The evolution of public relations practices in the indie rock genre

UnrestrictedHistorically, indie rock artists and record labels have had few tools for generating publicity. This is because the most powerful promotional tools in the music industry, i.e. terrestrial commercial radio and mainstream music publications, have featured artists signed to major labels over indie rock artists. Consequently, many listeners have had limited exposure to indie rock music, which has caused the genre to only be popular among niche audiences.; However, the internet has segmented and democratized the music media, which has increased coverage for independent artists. Now, bloggers report on music genres not affiliated with mainstream tastes, including indie rock, in depth. Additionally, social media platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook, allow indie rock artists and labels to promote themselves and communicate with listeners directly at little cost. In this way, the internet has fostered a thriving network of artists, record labels, bloggers, radio stations and fans that work together to organically promote indie rock. Consequently, indie rock is more popular than ever.; By examining the history of indie rock and analyzing the music industries’ adoption of digital media, this paper explores how the music industry has evolved, and how this evolution has influenced the public relations practices members of the independent music community use promote indie rock