'Alternative Rock' Wasn’t a Genre — It Was a Marketing Scheme

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What was alternative rock, anyway? If you were there in the '90s, you’ll know that nobody had a clue. Unlike grunge or slacker rock — both genuine movements — "alternative rock" was just an industry term. Alternative to what, exactly? Regular rock? Writers tried to define it with buzzwords like "power chords" and "stomping drums," but that could describe any rock band.

In reality, alternative rock was just a marketing tool. The flannel shirts, the thrift-store prom dresses — that wasn’t a genre, that was a look. We knew we were being sold something, but we bought in anyway, because the music was too good to resist. Bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth got lumped under the "alt-rock" umbrella, but none of them sounded the same.

Back then, "alternative rock" was a term people loved to mock, and yet somehow, it stuck. Today, it’s shorthand for ‘90s rock’, but for the record labels, it only ever meant one thing: money.

If you’re here for music history, 90s nostalgia, or insight on the alt-rock era, this is the one.

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#AlternativeRock #90sMusic #AltRockHistory
Category
Indie rock
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