the mould when the only unique thing about them is they suck in a totally different way each time and the only thing they break are the ears of the people unfortunate enough to hear it.
Indie Bands often think they can shred a guitar like Eddie Van Halen just because they've seen a ShitKnot video.
It should also be noted that they think they're the first bunch of nimrods to use social networkng sites to plug their insult to music.
Indie Music euphamisms:
Indie Band: we're Indie because we hate how music is commercial, and we don't want to sell out, because we don't want tons of money.
What They Really Mean: We suck so hard, no-one would give us a label in a million years, we'd sell out if anyone actually liked us, and we only say we don't care about money because we couldn't sell our tripe to a bunch of deaf idiots.
Indie Band: We're unique, we're like nothing ever before.
What They Really Mean: Like every other crap band, we whore our music out to 11 year old emo kids on social-networking sites and we look so cool, despite not even being able to spell HTML, let alone code it.
Indie Band: We have tons of fans, and everyone likes us.
What They Really Mean: We send out random invites on social networking sites, and even though we have 500,000 friends, no-one actuallys knows who we are or likes our stuff, and our gigs are more vacant than George Bush's head.
Indie Band: We're the next big thing, and we're gonna' make it big.
What They Really Mean; we're a carbon clone of every other social-networking site band, and will fade into obscurity and we're so stupid that we'd be lucky to get a job at McDonalds cleaning the toilets with our tongue.
Indie Band: we're Indie because we hate how music is commercial, and we don't want to sell out, because we don't want tons of money.
What They Really Mean: We suck so hard, no-one would give us a label in a million years, we'd sell out if anyone actually liked us, and we only say we don't care about money because we couldn't sell our tripe to a bunch of deaf idiots.
Indie Band: We're unique, we're like nothing ever before.
What They Really Mean: Like every other crap band, we whore our music out to 11 year old emo kids on social-networking sites and we look so cool, despite not even being able to spell HTML, let alone code it.
Indie Band: We have tons of fans, and everyone likes us.
What They Really Mean: We send out random invites on social networking sites, and even though we have 500,000 friends, no-one actuallys knows who we are or likes our stuff, and our gigs are more vacant than George Bush's head.
Indie Band: We're the next big thing, and we're gonna' make it big.
What They Really Mean; we're a carbon clone of every other social-networking site band, and will fade into obscurity and we're so stupid that we'd be lucky to get a job at McDonalds cleaning the toilets with our tongue.
by The True Tune Lover January 08, 2010
Pretty bad music.
Every indie band sounds so much alike that all the musicians are interchangeable.
Indie musicians aren't very good at playing their instruments and probably learned all that they know from The Beatles.
Every indie band sounds so much alike that all the musicians are interchangeable.
Indie musicians aren't very good at playing their instruments and probably learned all that they know from The Beatles.
Werewolf by Cocorosie
"Wow, that song Werewolf really speaks to me, I love her voice. I really think that song is what indie music is truly about"
"Really? Well then you must literally know nothing about music as it is nails on chalkboard. But whatever, we all have different opinions. I just think that a line should be drawn somwhere..."
"Wow, that song Werewolf really speaks to me, I love her voice. I really think that song is what indie music is truly about"
"Really? Well then you must literally know nothing about music as it is nails on chalkboard. But whatever, we all have different opinions. I just think that a line should be drawn somwhere..."
by PrefersBigLabelMuicLikeSouljaB October 20, 2009
Indie music means Independent Music. If a person makes music which is not non-mainstream and is kinda weird but beautiful, it's called indie music.
I have heard a lot of people mistake Indie for 'Modified Pop'. Let me tell you, it's NOT.
Indie music is beautiful. The harmony can touch your soul whithin minutes. The lyrics makes us feel happy, nostalgic and restless and relaxed at the same time.
It doesn't involve whiney words, emo screaming, and whisper-singing. But it's not always like that. True indie music takes you to another place, somewhere only you can go.
But people do look at things differently. You're not me and I am not you. So true bliss can come in different forms, alright?
But generally, this genre is wonderful. One have to find the royal music on their own. And that's why some Indie Kids hesitate to recommend songs. They are not afraid of others judging their tastes, but they are afraid of people judging their favourite artists.
You see, if you listen to this genre, something will change in you. You will become an elitist, someone who has a better taste and experience than everyone. But you will also feel happy about your life.
And that's the definition of Indie Kids! Not all of us have the Wavy Hair, not all of us have a weird taste in style, not all of us like colourful days.
But it's like a coincidence. Ig.
So yeah you can be indie if you want lol. This is just a genre which can be weird but flamboyant!
I have heard a lot of people mistake Indie for 'Modified Pop'. Let me tell you, it's NOT.
Indie music is beautiful. The harmony can touch your soul whithin minutes. The lyrics makes us feel happy, nostalgic and restless and relaxed at the same time.
It doesn't involve whiney words, emo screaming, and whisper-singing. But it's not always like that. True indie music takes you to another place, somewhere only you can go.
But people do look at things differently. You're not me and I am not you. So true bliss can come in different forms, alright?
But generally, this genre is wonderful. One have to find the royal music on their own. And that's why some Indie Kids hesitate to recommend songs. They are not afraid of others judging their tastes, but they are afraid of people judging their favourite artists.
You see, if you listen to this genre, something will change in you. You will become an elitist, someone who has a better taste and experience than everyone. But you will also feel happy about your life.
And that's the definition of Indie Kids! Not all of us have the Wavy Hair, not all of us have a weird taste in style, not all of us like colourful days.
But it's like a coincidence. Ig.
So yeah you can be indie if you want lol. This is just a genre which can be weird but flamboyant!
Uncle Jeff: Hey, isn't that the kid who said he liked that indie band called One Direction??
Kid 1: Yeah!
Indie kid: One direction is pop, you arses! Indie is non-mainstream! It's not boy-bandish! Indie music is beautiful
Kid 1: Yeah!
Indie kid: One direction is pop, you arses! Indie is non-mainstream! It's not boy-bandish! Indie music is beautiful
by Sparks_inhere April 01, 2022
indie music isnt a difinite style of music, but most indie bands are influenced by each other causing a similar sound. the sound is melodic, the instruments are simple but well textured. usually includes a simple but origanal guitar riff, another guitar riff layered to complement it, bass doing the same, simple drum beat (but fitting the song well) either a keyboard or violin or something to bring out the underlying melody, and soft vocals, usually well harmonized. the lyrics are powerfully emotional (but not whiney). they spark emotion but they dont talk about how there lives suck (very tastefull)
as a scene: people who love indie love it for its music alone. they try to keep it small because they dont want it to be a huge scene, they want to keep it about improving the sound, thats why they know a million bands you've never heard it, they just want to find new things to improve the music, but with anything good, dumb high school kids will ruin it. and most definitions on this site are of those igorant little kids, not indie fans
as a scene: people who love indie love it for its music alone. they try to keep it small because they dont want it to be a huge scene, they want to keep it about improving the sound, thats why they know a million bands you've never heard it, they just want to find new things to improve the music, but with anything good, dumb high school kids will ruin it. and most definitions on this site are of those igorant little kids, not indie fans
by TB and the HB March 02, 2007