Mainstream vs. Indie/Underground

[SnoopyG]

Which do you prefer


I actually prefer both because some mainstream artists sounds good and some dont while some indie artists sounds good and some dont.

[Madame Adequate]

I prefer good music. The source is frankly inconsequential.

[farplaner]

Which do you prefer


I actually prefer both because some mainstream artists sounds good and some dont while some indie artists sounds good and some dont.

a compelling argument...

it reminds me of my soon-to-be sister in law's frequently used phrase:

"It's like...I do, but....then again, I don't. You know what I mean? :confused:

[Nominus Experse]

I prefer good music. The source is frankly inconsequential.
Stole the words directly from my mouth.

And what that which is considered good is a highly relative term - what I percieve as good may cause you to cringe, and visa versa.

And as for that of underground, that can be tied in with location. For example, I listen to :Wumpscut:. Some of you may be acquanted with :Wumpscut:, but I can say for certain that over here in where I live, he is a very underground artist. However, when thinking of Germany, he is much more appreciated and much more well known there than over here in Washington of the United States.

[El Bandito]

Just like underground rap vs. mainstream, I feel indie bands without the burden of the big record companies judging their sounds are free to more creativity and experimentation with their sounds.

Of course this experimentation doesn't mean indie is always good. Some indie rock is complete garbage and sometimes the mainstream puts out some brilliant stuff.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I have a preference towards neither of them. I like good music whether it be mainstream or underground. Although mainstream music is easy to follow.

[Crushed Hope]

Underground bands, at least in the metal scene, tend to have more artistic integrity than mainstream bands.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Underground bands, at least in the metal scene, tend to have more artistic integrity than mainstream bands.
Yeah, that may be true when you compare underground bands to very large mainstream bands like Metallica. But that's not true for all.

[Xander]

I like what I like, but it does generally happen that mainstream music gets overplayed - hence making me get sick of it a lot quicker than I would usually. Example I got Muse's new album, really liked it, went out one saturday and they played it in literally every shop I went in (well almost). It was like Muse overload after that...

Plus mainstream stuff is pretty much always or almost always going to be the stuff that appeals to...well the mainstream. You're not gonna get much stuff that strays too far away. Obviously right now it's all the indie/guitar bands that seem to be popular, muse, razorlight, the kooks, blah. And while I like some of it a lot, I like variety too. Stuff like the go! team, architecture in helsinki, of montreal, just doesn't get played on radio or put to the mainstream really.

Of Montreal in particular I think are amazing, but I wouldn't have discoverered them was it not for LastFM and I guess the indie music connections on there...

Plus to me I just don't feel there is as much good pop coming out as there was in the 90s... I know I was younger then and into it more but stuff like Backstreet Boys and All Saints were good pop groups...now we have pussycat dolls and umm.. I don't even know. So maybe love songs etc were considered boring and unoriginal but I prefered them to songs about taking your clothes off....

ANYWAY my point is I love how there is SO much music out there that doesn't get into the mainstream but is really good and also different...but I also like some mainstream but really I think these days it is mostly crap =P

And some people think indie just means the typical guitar bands... there's such a variety of music out there and really I just want the chance to hear more of it ^^

[Sekhu]

I frankly prefer the independant stuff more for the fact that I'm unlikely to hear it/have it ruined on television or radio. I don't watch much TV or listen to the radio often anyway, but hearing a song like "Fix You" by Coldplay over and over during crappy movie ads or while in a bookstore totally killed any meaning it had for me. Same goes for classic rock songs being used for car ads. "Lease a brand new Tahoe at your local Chevy dealer! I call that a bargain, the best I eeeever haaaad!"

[NINJA_Ryu]

I frankly prefer the independant stuff more for the fact that I'm unlikely to hear it/have it ruined on television or radio. I don't watch much TV or listen to the radio often anyway, but hearing a song like "Fix You" by Coldplay over and over during crappy movie ads or while in a bookstore totally killed any meaning it had for me. Same goes for classic rock songs being used for car ads. "Lease a brand new Tahoe at your local Chevy dealer! I call that a bargain, the best I eeeever haaaad!"

I tend to fall the same way, but the problem is that mainstream and "Underground" can be total reverse in some places.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I frankly prefer the independant stuff more for the fact that I'm unlikely to hear it/have it ruined on television or radio. I don't watch much TV or listen to the radio often anyway, but hearing a song like "Fix You" by Coldplay over and over during crappy movie ads or while in a bookstore totally killed any meaning it had for me. Same goes for classic rock songs being used for car ads. "Lease a brand new Tahoe at your local Chevy dealer! I call that a bargain, the best I eeeever haaaad!"

