alternative what does that mean?

Question

alternative is in the Webster way offering or expressing a choice or different from the usual or conventional. so what would that make alternative music the alternative to. and if it is an alternative to just that music wouldn't that mean that every other form of music was also alternative making any music alternative because it was an alternative to something .really it just seems like a pointless term to me also isn't alternative also known as indie but indie being a shortened term for independent meaning independent from any mainstream record companies . so does that include any unsigned musician ? aren't these terms used for rock music so why is their a rock channel and a alternative channel on my tv.really this all confuses me way to much even my faithful wikipedia did me wrong . so i never know what to call what i'm listing to. this is why i hate genres your categorizes shouldn't overlap this much

Answer 1

Wikipedia did not know? Oh where is the world going? I think that its an Alternative to what was mainstream "Pop music" other then the norm. It's lame I agree. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica it is "pop music style, built on distorted guitars and rooted in generational discontent"

Answer 2

Wow, what a question. I agree with you. Alternative is a misnomer. I think there is music that is alternative, such as throat-singing, but it's not what the music industry expects us to call alternative. I think calling music "alternative" is a huge, though effective, marketing scheme to make kids think they're cooler than they really are by listening to certain groups, and therefore spend more money on music.

Answer 3

Honestly, don't read too much into literal meanings when it comes to musical genres. It's just a way to describe a certain style or sound of music.

Much like pop describes up-tempo happy tunes usually without live instruments, when we all know "pop" is actually just an abbreviation of popular.

Answer 4

Alternative is always "the other choice". As soon as that choice becomes mainstream, then something else becomes the alternative.

That's why it's so exciting, because it's always changing.

Answer 5

it's basicly either something too weird too be put in any of the existing genres (like Sonic Youth in the late 80's, and Bjork today), or something that explores too many genres and can't be put in one only genre (like The White Stripes).

Answer 6

that's been my unanswered question for years. my guess is: MTV came up with it to describe music that was not rap, which at the time (when they actually played music *gasp*) that's all they played for some reason

Answer 7

a type of music