Is Indie consumerist bullsh*t?

SGR · 01-05-2023, 09:06 AM

I'm really not the biggest indie fan, but I found a fair few indie albums last year that I really loved. Per your comment Big3 about indie today not being original and sounding the same, I guess I don't agree. I certainly don't find that it's becoming overly commercialized. Sure, some indie bands today score a big hit or two, but it's the same as it was back in 2003 with the bands you mentioned.

Per the tangential discussion about what music was popular in different decades - and what young people are listening to (or not listening to) - it seems like right now there's not really any kind of unified musical zeitgeist that all young people listen to and engage with. Hip-hop really dominated the mid 2000s, early/mid 2010s. I think it's still the most streamed genre on Spotify (someone can correct me if I'm wrong), but I feel like it's reaching that stage that rock music did in the early/mid 2000s. There's still some great rap albums getting released, but it seems like it's getting a bit stale. Add to that there's no obvious standard-bearer in rap, at least one that's getting constant airplay everywhere. Kendrick I suppose is the closest thing. Back in the early '00s, Eminem and 50 Cent were everywhere. In the mid/late '00s Kanye was everywhere. Early/mid 2010s, Drake was everywhere. But it just doesn't seem like the genre has that kind of ubiquity anymore. Maybe there's no relation, but it feels like with the rise of social media and streaming services (and algorithms), people have become more fractured and isolated and so are their music choices. Instead of radio play/music videos being a driving force of what's popular, young people nowadays start with some songs they like on Youtube or Spotify and the respective algorithms will help them branch out spiderweb fashion to stuff they also might like based on their initial input. I know we've discussed this at least a few times on here before.

Here's a sample platter from the indie albums I was talking about from last year:

I will say, I think during the pandemic, electronic music and house music specifically experienced a bit of a rennaisance in creativity and output and I think it's still continuing today:

01-05-2023, 09:06 AM	#11 (permalink)
SGR No Ice In My Bourbon Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: /dev/null Posts: 4,327	I'm really not the biggest indie fan, but I found a fair few indie albums last year that I really loved. Per your comment Big3 about indie today not being original and sounding the same, I guess I don't agree. I certainly don't find that it's becoming overly commercialized. Sure, some indie bands today score a big hit or two, but it's the same as it was back in 2003 with the bands you mentioned. Per the tangential discussion about what music was popular in different decades - and what young people are listening to (or not listening to) - it seems like right now there's not really any kind of unified musical zeitgeist that all young people listen to and engage with. Hip-hop really dominated the mid 2000s, early/mid 2010s. I think it's still the most streamed genre on Spotify (someone can correct me if I'm wrong), but I feel like it's reaching that stage that rock music did in the early/mid 2000s. There's still some great rap albums getting released, but it seems like it's getting a bit stale. Add to that there's no obvious standard-bearer in rap, at least one that's getting constant airplay everywhere. Kendrick I suppose is the closest thing. Back in the early '00s, Eminem and 50 Cent were everywhere. In the mid/late '00s Kanye was everywhere. Early/mid 2010s, Drake was everywhere. But it just doesn't seem like the genre has that kind of ubiquity anymore. Maybe there's no relation, but it feels like with the rise of social media and streaming services (and algorithms), people have become more fractured and isolated and so are their music choices. Instead of radio play/music videos being a driving force of what's popular, young people nowadays start with some songs they like on Youtube or Spotify and the respective algorithms will help them branch out spiderweb fashion to stuff they also might like based on their initial input. I know we've discussed this at least a few times on here before. Here's a sample platter from the indie albums I was talking about from last year: I will say, I think during the pandemic, electronic music and house music specifically experienced a bit of a rennaisance in creativity and output and I think it's still continuing today: Last edited by SGR; 01-05-2023 at 09:26 AM.