3. The Interesting Stuff Is Coming From Elsewhere
I'll be honest; my last point about "the hipster conflict" is probably not a massive factor to the decline of indie. The White Stripes didn't split up because their fans rejected how big Jack White was becoming; "the hipster conflict" is just a theory of why indie bands might feel limited to producing certain material, and why outsiders might feel intimidated to support cult bands. But none of us can deny that indie-rock is in the doldrums. And if you believe that you can prove otherwise, I pose this question to you; when was the last big indie release? I'm not necessarily talking on the scale of 'What's the Story, Morning Glory?', but maybe just Lady Gaga's 'The Fame'. The fact is, great music over the last few years has been coming from different fields. Tame Impala are one of the most exciting bands in the world, and they're not exactly, "indie-rock", are they? Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk and James Blake have had some of the most critically acclaimed albums of the past couple of years. More indie? Foals and Alt-J are creating music that you can't really consider "indie-rock", anymore; it's "alternative". Indie's dead at the moment because no one's released a fantastic indie record. And it only takes one to ignite a scene.