Although "Indie" was first used to described music released on independent record labels, the term grew to describe a specific sound.[1] A defining characteristic of indie music is that artists retain much more creative control over their music as compared to major labels.[1] Bands often have small budgets, and employ a do-it-yourself ethos which influences their sound.[2] Indie music generally represents guitar-oriented music which strays away from commercial conventions.[1] It often features lyrics that are earnest and emotive, with many cultural and sociopolitical references.[1] Many artists signed to major labels have retained creative control and are still considered indie artists.[2]
Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, and Stax.[3] In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established, until the launch of new labels like Virgin Records.[4] Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked; the majority failed as commercial ventures or were bought by the major labels.[3]
During the punk rock era, the number of independent labels grew.[3] In 1977, Manchester-band Buzzcocks released Spiral Scratch, considered the first independently released rock release.[5] In the late 1970s, certain UK independent labels (such as Rough Trade, Factory, Fiction, and Mute) contributed to the emergence of a distinct musical style found in indie music, influenced by post-punk and new wave.[1] Important albums that contributed to this style include Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell (1981).[1] Released on Rough Trade, Inflammable Material (1979) was the first independently-released album to sell over 100,000 copies.[5] By the 1980s, the indie pop band The Smiths, signed with Rough Trade, "came to exemplify indie both musically and culturally" according to The Conversation.[1] The Smith's authentic sound contrasted with the common highly produced pop music of the time.[1] The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onward.[6] In 1986, NME released the compilation album C86, which was influential to the development of indie music.[5][7] In the United States, independent music was first spread by in the 1980s by college radios and thus dubbed college rock (also later termed modern rock and alternative rock).[8] Defining American albums of this era include Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation (1988) and Pixies’ Doolittle (1989).[5] However, unlike the UK, this music was not referred to as "indie" until the 2000s.[8] Indie music reached wide commercial success in the 1990s, especially with Britpop bands like Blur, Pulp, and Oasis.[1] As well, American grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and The Smashing Pumpkins received mainstream success.[5] In 1991, the Grammys added an Alternative section to its awards ceremony, for "non-traditional form[s]" existing "outside of the mainstream music consciousness".[8]
The internet's ease of spreading information influenced indie music's popularization in the United States and global spread.[8] Music fans no longer relied on publications or magazines to hear about new artists.[8] At the beginning of the 21st century, the term indie came to describe a number of related but distinct subgenres.[1] One example is indie folk, a stripped-back low fidelity approach to folk music, as seen in Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver's first album, For Emma, Forever Ago.[1] Widely popular indie rock bands of this era include Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys.[1] By this time, the term indie had transcended the definition of solely independently released music, and came to represent a "general resistance to popular and mainstream culture, evoking realism, independence and authenticity".[1]