Research & Planning: Indie/Acoustic Genre

The indie and acoustic genre is often defined as Indie folk. This type of music came about in the 1990's after stemming from singer/songwriters from the indie rock music who were inspired by the folk music that was about between the 1950's to the early 1970's. It blended country music with indie rock to create a fusion that is popular in today's music scene, such as English folk rock band Mumford & Sons-who after recording an EP 'Love Your Ground' and performed in small to moderate venues in the UK and US built their audience exposure before recording a well supported album. The have gone on to festivals, sell out concerts, two Grammy Award nominations (one for 'Best New Artist' and another for 'Best Rock Song' - "Little Lion Man"). In 2010 they  won the ARIA Music Award for 'Most Popular International Artist' and a year later snagged a Brit Award for 'Best British Album' and the same year recieved a European Border Award for their international success.

Since from the early millenium the genre has expanded and stemmed into more and more bands and artists that build today's music community. Some artists include: Stornoway, Bright Eyes, Beirut, Bon Iver, The Avett Brothers, Arthur & Yu, Fleet Foxes The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Okkervil River, Manel, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros,Noah and the Whale, The Mountain Goats, Cloud Control, Boy & Bear and more.

The artists go for a 'lo-fi' aesthetic (i.e., an often deliberate lack of polish and a more "authentic" roughness and imperfection) has often been associated with indie, particularly when slick, polished recordings were the preserve of the commercial music industry; this line has since become blurred, in a world where high-quality recordings can be made increasingly easily with inexpensive computer-based recording systems and where commercial production teams often deliberately utilize a "lo-fi" sound.
The fashion and look of indie artists shows the concern for self-expression more than commercial considerations. Because of this the 'do-it-yourself' sensibilty that was originally seen with the 1970's punk era gives more often than not  internationalist outlook, which stems from a sense of solidarity with other fans, bands and labels in other countries who share one's particular sensibilities.
Small indie labels will often distribute records for similar labels from abroad, and indie bands will often go on self-funded tours of other cities and countries, where those in the local indie scenes will invariably help organize gigs and often provide accommodation and other support.  This strong sense of camaraderie that emerges from a selflessness among indie bands and often results in collaborations and joint tours.

Acoustic music is often just known from BCC Radio 1's 'Live Lounge' where performs out their own stamp on another artist's song by covering it to suit them. This has made the acoustic genre more popular than ever as it comprises music that soley or primarly uses instruments that produce sounds through entirely acoustic means.

This means there is no electric/electronic means to create a sound.
To give the volume needed for mass audience hearing acoustic performers often use electronic amplifiers that are kept seperate from the microphone (which is connected by a wire to an amp) in front of the instrument to amplify it (so the natural sound is still reproduced accurately). This increases the volume of their output singing.
Music reviewer Craig Conley suggests, "When music is labeled acoustic, unplugged, or unwired, the assumption seems to be that other types of music are cluttered by technology and overproduction and therefore aren't as pure."
Using this style is something that really connects to my personal taste of music and how I like the style. My prezi online presentation analyses the look of the artists and how I can use this in reference to my own artists.