A new genre of rock music emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, quickly earning the moniker college rock due to its popularity on college radio. Because of its unique sound, which differed from the more popular heavy metal and new wave genres at the time, the genre was eventually dubbed alternative music. Instead, the style created a post-punk era marked by indie sounds and rock roots. Alternative music was extremely popular during the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, when it began to fade in popularity.
After DJs on radio stations across the United States used the term alternative music to describe longer songs that didn’t fit into the Top 40 category, it became the genre’s defining words. These songs gave DJs more choices for their playlists, but they weren’t necessarily what we’d call alternative music today. Alternative music as a genre was born when college radio stations adopted the term to describe a new genre that was popular among a younger generation on college campuses.
The music’s characteristics are a little more difficult to pin down. Originally, the genre was centered on independent bands and music that drew inspiration from the punk era but did not fit into the metal or new wave categories. In the 1980s, bands such as REM rose to prominence, but the alternative music scene was not always commercially successful. That changed in the early 1990s, when Nirvana, a Seattle-based grunge band, arrived on the scene. Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots were among the first to emerge, further defining the alternative sound.
The genre experienced a sharp decline from the mid-to-late 1990s. Alternative bands became scarcer after the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and a lawsuit filed on behalf of the band Pearl Jam against Ticketmaster, as other new genres, such as nu-metal, emerged and took over the airwaves. Alternative bands attempted to redefine the genre and reignite public interest in the music over the next decade. In the early 2000s, bands like the White Stripes and Radiohead did just that, paving the way for an alternative music renaissance. They paved the way for innovative bands like Modest Mouse, The Strokes, and The Killers, reviving the genre.
Indie rock, Brit-pop, grunge, and other sub-genres were lumped together as the alternative genre. It became, and continues to be, difficult to definitively distinguish an alternative band or artist from that of another genre due to its nebulous definition.