was irrevocably altered by Interscope’s commercial manipulation. It was no longer the work of a gifted lyricist who got her break through “democratic” popular acclaim on Youtube. Their anger was based in the feeling that they had been duped, which points to an important aspect of indie culture: the premium it places on authenticity. Indie and the atomisation of authenticity The indie resistance to commercial influence comes from a fear that our preferences are not actually individualised and authentic, but can be manipulated through top-down structures of commercial control. The crucial question which follows is this: Why is having similar taste to other people such a big deal? Why has the indie ideal of avoiding the mainstream achieved so much traction? Obviously there are many factors at play and indie’s success is a complex phenomenon - but I would like to explore one possible contributing influence. The twentieth century discredited many collective identities, which had previously allowed individuals to connect to something larger, and by so doing, endowed life with a sense of meaning or authenticity. Imperialism, nationalism, fascism, communism; the great political ideologies were stained by their terrible human consequences. The end of the Cold War heralded a period of Western dominance in the 1990s and 2000s, and with it came something of an ‘end of history’ feeling with regard to ideologies. Religious belief, trust in political leaders and obedience to parental authority all declined significantly. Collective identities were also created by rebelling against such power structures: the anti-materialist hippie counter-culture, for example, which reacted against the US political-military complex in the sixties and seventies. But even these responses have become clichés; ‘peace, man’, ‘fight the power’ and ‘save the world’ are perceived as naïve attitudes by today’s more cynical younger generation. There are problems with capitalism, but we don’t see social solidarity as the
solution. The disenchantment of the world which Weber described at the turn of the twentieth century seemed to have arrived, and music reflected a retreat into the concerns of the private sphere– themes like fitting in, self-actualisation and hedonism came to the fore. “Teenage Dirtbag” is a very different beast to “Blowin’ in the Wind”. So how does this connect to the indie ideal and authenticity? At a very basic level, we want to feel that our lives matter. One route is through larger, collective identities, but these have declined in recent decades. Another option is convincing ourselves that we are unique, special, and therefore significant. This means we must seek out ways of distinguishing ourselves from seven billion other individuals: the atomisation which accompanies the decline of social identities forces us to construe our individuality by means of the accessories of the private sphere, like our cultural preferences. A unique blend of likes and dislikes – an independent set of tastes – makes us authentic. Cultural consumption becomes a quest for the ever more alternative and unknown. The hilarious footage of fake vox pop interviews at music festivals, where people nod enthusiastically and exclaim “yeah they’re amazing” upon being asked whether they’ve heard of nonexistent band, is proof. Another aspect of this search for uniqueness is the fetishisation of the style and sounds of past decades. The tendency to nostalgic sampling is more the territory of hipsters (a similar but separate sub-culture), but it is linked to the broader indie impulse. Overall, the indie attitude fills a psychological void. This is why business ventures which manage to imitate the indie style successfully do well. American Apparel, which sells over-priced faux-grungy clothes, is just one example. It is also why the revelation of Lana Del Rey’s “artificiality” provoked such outrage; listening to “Video Games” was not simply about the music, but was a way of demonstrating discernment. Discovering you have been fooled is an affront to your identity.