Indie

Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is music produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries; this may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing. As a genre term, "indie" may or may not comprise independently produced music. Many independent music artists do not fall into a single defined musical style or genre.
Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, and Stax. In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established, until the launch of new concepts like Virgin Records. 
During the punk rock era, the number of independent labels grew. The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onward. From the late 1970s into the 1980s, certain UK independent labels (such as Rough Trade, Fast Product, Cherry Red, Factory, Industrial, and Creation) came to contribute something in terms of aesthetic identity to the acts whose records they released. Around the late 1980s, Seattle-based Sub Pop Records was at the center of the grunge scene.
(Read more at Wikipedia.)
== Links to Peel ==
"If one had to nominate a single individual who nurtured and promoted independent music, that person would surely be John Peel."(A History Of Indie Music In 50 Key Moments, Guardian, 14 Jun 2011)
"It is mainly those small labels, Stiff and Chiswick, which give me heart and bring a little joy into this wicked world.”Both Stiff and Chiswick emerged from the pre-punk London pub rock scene.
(John Peel, Sounds, 23 Oct 1976)
"Praise Heaven for the Small Wonders and Beggars Banquets of this world - and even more so for the Desperate Bicycles and their like."(John Peel, Sounds, 12 Aug 1978.)
"They talk about these days sort of independent records and so on as if there were something inherently desirable about being independent, as though this meant that the music was itself going to be better. I mean, by and large over the past ten years it has been."(John Peel, Peeling Back The Years 2 (Transcript), 1987)
Available Peel show playlists underline the continuing central role of music on independent labels over the decades of his shows from the late 1970s. Initially linked to the DIY spirit of punk, indie labels gave the DJ a chance to tap into new music from all over the country, by artists outside the powerful London record industry. Meanwhile, for defiantly non-commercial indie operations across the UK, the Peel show was seen offering the best chance of national radio exposure. His 27 May 1980 show featured a planned A-Z of independent releases, which only reached N, selected from the backlog of unplayed records. The DJ regularly gave airtime to tracks from local compilations on small regional labels. 
Even before punk, Peel had been keen to promote Bill Nelson's independently released debut LP 'Northern Dream' (1971), as well as folk and blues releases from smaller operations both British and American (Saydisc in Bristol, Topic; Arhoolie Records, Yazoo Records). In 1961, his radio debut on WRR in Dallas had been due to his ownership of a rare Lightnin’ Hopkins LP called 'The Rooster Crowed in England', which was issued in a limited edition on 77 Records, run from Dobell’s record shop on Charing Cross Road, London. Back in the UK, his Perfumed Garden pirate show had strongly supported US independent label Elektra (Love, Doors, Incredible String Band), later folded into the WEA conglomerate with Warners and Atlantic Records.
While big-name punk insurgents such as the Sex Pistols and Clash signed with major labels,The Sex Pistols jumped quickly from EMI to A&M, followed by Virgin. The Clash bemoaned their situation at CBS in ‘Remote Control’ and ‘Complete Control’, before namechecking leading indie labels in 'Hitsville UK'. Neither band recorded a Peel session. Sniffin' Glue fanzine editor Mark Perry famously declared, “Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS.” Others who took the "entryism" option to subvert the mainstream (and win bigger audiences) included session bands Gang Of Four and Scritti Politti. the 'New Rose' single by the Damned and the 'Spiral Scratch' EP by Buzzcocks sparked an "indie" revolution for British music and the future course of the DJ's show. Both pioneer bands recorded sessions, followed by Desperate Bicycles, Swell Maps and other self-released outfits, while a new independent distribution network known as The Cartel sprang up across the UK, centered on Rough Trade in London and record shops in major cities, leading to a decade of weekly Indie Charts in the music press from 1980.The indie charts excluded earlier adventurous outsiders supported by Peel such as Island and Virgin that had risen swiftly to join the UK music industry establishment. Virgin, in particular, moved quickly to update its credentials by signing the Sex Pistols and other fresh talent (including "new wave" session bands such as Magazine, Revillos, XTC, etc).
Like the show's annual Festive Fifty lists, the weekly charts were quickly dominated by maverick labels and session bands familiar to Peel listeners, including Factory Records (from Manchester, with releases by Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, etc), Zoo (from Liverpool: launching Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, plus numerous offshoots of Big In Japan) and Postcard (from Glasgow: Orange Juice, Josef K), as well as Peel favourites such as The Undertones (originally on Good Vibrations of Belfast), Half Man Half Biscuit (on Probe Plus), and the Fall (Rough Trade and others).
A decade earlier, Peel's own Dandelion Records had been distributed via the majors, but the new network allowed vinyl versions of sessions both old and new to be available widely, via EP releases on Strange Fruit, often entering the indie charts. 
The "independent music" featured by Peel wasn't limited to a lineage of introspective jangly guitar pop extending from Buzzcocks to Orange Juice, The Smiths and Wedding Present, or the C86 cassette release from NME,Peel was always keen to avoid his show becoming the exclusive domain of "white boys with guitars". but also encompassed electronic music from Mute, Industrial and others, grindcore from Earache Records, world music from Stern's and Earthworks, and reggae from Greensleeves Records, Blood & Fire and a dizzying number of tiny Jamaican labels, as well as other deserving outsiders. The DJ also embraced the wider indie subculture of fanzines.
Elsewhere, Peel was always more than happy to play records released by adventurous small labels in nearby European countries. On Top Of The Pops in 1982, the DJ introduced himself as "the bloke who comes on your radio late at night and plays you records by lots of sulky Belgians."On 04 February 1982 (TOTP). Factory had close ties with Les Disques Du Crepuscule in Belgium and the Sordide Sentimentale label in France.
