Indie

The label "indie" has become an everyday and problematic term, the subject of eternal discussions among music lovers about its legitimacy as a musical genre. Beyond the strictly musical, the public, specialized journalists, concert and festival promoters, record labels and academics also consider "indie" to be, at the same time, an autonomous position in the music industry, an attitude towards the musical fact and an escape from the commercial and mass market. However, rarely are all these premises fulfilled in a group or musical artist considered "indie". Besides, these characteristics are not exclusive to this musical "category". Rap, heavy metal, electronic music or any other musical label can be equally independent, minority, innovative, musically ambitious and not be considered "indie". So what is "indie"? This essay addresses the origins, characteristics, uses and functions of a confusing concept that arouses sympathy and suspicion in equal parts. With an academic but very accessible approach, the work proposes a critical reading of how the different agents involved in the music industry, but above all the specialized and general music press, shape the meanings we make use of and which, in the case of "indie", become diffuse and even contradictory, giving rise to a fascinating debate.