Indie aka mainstream

When determining the target audience for my track, I found it surprisingly difficult to differentiate between genres and therefore properly establish the genre that best fitted my track. After eventually labelling the band I am basing my project on as a somewhat 'indie' group, I began to research into this particular group in society and see exactly what it really meant and if it indeed still existed. I felt this would give me a greater understanding of what this audience would find entertaining, thus hopefully resulting in a more successful project.

Definitions:
Indie - One, such as a studio or producer, that is unaffiliated with a larger or more commercial organization.
Mainstream - Commercialized music that is extremely popular among people.

So it seems that indie and mainstream appear as two very opposite definitions, however in current times we see the majority of people attempting to follow the trend of 'indie' which includes listening to this genre of music. Does this then make 'indie', 'mainstream'?

I researched into a band 'Modest Mouse' who emphasise this debate. They formed in 1993 and were a stereotypical 'indie' band. They were unsigned and there music was somehwat 'folky'. This fitted the bill perfectly! However, they have since been signed by a major record label. This surely sparks controversy because a key aspect of the indie genre is something that this previously indie band no longer possess. The argument here is not this however, it is that a band's genre should not be determined on anything other than their style of music.

Even after researching thoroughly in to this subject, I have found it hard to solve this ongoing debate and I believe that until the indie genre is defined with more literal characteristics, it will be extremely difficult to strike a difference between this and 'mainstream'. Nonetheless, my research has allowed me to see more clearly, how the 'indie' genre is established and I am still confident that this is the genre in which my band best fits into. And they are still unsigned... Perfect!

For further research into this topic, check out this blog that i found very helpful:
http://indiegoingmainstream.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/definition-of-indie-you-ask-here.html