Across the Atlantic, a parallel movement of unpolished "alternative" music emerged in the wake of punk, again nurtured outside the majors and also featured by Peel, including on the SST Records label (Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr.) and from session bands often released in the UK by Mute offshoot Blast First (Sonic Youth, Big Black) or 4AD (Pixies, Throwing Muses), as well as grunge from the Sub Pop label of SeattleStrange Fruit released Peel session compilations from both Sub Pop and Minneapolis-based label Amphetamine Reptile. and influential 90s artists such as Pavement and Will Oldham. Local music scenes also produced hip hop from Sugar Hill Records and Tommy Boy in New York, and later house and techno in Chicago. In LA, discount record shop imprint Rhino Records initially focused on novelty items and re-issues of vintage surf.
The original UK indie boom eventually ended with the collapse of Rough Trade distribution at the turn of the decade, with knock-on effects for local indie hubs and labels across the country, coinciding with wider changes in popular culture that led to "indie-dance" artists on Top Of The Pops, including Peel session bands such as The Farm, Happy Mondays and Primal Scream. A lingering influence continued, however, with major record companies absorbing elements of the indie aesthetic and sound, creating lookalike sub-labels and signing up many top artists. 
Faced by serious financial problems, Creation Records, originally home to leading session bands including Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, accepted investment from Sony and took Oasis to the top of the national charts as unambitious charity-shop indie became a musical style rebranded fashionable Britpop, with Pulp, Elastica, Supergrass and (eventually) Blur among the few contenders to win approval from JP. In the new century, a fresh generation of sharply dressed guitar session bands such as the Strokes and White Stripes emerged outside the majorsOn a revived Rough Trade and Sympathy For The Record Industry, respectively. to dominate the mainstream, amid a copycat wave of so-called "landfill indie"..
Meanwhile, other forms of music played by Peel, including dance subgenres such as jungle/drum and bass and grime/dubstep, continued to arrive primarily from small independent labels. On the BBC website from 2002, his Label Of The Month selections featured leading electronic-music operations such as Warp, Rephlex, Tigerbeat6, Bonkers, and MFS of Berlin, alongside more recognizably indie imprints such as Shifty Disco (from Oxford: Samurai Seven, etc) and Rock Action (from Glasgow: Mogwai).
== Festive Fifty ==
According to The Festive Fifty by Mark Whitby (1st edition, 2005, pg195), indie mainstays Rough Trade, Factory and 4AD were the leading three record companies for Festive Fifty entries in Peel's lifetime, ahead of Polydor, Virgin, CBS and Island, with the top ten rounded out by Creation Records, Beggars Banquet Records and RCA.
Independent labels accounted for the majority of F50 #1 tracks during Peel's lifetime (label name in brackets):Exceptions included tracks from Led Zeppelin (on Atlantic), Sex Pistols (EMI), Nirvana (Geffin, previously signed to Sub Pop, Pulp (on Island) and Cuban Boys (EMI). - (Factory): 1981: Joy Division: Atmosphere | 1982: New Order: Temptation (yearly chart) | 1983: New Order: Blue Monday | 2000: Joy Division: Atmosphere (all-time chart) - (Rough Trade): 1984: Smiths: How Soon Is Now | 1986: Smiths: There Is A Light That Will Never Go Out | 1989: Sundays: Can't Be Sure - (One Little Indian): 1987: Sugarcubes: Birthday | 1993: Chumbawamba and Credit To The Nation: Enough Is Enough - (Creation Records): 1988: House Of Love: Destroy The Heart - (Cog Sinister): 1990: Fall: Bill Is Dead - (Jimmi Kidd Rekordz): 1992: Bang Bang Machine: Geek Love - (Mute): 1994: Inspiral Carpets ft. Mark E. Smith: I Want You - (Fierce Panda): 1996: Kenickie: Come Out 2Nite - (Wiiija): 1997: Cornershop: Brimful Of Asha - (Chemikal Underground): 1998: Delgados: Pull The Wires From the Wall - (Mint): 2000: Neko Case: Twist The Knife (yearly chart) - (Sylem): 2001: Melys: Chinese Whispers - (Track & Field): 2002: Saloon: Girls Are The New Boys - (Scopitones): 2003: Cinerama: Don't Touch That Dial
== See Also ==
*Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie: Presented by former Peel sessions producer Mark Radcliffe.
*Indie Charts
*Label Specials
*Record Boxes: Simon Raymonde: The Bella Union label head and former bassist with 4AD band Cocteau Twins makes a selection of 1980s releases from Peel's Record Collection, dominated by singles and LPs on independent labels, including multiple choices on Beggars Banquet Records offshoot Situation Two, 4AD, Rough Trade and Factory.
*2 Tone Records: Funded and distributed by Chrysalis.
*(labels): Big Bear Records | Creeping Bent | Flying Nun Records | Peaceville | Red Rhino Records | Rock-O-Rama | Sarah Records | Sympathy For The Record Industry | Too Pure | Tresor | Trikont 
*(artists and others with labels): Anhrefn | Coldcut | Crass | Flatmates | Peter Gabriel | Charlie Gillett | Steve Lamacq | Mad Professor | Mono Men | Marc Riley | Adrian Sherwood | Sabres Of Paradise | T.Raumschmiere | Μ-Ziq
== Links ==
*Wikipedia: Independent Music
*Wikipedia: List of UK Independent Singles Chart number ones of the 1980s
*Wikipedia: List of UK Independent Albums Chart number ones of the 1980s
*(Guardian): A History Of Indie Music In 50 Key Moments
*(State Of The Arts, 2020): The Story of ‘Selling Out’: major labels, independence and The Clash
== References ==
Category:Discography
Category:Record Labels
Category:Genres