Genre Research

Genre Research: Indie-Pop Music

Indie Pop is a genre that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera. Indie Pop music videos do not tend to have a clear or linear narrative. Most images that fall into this genre use unusual props and vintage style costumes. This is an attribute that we are aiming for our music video to have. The representations usually portrayed in this genre are youth. This is shown through the use of on trend costumes, quirky props and the artist/star themselves tend to be quite young. The style of lighting used throughout the Indie Pop genre is unusual lighting such as mix-match colour like reds and blues. The use of back lighting puts the emphasis on the artist/band and creates a bizarre feel to the artist/band. This is an effect we are wishing to create in our music video.

An Indie – pop Album cover is usually simple such as a plain or patterned behind the artist/band, allowing the band/artist to be the main focus and eye-catching to the viewer. This also helps the audience to recognise the artist/band therefore creating a connection with the viewer. An example of where an unusual image has been used is on the Two Door Cinema Club album cover for ‘Tourist History’. The image is a cat, which does not relate to the band, but creates intrigue for the viewer, as they want to find out why it has been used. The inlay usually contains a recurring theme that is seen on the front and back cover of the CD such as a colour.

Some examples of Indie-pop:

Marina and the Diamonds music video for ‘Primadonna’. The video clearly has a distinct vintage feel to it, e see this through the use of costume, props and set. The use of black and black and white filter adds to the whole feel of the Indie -pop genre

Florence & the machine 'Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)'. The video has a clear quirky style to it, which you'd expect  an indie video to have. The vintage styled costumes and the unusual props add strongly to the fact that this video falls into the Indie - pop genre.