The Indie Problem

Graphics by Ailani Wong

Imagine a restaurant just opened up in your town. You decide to go check it out, since it’s brand new and hey, you haven’t been out in a while. You have the most amazing meal you have ever had in your life there, the ambiance is amazing, the prices in your range. It is the best restaurant experience you have ever had. Pretty quickly, you know you’re going to go back there. When you get home, your friend sends you a text asking how your night was.  

What do you do next?

Surely, you’d tell them about the amazing new restaurant you just visited. You’d tell pretty much everyone with working ears about it, right? Maybe you’d even take some friends there, or your cousin when they fly into town for a few days for a graduation party for someone you barely remember the first name of. Because sharing is caring, and you want the restaurant to stay open so you can keep going there. When you love something, you want to see it thrive. 

So why doesn't this principle apply to indie music and their fans?

There’s a curious phenomenon in the indie scene where the moment an underground favorite gets some mainstream attention— say a Rolling Stone cover or god forbid, a TikTok trend—their core fanbase gets real icy real fast. Pure admiration churns into bitterness and a repetition of the mantra “I liked them before you did.” Mainstream success is considered a moral failing, a personal affront to their first 45 Spotify monthly listeners. 

Indie, in its very definition, is independence. Independence from the big machine of the music industry, something raw and real and organic. Discovering something new that most people do not know about yet can be exciting, like you’re the Lewis and Clark of good tunes. 

So when that band you saw in a cramped basement show two years ago suddenly gets signed, starts playing festivals, or shows up on a Spotify playlist that your dentist plays in the waiting room, it feels like a betrayal. But why?

The whole “starving artist” thing becomes far less chic when the cold hard reality of capitalism enters the conversation. Sure, there is something romantic about loving a band untouched by the tentacles of the toxic music industry, but this fantasy ignores reality. Most artists don't actually want to starve! I’m sure if you asked any indie group being offered a deal right now, they’d argue that having that machine behind them will improve their lives. They’ll be able to reach more people, pay their rent, make more music they’ve always dreamed of creating. And sure, maybe they also want nicer guitars and money for coke. Is that so bad?

On the one hand, I can understand the frustration. Being looked at sideways all your life for enjoying “weird kid” music is never a good feeling. It also plays into our desire to be in a clique, an exclusive club that is limited to only the cool kids. It is in our psychological makeup to create and classify people as being in in-groups and out-groups. Being a part of the in-group is pretty sweet. When something is just yours, you can protect it. It almost feels like it was made for you personally, and all those mean bitches in high school will never be as cool as you are.

But here's the hard truth: music isn’t supposed to be a secret. It is meant to be shared. 

Music is one of the only things that unites people regardless of their backgrounds. A crowd of 80,000 people can be singing the lyrics to a song for 80,000 different reasons. Hearing a song you connect with for the first time is a feeling unlike any other. It weaves its way into your brain and your heart and becomes the thing you look to for comfort, release, and healing. If the art moved you, why wouldn’t you want someone else to experience that? 

So Becky from high school knows about your favorite indie band. Grow up! Maybe Becky gets it in a way you didn’t expect. Maybe she’s going through a breakup, and that band’s lyrics spoke to her grief. Things can change after graduation, you know. If anything, other people enjoying your favorite band is proof your taste is solid. And that’s a badge of honor you should be proud of. 

Let’s use our indie cred for good. Like indie philanthropy. Make playlists, support their shows, buy their merch. Tell your friends! Give others the chance to experience what you did. Congratulations, you were there first. Now go find the next big thing!

Music belongs to all of us, it is one of the only things that does. 

And that is why it is so beautiful.