How "underground" does a band need to be to...be "underground"

mrguy · 11-02-2010, 03:47 AM

Firstly; I put "underground" in quotations, as I don't like it as an adjective for music... But I can't think of a more suitable word at the moment.

Anyway, I write a column on a music blog called The Plug (where a plug small, relatively unknown acts who need a little promotion). The first band I did, Battle Circus, had 700 something listeners on last.fm. The band liked my write up, and all the readers seemed to like the music... Anyway, I'm trying to set my guidelines for how "underground" a band needs to be to feature...
The next group I'm considering doing have around 7000 plays on last.fm (decided to primarily base in on last.fm listeners), and I thought this was quite a lot. But then there is another group called "sleepmakeswaves" (Australian post-rock) who have one ep and one split ep (no album), and I thought were pretty unheard of. Yet they have 28,000 listeners...

So, how many/few listeners is "underground"?

11-02-2010, 03:47 AM	#1 (permalink)
mrguy Please, don't feed Mrguy Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 234	How "underground" does a band need to be to...be "underground" Firstly; I put "underground" in quotations, as I don't like it as an adjective for music... But I can't think of a more suitable word at the moment. Anyway, I write a column on a music blog called The Plug (where a plug small, relatively unknown acts who need a little promotion). The first band I did, Battle Circus, had 700 something listeners on last.fm. The band liked my write up, and all the readers seemed to like the music... Anyway, I'm trying to set my guidelines for how "underground" a band needs to be to feature... The next group I'm considering doing have around 7000 plays on last.fm (decided to primarily base in on last.fm listeners), and I thought this was quite a lot. But then there is another group called "sleepmakeswaves" (Australian post-rock) who have one ep and one split ep (no album), and I thought were pretty unheard of. Yet they have 28,000 listeners... So, how many/few listeners is "underground"? Last edited by mrguy; 11-14-2010 at 07:56 PM.