• In the Urban dictionary the definition of Indie is 'an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself'. Indie is short for independent music. Indie groups and singers are usually signed to small , budget labels. Indie is a child of alternative rock (the genre). It originated here in the UK and in the USA in the 1980s.Due to the ever-changing music industry, from 2000 ,indie has made a huge breakthrough in the industry and has become a household name. Instruments that are usually played are guitar, drums, bass, keyboard and vocals.

Over the past few years ,Indie has become the main genre playing at music festivals throughout the UK. Festivals like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds show these acts and people turn out in there thousands to come see them .

There fan base has grown mainly because of the advances in modern technology like you tube which means they can display their music without having being signed to a large music label but still attract a large target audience.

Bombay Bicycle Club

The Kooks

Laura Marling

These are some of the more popular indie artists and bands which produce music at the moment.

The Wombats

Florence and the Machine

They all seem to have a laid back , scruffy look which is different from the jazzed up , over the top pop and other artists. This new look of careless singers attracts the new generation of young adults.

These two are magazines which feature indie bands. There is not a huge market out there of indie magazines

POP • Pop is short for popular music!

• The first songs to belong to the pop category were crossover styles from the standard formats of the day. In country music, instrumental soloing was de-emphasised and more prominent vocals added, commonly backed by a string section and vocal chorus.

• In the new millennium pop music became a household name. Pop tunes filled the charts and the rest is history.

• From 2008 pop music is now the most popular style of music of youth culture, making competition with hip-hop, dance, and country.

• It is usually understood to be commercially recorded music.

• The singers usually sing over Hip – hop beats.

• The first pop song was recorded in 1962.

• Pop music general uses noticeable rhythmical elements ,catchy melodies and hooks.

• There are many sub genres and fusion genres inside pop genre.

The Saturdays

Gwen Stefani

Mariah Carey

Natalie Imbruglia

Pop magazines that are on sale at the moment . They use famous singers as their cover image to attract the large fan base of pop fans to buy their magazines.

R&B• R&B started of as a combination of jazz, gospel and blues.

• R&B is the name given for rhythm and blues.

• It started in 1940’s in the United States with the black culture in America but now has progressed for the genres and is no longer exclusively made by black artists.

• Unlike pop music , R&B is played over more soulful beats .

• The instruments used in most rhythm and blues songs are drum kit , electric guitar, double bass , saxophone ,piano and much more.

• The R&B out now is called contemporary R&B as it is starting to stray away from the 1940’s black American purely soulful music.

• R&B began adding stylistic components of hip-hop until -- by the end of the millennium -- there were hundreds of artists who featured both rapping and singing on their records.

Cee lo Green

Nicki Minaj

Bruno Mars