Independent music (often shortened to
indie music or
indie) is music produced independently from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous,
do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing. The term
indie is sometimes also used to describe a genre (such as
indie rock and
indie pop); as a genre term, "indie" may include music that is not independently produced, and most independent music artists do not fall into a single, defined musical style or genre and usually create music that can be categorized into other genres.