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</noinclude>thumb|Indie music is known for its [[Do it yourself|DIY, low-budget approach to music.]]
Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedom, low budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation. It originated from the liberties afforded by independent record labels. Indie music describes a number of related styles, but generally refers to guitar-oriented music that deviates from mainstream conventions. There are a number of subgenres of independent music which combine its characteristics with other genres, such as indie pop, indie rock, indie folk, and indie electronic. Additionally, in certain circles, the term indie has taken on a definition entirely based on the typical sound of independent music in the 1980s, losing its connection to production style.
The origins of independent music lie in the early distribution of private press albums from the 1960s–1970s as well as late '70s British independent record labels, from the early alternative music scene such as Rough Trade, Factory, Industrial Records and Mute, which later contributed to the development of alternative rock music. NME released the influential compilation album C86 in 1986, which helped define indie rock. American independent music first emerged in the 1980s, and was spread via college radios, which led to the term college rock. Styles that evolved out of indie music and reached wide commercial success in the 1990s include grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam) and Britpop (Blur, Pulp, and Oasis). In the 21st century, due to the internet, indie music saw a global spread in popularity, as music fans were no longer dependent on physical publications to find new music.
Independent record labels, important to the development of indie music, are characterized by their smaller operations, lower funding, and greater creative control as compared to major labels. Independent labels use a variety of methods of distribution, with the label generally owning the copyright for the sound recording. They generally give smaller advances, or sometimes no advance, and some may offer higher royalty splits than major labels.
Characteristics
Although "indie" was first used to described music released on independent record labels, the term grew to describe a specific sound because of the creative freedom of its initial bands and artists. A defining characteristic of indie music is that artists retain much more creative control over their music as compared to major labels. Bands often have small budgets, and employ a do-it-yourself ethos which influences their sound. Indie music generally represents guitar-oriented music which strays away from commercial conventions. It often features lyrics that are earnest and emotive, with many cultural and sociopolitical references. played a crucial role in the development of jazz, rhythm and blues, and early rock and roll, which were initially sidelined by the majors and were also responsible for pioneering both musical innovation and production techniques that major labels would later emulate, with Atlantic being the first label to make recordings in stereo, while Sun and Chess introduced slapback echo and makeshift echo chambers. Additionally, independent labels were often the only platforms available for marginalized artists in America at the time, which included many Black musicians, as viable mediums to release and distribute their work.
By the 1960s, several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked Independent labels gained further prominence in the American 1960s underground music scene such as ESP-Disk and International Artists. Other independent labels included those in Germany's krautrock scene like Kraftwerk's own label Kling Klang Records as well as Ohr, Brain, and Sky Records.
Prior to the late 1970s, major record companies held so much power that independent labels struggled to establish themselves. During this time, some popular artists formed their own labels, such as the Beatles' Apple Records, Frank Zappa's Straight and Bizarre Records, as well as the Rolling Stones' Rolling Stones Records and Grateful Dead's Grateful Dead Records. However, these ventures often failed commercially or were eventually absorbed by major labels, until the launch of new labels like Virgin Records.
However, this dynamic began to change in 1979 when Rough Trade released the album Inflammable Material by Stiff Little Fingers which went on to be the first independently-released album to sell over 100,000 copies. This success sparked major record companies' interest in independent music and by the end of the decade, the establishment of the UK indie charts signaled the growing popularity of the movement. Other notable early indie labels include Mute, 4AD, Factory and Creation Records.
Emergence as a style
During the punk rock era, the number of independent labels grew as they became integral to the early years of punk rock musical distribution, as seen with Beserkley Records in the US, who put out the debut album of the Modern Lovers which was recorded years earlier.
By 1977, Manchester-band Buzzcocks released Spiral Scratch, which alongside the Desperate Bicycles early singles showed listeners how to produce and distribute their own records independently at very low cost, inspiring a wave of DIY punk bands like Swell Maps, 'O' Level, and Television Personalities who helped popularize independent rock releases. Distribution was further improved with the establishment of 'The Cartel', an association of companies like Red Rhino and Rough Trade Records who would take the releases from these small labels and get them into record shops nationwide. In the United States, independent music was first spread by in the 1980s by college radios and thus dubbed college rock (also later termed modern rock and alternative rock). Defining American albums of this era include Sonic Youth Daydream Nation (1988) and Pixies' Doolittle (1989). They are often able to support artists working in niche styles of music, and rely heavily on personal networking, or word of mouth, to expose their acts. Indie labels are usually small operations, with almost no outside assistance and run out of tiny offices. Some artists choose to go from an independent label to a major label if given the opportunity, as major labels have considerably more power and financial means to promote and distribute products, sometimes increasing the chances of greater success.
Distribution
There are a few ways an independent label may go about distributing its music. Some independent labels are owned by major labels, who carry out the distribution for them. Other labels instead go through independent distributors. There is the potential for artists to gain large numbers of streams on Spotify if their music is included in certain popular playlists or has gained traction on social media.
For both independent and major labels, the label generally owns the copyright to the sound recording. Artists who maintain their copyrights usually must sacrifice other parts of their deal, and must give the label a temporary license to the recordings. Indie pop was one of the first independent music genres, and was initially synonymous with "indie". It features the homemade intimacy commonly found in independent music. The New Zealand Dunedin sound of the 1970s and 80s was also influential in indie rock's development. By the 1990s, indie rock had separated from alternative rock and gained popularity in the mainstream, The genre grew from traditional and contemporary folk, but took a distinctly independent approach inspired by indie rock. The genre gained further popularity and support in the 2000s from labels such as Saddle Creek, Barsuk, and Sub Pop. Indie folk is distinguished by its acoustic instrumentation – and often consists of just vocals and acoustic guitar – although some artists experiment with more diverse instrumentation. As well, indie folk artists are often singer-songwriters. It is not considered a scene or movement, and often combines influences from a variety of genres. Indietronica artists usually release their music on independent labels, with examples including Sub Pop, Warp, and Ghostly International.