Is this Genre?
December 1, 2008 by InBlaze
Filed under Indie Music Blog
I ran across a comment recently that called “indie” a genre, which to me means it is a type of music.
While I am sympathetic to the idea behind this, I’m not sure how far I can go with putting “indie” under the genre heading along with jazz, blues, rock, classical, etc.
The word “genre” comes from the French language, by way of Old French and Latin. To put the definition quite simply, genre means “a kind.” That is, genre is a kind of music. The dictionary definition of “genre” is this: a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like (dictionary.com).
So, is “indie” a kind of music? Not if you judge by the numerous kinds or styles that have the word “indie” in their marketing, MySpace or public relations information. Bands from genres as varied as folk, rock, ambient and industrial, to name a few, consider themselves firmly entrenched in the indie camp. Could you take all of these various kinds of music and put them under one umbrella, then place them alongside the traditional genres, or the accepted genres? I don’t know the answer.
So, is indie music a class or category of artistic endeavor? The debate will continue, along with the battle of terminology that makes some music “alternative” and other music not an alternative to anything.
Tags: genre, indie music, independent music, music, indie
It’s a pointless discussion really, because no matter what you and I think people will continue labelling music as “indie”, and other people will perceive it is a genre. What’s sad is that the genre perception seems to be the most common today, and in that sense it is pretty much just next to “music” in terms of scope and reach and what falls in under the category.
For me, indie should be the definition of bands not signed to one of the major labels, but you for you it might have a different meaning, and seeing how both of us are unlikely to gain the necessary influence to define it, we’ll just have to conform to the mainstream definition of it.
Indie: the greatest and most diverse musical genre in the whole, wide world!
indie doesn’t define a genre of music. indie is short for
INDEPENDENT.
If a band is indie, then most likely they are the ones who are putting together their shows, getting their songs recorded, selling cds and tshirts.
They do the work on their own. that’s what independent means.
it doesn’t describe the sound that comes out of their instruments.
so where’s the debate?