'Indie' is a word that was coined by the media. It was a genre created by the media in the early 80's to pigeonhole emerging bands like The Smiths and Orange Juice for example who were playing a particular style of music and just so happened to be on independent record labels. The term just stuck over the years and was used by the media to pigeonhole bands with that 'indie' sound (which itself has evolved a bit over the years) regardless of their record label status. The right use of the term 'indie' should really be applied to bands on independent record labels but that would cover a lot of musical styles and would make it difficult for the media to pigeonhole bands.
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