Genre Research

What is Indie Rock?

The term "indie rock" is a genre of alternative rock and it refers to the category of music in which most artists are signed to small independent labels compared to major labels. Many indie rock artists have a strong ethic about their music and are confident that they can appeal and stand out in order to attract different audiences, some are aimed to niche audiences whereas others tend to be larger, and so they don't worry about changing their music to fit in with popular and larger artists.

The Smiths are an english alternative rock band formed in 1982 in Manchester. The group's distinctive style of their album covers usually had pictures of famous film stars which was designed by Morrissey. The choice of simple covers reflected Morrissey's interest in filmstars, and portrayed very little about the band itself. This shows us the unique style they had and how they reflected their interests through famous faces, rather than express the band themselves in a different way for example putting images of all the band members.