What is another word for alternative rock?
For the radio format associated with this genre, see Modern rock. Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock, or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s.
What are the characteristics of alternative rock music?
They and other acts are unified by a few key characteristics: Guitar-driven music: Like most rock music, the alternative subgenre tends to be driven by guitars, which are accompanied by bass and drums. Keyboards were rare in 1990s alternative, but they have found their way into many twenty-first century alternative bands.
How did alternative rock become popular in the 1990s?
By the start of the 1990s, the music industry was enticed by alternative rock’s commercial possibilities and major labels had already signed Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dinosaur Jr. In early 1991, R.E.M. went mainstream worldwide with Out of Time while becoming a blueprint for many alternative bands.
Who makes the decisions about alternative rock?
The people making the decisions were business people dealing with music as a product, and those bands who were not making the expected sales figures were then excluded from this system. Before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sorts of music to which it refers were known by a variety of terms.
Who popularized alternative rock in the UK?
Since the 1980s alternative rock has been played extensively on the radio in the UK, particularly by disc jockeys such as John Peel (who championed alternative music on BBC Radio 1 ), Richard Skinner, and Annie Nightingale.
What is the difference between indie rock and alternative rock?
Until the early 2000s, when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock, the terms “indie rock” and “alternative rock” were often used interchangeably; whilst there are aspects which both genres have in common, “indie rock” was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American “alternative rock.”
Is alternative music as popular as Mainstream Rock?
However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as the mainstream rock, with record companies using the term “alternative” to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach.