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Most people have heard the term “indie music” or “indie musician”.  Unfortunately, it’s often used incorrectly which is a bit annoying. It’s especially annoying when some people in the music industry also misuse the term. The word “indie” originated as an abbreviation for independent as in “independent musician” or for music from an independent musician – aka “independent music”.

Why is the word “independent” being associated with certain music releases and certain musicians? You could argue that it started when the music business went through a radical transformation which began in the eighties. There were two pillars being formed. First you had recording technology going through digital transformations with more and more competitors making affordable recording gear to the average musician. Second, the three major record labels we know of today had swallowed up all the other major labels. Many of those labels which were swallowed up still exist under their original names but are now owned by either Sony, Warner Music Group, or Universal.  So basically, any recording musician who is not signed under one of those 3 major record labels, is considered an independent musician. By extension, their recorded music is considered an independent release – aka indie music.

Every day we have thousands of independent musicians releasing their independent music (aka indie music) in many different genres like country, classical, rock, jazz, etc. So, it’s quite fallacious when someone speaks of indie music as a genre! Whenever someone tells me they like indie music, I always ask them which kind? Are you referring to indie rock, indie country, indie R&B, indie hip-hop etc.?

There’s plenty of patience here for non-musicians as I’m use to them often misusing musical terms. But you would think the industry professionals would be smarter about this. Fortunately, both Billboard and the Grammy Recording Academy are on the right track as I’ve never seen them refer to indie music as a genre.

As we can see, you cannot describe nor list the characteristics of indie music as a genre simply because it is not a genre. Indie music is a movement within the music industry which encompasses musicians of ALL genres. These are the brave and hardworking musicians who release their recordings independently rather than being signed with a major label. They release their music under their own label or someone’s else’s independent label. Have these indie musicians made much of an impact on the music industry? I hope to address that topic with another blog post at a later time.  Moving forward, I invite you to join me in helping everyone to understand what indie music actually means.