"Indie" Is The "Pumpkin" of Music

Photo: Martin Doege

That Word Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

OK. Bear with me here for a second. I've been kind of smirking over a couple of things this fall and the similarities between them. Fall is the prelude to the holidays; and, not coincidentally, it's also the big season for new album releases. That means two things: 1) Big "Indie" bands like Sleigh Bells, MGMT, (now) HAIM, Cults, and Arcade Fire put out new records. 2) Everything from ice cream to vodka to Pop Tarts to coffee gets a pumpkin (spice) -flavored version.

What do these two things have in common? Well the terms used to describe them have lost all of their original meaning as they've morphed into some kind of lifestyle signifiers. 

Cults and MGMT are both on venerable "Indie" label Columbia (Sony). HAIM's debut release is out now on Polydor (Universal Music Group). Arcade Fire and Sleigh Bells remain on independent labels Merge and Mom + Pop, respectively; but each have large distribution deals: UMG (Arcade Fire) and Sony (Sleigh Bells). But they're still "Indie" because, despite the elaborate marketing campaigns -- faux guerrilla marketing, coverage in major music publications, Sirius XMU Sessions / co-hosting slots, Saturday Night Live appearances -- these bands still maintain a level of credibility with Pitchfork, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, and mindie kids. And so now "Indie," once short for "independent," just means "stuff that mindie kids don't yet think is too popular to be cool, even though it is extremely corporate and popular." The word "Indie," in the context of popular music, has been totally decoupled from the word "independent."

Similarly, in a piece that MomVee shared earlier this week called "The Untold History of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte," a VP at a flavor-extract company says that consumers love the wildly popular drink (which contains no pumpkin) because it evokes a feeling of "native American, locavore, retro-comfort." So the "Pumpkin" or "Pumpkin Spice" that we see on all of these products doesn't actually mean "pumpkin" anymore. It means "autumn, seemingly natural, pre-holiday, heartwarming treats that rarely, if ever, contain any actual pumpkin."

Now I'm not saying that major label affiliated bands and the Pumpkin Spice Latte are bad. You should try things for yourself; make your own decisions. I just find it funny -- and kind of creepy -- that we've all kind of been trained to use words like "Indie" and "Pumpkin" to mean, basically, the complete opposite of what they used to mean.