Does "indie" even mean anything at this point?

Does "indie" even mean anything at this point?

Independently released or promoted music

independently released or promoted music

So these bands independently release and promote their music?

So these bands independently release and promote their own music?

has ever meant something regarding musical genres

>album has only one genre assigned to it
>it's indie

A generation ago, indie actually meant something. (Records released on an independent label as opposed to a major label or subsidiary).

By the 90s it started to be used to describe any sort of lo-fi music or rock that wasn't grunge, regardless of the label.

Now it seems to be applied to any sort of pop music that is even the slightest bit "artsy".

i just read it as "generic rock music" and it's pretty accurate every time

Indie =/= Indie Rock

Not really, and it will continually mean less and less the more it is just casually thrown around.

Yes, but not what it used to. There is still a HUGE difference in terms of marketing reach and financial stakes (and consequently the import of concepts like "selling out") between Indie and Mainstream music. However in a business sense modern Indie and modern Mainstream are pretty much identical to each other. It's just that Indie functions on a significantly smaller scale/market share. Although it should be kept in mind that "smaller" in this case probably means something big enough to be comparable with what Mainstream was when Indie first started.

Tl;dr: Indie today means the same thing Mainstream meant 30-40 years ago.

what is the main difference between indierock and indie?

Indie still stands for independently released, but the term has also been adapted as a genre for bands who are working for big labels but still manage to sound like shit.

>There are still people that think indie primarily means "independently released"

wrong

How so?

Because it does, faggot.

that's retarded

>There are people who use it other ways

You're the problem here, not the other way around

It feels like "indie" has become synonymous with "critically acclaimed." It's basically more of an image for hip, alternative people now.

I mean people like Kanye and various pop singers get discussed to high end on indie blogs and review sites and places like r/indieheads. And I like Kanye but that's definitely not indie in the traditional sense of the word.

I just think it's weird how superstars and small-time artists are getting put under the same umbrella.

Indietronica best indie?

If it's about harmonicas, then yes.

present indie is shit you see on bandcamp or whatever

god knows if anyone's actually paying for it

Now it means it gets played in independent boutique shops instead of the big chain stores which just play top 40

It's literally just taken the place of "alternative" as in other than mainstream.