Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Indie

Indie

Indie is often used to mean a sound that relates to an individual interpreted, or the way that a sound is presented or made to fit in with those conventions. The term indie relates to a band or artist that does not conform to any mainstream culture, they completely go against any trending mainstream behaviour or music . The approach gives the artist totally creative freedom and makes them stand out.

The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, some of the general conventions are:

• The artist is shown performing.

• Lyrics of the song influence the representation of the narrative and images shown within the video.

• The editing fits in with the pace of the song

• The clothing represents the genre

• Typical rock instruments e.g. guitars, and many indie bands use synthesizers and keyboards to add a psychedelic/weird tone to their music which makes it so distinctive from other music genres.

• Most dominated by males although there are a mixer of male to females 

For most indie music videos the conventions tends to follow a chronicle order of black and white, but not always. The use of close-ups, extremes close-ups and longshot are seen as a signature mark within the indie genre.

Indie artists are within other genres of music for example there will be Indie Folk artists such as Bon Iver and Indie Rap artists such as Kid Cudi.

Both of these artists include conventions sterotypical to the genre they represent however add their own twists to it such as showing more scenery shots in a Bon Iver video. 

Examples

Bon Iver - Holocene

Kid Cudi - Pursuit Of Happiness