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Indie Rock Music: Alternative Rock, College Radio Stations And Promotions
Published: May 22, 2007
A lot has been made over the last several years about the dominance of highly produced and commercialized pop music over the airwaves. Many purists long for the days when music was more raw and unpolished, and the indie rock music scene flourished across the United States. During the early and late 90s, there was even a push in the radio industry to make indie rock music mainstream, resulting in the smash success of bands like REM, Nirvana, Green Day, the White Stripes, and The Strokes creating the genre of Alternative Rock.
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Of course, as soon as those bands hit the big time the community that helped create them abandoned them, adding to the constant paradox that is the indie rock music scene.
The term indie rock music is a kind of misnomer. Taken at face value, indie rock music is any unsigned rock band playing shows. However, to members of the indie rock music scene, it means much more. True alternative rock has to have a kind of non-commercial stance usually with some kind of social or political message. This kind of alternative rock with a meaning has fostered the creation of the indie community which celebrates their non-commerciality and perceives major labels and those who don't share their sentimentalities as the enemy.
There are several hotbeds for this kind of underground music. Probably the most famous club for indie rock music, punk, new wave, and other kinds of underground music was New York's CBGB. CBGB was the launching point for many popular indie rock music acts like The Ramones, The Talking Heads, and Mike DeVille. In a huge blow to the indie rock music scene, CBGB has been closed since 2006, though the owner Hilly Kristal is looking to open a similar club in Las Vegas.
The last bastions for indie rock music acts to appeal to a wider audience than the local club scene are college radio stations.
Given the slant of college radio away from big brand music acts and allowing its DJs to play whatever music appeals to them, indie rock music has gained a foothold in college radio stations across the country. For many acts, college radio promotion allows them to put across their musical message to the masses without the perception that they've sold out to commercial radio. For many of these acts over the years, college radio promotion has lead to such a large foothold in the public consciousness that they attract the attention and money of major record labels. For an act that is tiring of toiling in obscurity for a few hundred dollars a gig, this is often too much to pass up.
Indie rock music is both a blessing and a curse. Truly great indie rock acts can make a living touring the country playing to crowds of a few hundred with their artistic integrity intact. For a lot of bands, however, this is just not an option, and if getting the label of selling out from the indie rock music scene means that they can get a decent salary and play to big crowds, they will. The indie rock music scene is a volatile and ever changing one, but it always thrives just beneath the consciousness o f the public. Those that bemoan the lack of a good indie scene to ward off the mass market acts probably only need to look to their local clubs and bars to see the future of indie music in action.
Source:
“Indie (music).” Wikipedia. 19 May 2007. 20 May 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_(music).
Hibbett, Ryan. “What is Indie Rock. Find Articles.” Popular Music and Society. Feb. 2005. FindArticles. 20 May 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_1_28/ai_n9507897.
Peake, Steve. “College Rock - Alternative When Alternative Wasn't Commercial.” About: 80s Music. 2007. About, Inc. 20 May 2007. http://80music.about.com/od/genresmovements/p/collegerock.htm.
Kristal, Hilly. "The History of CBGB." CBGB. 2007. 20 May 2007. http://www.cbgb.com/history1.htm.
― St3ve Go1db3rg, Friday, 27 July 2007 09:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh, go listen to your dance hall hits and rap music, you reactionaries!
The about.com article is also informative, with helpful Smithereens recommendations.
― Martin Van Burne, Friday, 27 July 2007 19:43 (sixteen years ago) link
one month passes...
six months pass...
I'd guess he's bringing up Neil Young to highlight the turns his career took after a successful period in the early 70s, how he managed to reinvent himself now and again, whereas the Eagles got kinda stale. Compare and contrast, innit. Nothing to do with Young being "obscure".
― Bodrick III, Tuesday, 25 March 2008 19:49 (sixteen years ago) link
two weeks pass...
four months pass...
one year passes...