Who pioneered Indie music?

“Indie is something intangible, something at the aesthetic core of good music. Whatever you call it, the music keeps getting better, the number of ears keeps getting bigger, and indie rock remains an evolving genre that still challenges everyone’s expectations of what it can do and who it can reach." (Source: www.snmag.com)

Independent music or famously known as ‘Indie’ music, is used as the term to describe the independence of music from major commercial record labels. These groups are mostly autonomous, self made and more precisely are pioneers. The people from this "Indie" class do everything on their own in recording, publishing and performances. Indie groups are usually not interested in taking help of any big names from Music Industry.
The history of Indie Music dates long back in 1960′s. The format of the music then was pop, rock and roll and a slight dash of R&B. The lyrics of the songs was inspired by peace, love and anti-war thoughts.

There immerged some bands like "Velvet Underground". This was the band which could be considered as a real "Indie" band. They did everything regarding their album all on their own and created a difference in traditional music.

In the era of 1970 more experimented music originated. There were numerous groups which tried diversity in music and immerged as music bands. One more new form of music aroused during this period named as "Progressive Rock". The music was distinct from hard rock of Beatles and soft music in 1960′s. Indie music took a stiff growth in 1980s. In this period a new form of music immerged known as "alternative music", which was a group formed out of distortion of garage bands. This was the base of electronic instrumental era that took place in 1990.

The general style of indie music is credited to the early 1980s in the United Kingdom.

First Indie bands 1980s:

In the United States, the term "indie rock" was particularly associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies and The Replacements. R.E.M. is often associated with the college rock movement of the 1980s.

In the United Kingdom, indie pop artists such as Aztec Camera, Josef K, and Orange Juice emerged in the 1980s. The Smiths have been seen as the defining British indie-rock band of the '80s.

A number of prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s. These include Washington, DC's Dischord Records in 1980, Seattle's Sub Pop Records in 1986 and New York City's Matador Records and Durham, North Carolina's Merge Records in 1989. Chicago's Touch and Go Records was founded as a fanzine in 1979 and began to release records during the 1980s

(Source: Wikipedia)