Alternative and indie

[drakonium]

Hi everyone!

I hope the question hasn't already been asked, but... What is the difference between alternative and indie rock? At first I thought alternative was edgier and rawer than indie, but Pavement is indie, and I thought that indie was more about sweet melodies, but Blur is alternative...

I often hear that these categories are artificial, but if they exist, there still must be a difference...

[Puncture Repair]

At it's roots indie just means it hasn't been signed by a record company - but of course in reality it's just used mostly as a way to sound hipster and appeal to people who are against "the man".

Sound wise I tend to think Alternative Rock is a little heavier than Indie, and Indie tends to be more experimental, quirky and features low production.

[RoundTheBend]

I think it is confusing because both terms have been perverted.

Alternative rock could be Dinosaur Jr. AND Matchbox 20 in todays terms (see list of alternative artists in wiki, but I think the latter doesn't belong.

[RoundTheBend]

oh, and how do I get this in my siggie? I have tried [url] http://www.thestrut.com/wp-content/uplo...homgif.gif [/url] without the space of course, like this:

But it doesn't keep, it just keeps the img link?[/img]

[Guest]

Both are pretty malleable terms. There are some albums I wouldn't have an idea how to define (Harald Grosskopf's Synthesist, Laurel Halo's Quarantine) but it doesn't really matter. Just use your own definitions, and if people laugh at them then you're probably wrong. So change them.

[paladisiac]

as they were created:

alternative = alternative to whatever was being played on the radio at the time.

indie = music released by independent record labels

Of course, both have slightly different nuances to different people. Altnerative is usually a form of rock music.
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[thejoj96]

in the 80s and 90s alternative used to mean rock music that was an alternative to radio tripe. starting in the 00s, it became used as all rock music that is not experimental

indie used to mean music on independent labels but starting in the 00s it became a term referring to all music that is not on the radio