Rant: The Definition of Indie is Simple, Stop Complicating It
When a band calls themselves “Indie” it should mean because they are signed to an independent label and have less funds to tour, market themselves and record music.
Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll by The Killers
Isn’t that simple? Yet people want to complicate things like it’s supposed mean something inexplicably complex or dedicate a whole post to finding out what it means to be “indie” (not to knock the importance of RaisedOnIndie’s post as there are some cool things said).
Making this simple, if you are with a major label (e.g. Sony, WMG) you aren’t “indie”. No matter how hard you try to be cool, you aren’t indie. It’s sad I see so many major label bands call themselves indie. Doesn’t make it more cool? Absolutely not. Do people even care? Maybe but that’s like catering to a superficial fanbase.
It makes no sense to want to label yourself as an “indie” band, generally when bands aim for success the ultimate goal would be to sell records and tour a lot. The first though eventually requires a major label (even Sub Pop has their distribution done by WMG if you didn’t know).
On “indie” fans:
Technically by definition if you label yourself as an “indie fan” you are calling yourself superficial. You’d never hear someone call themselves a “major label fan” (though I would label some people that hehe 
), so what happens when a band “sells out” and signs the dotted line with a big record company? Do you ditch them? I hope that you wouldn’t and hence anybody dubbing themselves as an indie fan – likely isn’t much of a music fan at all.
There’s nothing with being a general indie fan, as I would label myself. “Indie” isn’t important and it’s true a lot of my choices are indie but I hardly see that as a factor in my musical choices. Bands I like just happen to be indie.
I had this discussion with a friend but why “Indie” could never be a genre or a “style”. If someone has an “indie” style it usually means they are different, perhaps closer to “alternative” but not mainstream. However, you can’t just pigeonhole an indie band into what they sound like, it literally could be anything. Everytime I say I like “pop” and I do, I don’t mean I like popular stuff (because that would be again superficial) I say I like the style pop because there’s an actual definition of what pop is musically. Indie doesn’t have that. That’s why we have RIYL on artist reviews because it gives a much better definition of what you’re expected to hear rather then calling it “indie” and it could be a wide range of sounds.
There’s also an interesting point in the RaidedOnIndie opinion’s list from Ben Yacobi:
Indie is an ethos which is to produce music above all other concerns such as fame or wealth. Indie started with self-sufficient bands, typically in urban areas, who may have had a distinct sound and received support from a growing number of small independent labels creating what has been coined as the indie scene. Major labels then moved in to what was a growing market and starting signing the best new bands as they came out of the scene. Radiohead – signed to a major label – are indie because they have kept their indie ethos, of caring about the music above all other matters and choosing their own methods for marketing and touring.
Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
To me this isn’t indie. This is every music fan’s point in liking music and should be every single music artist’s dream. The goal should be always to make the best possible music and the fame and wealth are bonuses. People see through that otherwise.
So there you have it: Indie just means a band/artist on an independent record. Now stop complicating it and it shouldn’t even be a discussion.
(Apologies for this weird rant, I’ve put it on hold several times and just decided today to finally give something concrete).
Tags: opinion
Agree 100%. That said, I think “indie” is:
a) a tool that many people use to sell their music;
b) a description that bands give themselves to make themselves feel better about not getting signed;
c) a description of a listener who wants to consciously and conspicuously differentiate themselves from other “mainstream” music listeners.
Have you read “the Rebel Sell”? I think you might enjoy it…