Subgenres and Subcultures In Music
As a starting point for subcultures and subgenres in music, the most known genre of music is pop. Born out of the invention of the mass-produced record (the vinyl), it also brought about the term "teenager", a cultural label to define a particular kind of adolescent rebellion. Youths were given this label and were defined by the fact they listened to this pop music, wearing their hair in a certain way and using the fashions of the day to show this. Subcultural groups then emerged from this, like mods and rockers, making the music scene a lot broader.
Dominant cultures take in the values, norms and practices of a group within society that are most powerful in terms of wealth, prestige, status and influences. Subcultures are groups within society that differentiates from the dominant cultures by their distinctive values, norms and lifestyles. Finally, countercultures are groups within society that openly reject and/or actively oppose society's values and norms. An example of a counterculture that subsequently turned into a subculture was that of punk, used in protest against the mentality of the 70's "hippie" lifestyle. Popular bands from this subculture were The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, with CBGB in New York becoming synonymous with the punk scene.
(Above: video for "I Fought The Law" by The Clash)
A subculture that then descended from the punk subculture was the riot grrrl movement that came about in the early 90s as a feminist punk movement. Fronted by bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, the subculture stayed strong until its decline due to the change in messages from bands like the Spice Girls, and the prominent bands who were the face of the riot grrrl movement splitting up in '94/5.
(Above: video of "Rebel Girl" (live version) by Bikini Kill)
Moving onto another subculture of pop, the indie movement began in more recent years through the influence of the Internet. It was helped along by the Grunge genre, founded in Seattle by bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins, and was simplistic and easy to play yet also had memorable lyrics. The song that launched the grunge movement across the pond most favourably was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991) from Nirvana's second album "Nevermind", which propelled them into the public eye, and soon brought a new fashion with it that emulated frontman Kurt Cobain's style: oversized flannels, large cardigans and bleach-blond hair were the main features of the 90s, and one of the images most synonymous with that era. Cobain's music, much like the other artists, was filled with angst over the middle class declining and rising, as they were the first generation to experience a lower standard of living than their parents (Cobain actually slept rough for a period of time, the inspiration behind another song off the Nevermind album, "Something In The Way" - although the idea that he slept under the bridge of the Wishkah River in Aberdeen, WA, is much refuted as Cobain would have potentially been in danger of being swept away by the tides of the river).
(Above: video of "Something In The Way" (Unplugged) by Nirvana. Notably, this was the first posthumous release for the band, after Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994.)
