Anyone with any interest in music at all knows the history of the band that redefined the music industry. But not everyone realizes just how much of an impact the rise of Nirvana had on every aspect of music, even outside of the industry.

Nirvana’s move from Sub Pop to DGC Records wasn’t a move that they decided wholly on their own. No less an indie icon than Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon recommended that the band begin working on the follow-up to Bleach with Butch Vig.

Nevermind’s huge success redefined both Nirvana and the indie music scene. Up until the grunge landslide that Nirvana started, indie music and “alternative” had been largely interchangeable (in fact, in the UK “alternative” is still used to describe independent sound). With the label’s decision to market Nirvana and especially Cobain as the frontmen of Generation X, many indie fans regarded the move to the label as a sell-out.

The rest of the story is well known. Cobain himself struggled with the switch of his music from underground to popular and his subsequent role in the music marketplace. Nirvana’s story is important for fans of the indie scene and indie artists alike. For the latter, there is no more striking example of the colossal loss of independence that is lost with a big break. For the former, we should not be too dismissive of an artist who transfers to a major label as a sell-out. Cobain’s integrity as far as artistic expression was never compromised; instead, it was disregarded by the machine.