Are Indie Music Artists
Singing Scales?
What is the Definition of Inde
Music?
If you search the archives from now
till doomsday you still might not find a clear definition of
what “indie music” is. Most people think of it as
a "way out there" source performed by guitar or keyboard
players signed on to obscure labels, and it refers to
artists that are “independent.” Whether it’s
an accurate description of the word or not, it is often
casually used to describe anything that’s little-known
or unusual. But, it doesn't have to be harsh.
Does a song or a singing style become
indie music just because it’s obscure? Or maybe
there’s something about the type of the music
that’s different from mainstream musical fare. These
styles do tend to sound different from more
“famous” music, but in what way is it different?
If you try to come up with a
definitive of what independent music sounds like, it
wouldn’t be indie anymore because it’s being
influenced by popular opinion. And if you really want to go
there, making it a genre in the first place already
contaminates its “indie” status, and then even
referring to it as a status does that too, and you could go
on forever.
It feels like indie is becoming the
new alternative, and alternative used to be sort of what
indie is supposed to represent. Alternative was an
alternative to mainstream music, but now alternative is so
widespread that it is mainstream. And now that indie music
is getting more exposure, one could argue that indie music
has become mainstream as well.
The thing is, if indie is about
distancing itself from the mainstream, it’s impossible
to separate itself entirely. When you non-conform,
you’re still conforming because what you view as
conformity affects your actions.
By trying to distance yourself from
the mainstream, you’re already affected by it. And
anyway, it doesn’t feel like the true meaning of indie
is just to be different from the crowd, because how
pretentious is that, how un-indie. For example, trying to
make your music sound as different as possible so that
it’ll be unique would be more obnoxious than creative.
And if this alternative is just about
doing it for the music's sake and not for the fame,
there’s a thin line to walk. Music needs an audience,
and it is difficult to have a lot of people like your music
and still remain out of the spotlight.
If you are a musician who is getting
ready for singing auditions for record companies you have
some choices in the style you want to present. Be yourself
and you should go further in the business. No matter if your
music is alternative, country, gospel or rock it should
reflect something you really love doing.
The Idea of performing because you
enjoy it and not because you just want others to enjoy it is
admirable, and all music should be in the spirit of indie
music—whatever that is.
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