I am glad that I do not watch TV or listen to the radio at all. :cool:

[Moon Rabbits]

Good music!

[Sekhu]

I am glad that I do not watch TV or listen to the radio at all. :cool:I try not to, but my mom always has it on loud as hell, so I can't help but hear crappy commercial music.

[Araciel]

i like music that appeals to me and that i hear often...i find that music i consider good usually has to grow on me. rarely do i find that after one listen i can say if i like something or not. this being the case, i would say more 'mainstream' music appeals to me, but probably only because of this odd infatuation i seem to have with melodic familiarity

[Zeldy]

Same as Nominus Experse, alot of my bands are very well known in Finland, but their songs arnt even released in the UK, so no one knows they even exist. In Finland The Rasmus are always on the radio, in UK its extremely rare.

Im not into the UKs mainstream bands, at all. Its not that I think they're crap, I just don't like the genre of music that does so well over here.

[Roto13]

I think the biggest turnoff that comes with indie music is the group of people who think they're automatically deep for listening to indie music.

[LunarWeaver]

I just listen to whatever I listen to and don't bother with what kind of music it is and who's singing it. If I like something, I just like it. I don't see why anybody would go out of their way to only listen to one or the other.

It's funny that 'underground' bands are trying to be mainstream though. Nobody makes a band so they can be poor. And then when they do hit it big a lot of their fans stop liking them instead of being happy for their success :O_O:

[Shoden]

I voted mainstream for a joke. I don't see a difference between mainstream and indie rock soundwise, except some of the indie bands seem to have a pop-like feel to their music.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I am glad that I do not watch TV or listen to the radio at all. :cool:I try not to, but my mom always has it on loud as hell, so I can't help but hear crappy commercial music.
Headphones FTW! Seriously, I use headphones all the time when I'm at the computer, I don't have to deal with other people as much.

I think the biggest turnoff that comes with indie music is the group of people who think they're automatically deep for listening to indie music.
Same here. Fucking snobs. :mad2:

[SnoopyG]

I think the biggest turnoff that comes with indie music is the group of people who think they're automatically deep for listening to indie music.

You're so right, those people think they know everything about music because they found a good band that's not big. It's really annoying sometimes.

[Sunny Day Suicide]

Lets put it this way.

Mainstream
____________________
From First To Last
My Chemical Romance
Hawthorne Heights


Indie
___________________
Arctic Monkeys
The Subways
Franz Ferdinand



Indie please

[Ryth]

I like good music, which I find in both mainstream and Indie music.

[Markus. D]

mainstream has potential to be better because they have the money to make there music sound better.

[farplaner]

mainstream has potential to be better because they have the money to make there music sound better.

By "sound better" I assume you are talking about production value, but still it's a matter of opinion. Some people prefer a less
"glossy"/ more "gritty" sound. Some people prefer vocals that aren't synthesized into plastic.

[Fuego]

I think the biggest turnoff that comes with indie music is the group of people who think they're automatically deep for listening to indie music.
I have to agree ... like when Rammstein first was listenable in the states(i think in like '98 or so), a buddy of mine thought he was the shizzle for 'finding it'.
Buts its like hey buddy ... they are pretty dam big (when you told me about it), (and i heard their music from a d.j. friend before him :D ) ... hmmmm.

God i Miss The Atomic Cafe' !

**EDIT**
If you don't already ... RUN and get yourself a D.J. Friend ... THE BEST !!!!

[NorthernChaosGod]

**EDIT**
If you don't already ... RUN and get yourself a D.J. Friend ... THE BEST !!!!

The internet is better. Places where you can buy CD's that list bands similar to ones you already like are where I find music, and myspace.

[Roto13]

www.pandora.com

[Fuego]

Cool site Roto13-ness !

I am still in the stone age as far as music is concerned since i am now banned from downloading music period (and being monitored) and being sued for doing so through another company that was supposed to be "100% Legal"

I guess i will wait til i get this settled or whatever before i try again ... but then i wonder if there is a moral to all this >.<

and this is all just a side bar ... no thread jackin' intended :D

***EDIT***
also D.J's have alot of exclusive stuff i have never before seen ... but then again when i was downloading, i found an Ass load of remixes D/J's don't have access to ! At least on Vinyl.

[Zeromus_X]

I prefer good music. The source is frankly inconsequential.

[-N-]

I prefer good music. The source is frankly inconsequential.