i just don't get the point of an indie attitude. and i didn't get the point of the mainstream attitude either.
I got friends from both sides. One friend of mine is puzzled why i listen to bands he never heard before (The Duhks, Punch Brothers, The Sparrow Quartet, Sevin, Crave, etc...). He told me my music is uncool and embarrassing. He likes hiphop but he never appreciate Atmosphere, Sevin, Flobots, and Brother Ali because he never heard of them and it's not yet on the radio. He also likes acoustic pop MYMP before but now he doesn't like it anymore because "they lost their edge" and has no impact like b4.
While on the other hand i got this friend who is bewildered and called me inconsistent (i have no idea why he thought of that) because my Jonas Brothers' It's About Time Cd is filed next to The Punch Brothers and keep telling me to stop listening to Coldplay because they got too popular and that i should also throw away my Pedro The Lion CD because David Bazan "loses" his edge. (atleast he and my mainstream friend got some common grounds right there about the "edges").
While it's true that most bands that become mainstream loses their creativity in favor of the big bucks and that some mainstream bands are "manufactured" and they "can't really sing", let us not forget that there are also some indie bands who can't sing yet gained some street cred and pitchfork/patrol mag/stereo subversion/even Paste magazine approval just because they are obscure even though they got no talent at all...
For me personally, i listen to music i can relate to regardless if it's by Tool or The Backstreet Boys. But when it comes to genre preferences, i always prefer bluegrass/country/americana/folk but it doesn't mean i appreciate all bands that fall into those categories. I'm very choosy and discernful when it comes to bands and music but popularity is never my criteria...
Just an opinion.
