Codes and Conventions of Indie Rock Music

Codes and Conventions of Indie Rock Music

The origins of Indie music

Indie rock also known as Alternative, Came to life in the mid 1980s, becoming popular with college kids in America due to key bands for example, R.E.M and likewise The Smiths were hugely popular with University students in the UK.

As the genre developed in the 1990s alternative rock bands moved into the mainstream limelight and the term "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural meaning ,as it was now achieving mainstream success.

In the early 21st century changes in the music industry, with the decline in record sales and growth of new digital technology increased use of the Internet as a tool for music promotion, allowing a new wave of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream success.

Most influential indie Rock bands of the 21st century

Arctic Monkeys- possibly the most impactful alternative rock band, setting todays codes and conventions on what a cool band in this genre should wear on tour, at concerts and in their music videos. Becoming famous through fan recognition on Myspace, gaining vast word of mouth promotion effectively catapulting them to stardom.

The Killers- set the president on how to distribute and create an effective indie music video, with Mr Brightside released in 2010, and distributed onto YouTube gained international recognition reaching 108 million views in total.

Arcade Fire- Canadian band commonly known for their originality in the music they produce, almost a trend setter for other bands to emulate.

All of the above bands are submissive to the traditional conventional of the genre because ;they consist solely of male artists, have rebellious undertones in their music, dont mind standing out from the crowd in their dress sense and started life as independent artists.