Alternative and mainstream music timeline

Alternative Timeline

1960s - The roots can be traced back to the 1960s, bands included Velvet Underground, Iggy and the Stooges

1970s - The trend was explored further by David Bowie and T Rex

1980s - Alternative music begins

1980-1990s - Main genre was alternative rock

1990s - Started to become wildly popular. The term 'alternative' used to describe pop punk bands

1990s - Grunge bands became 'indie rock' instead of alternative

2005 - Fall Out Boy release 'Dance Dance' - pop-punk starting up

2017 - Alternative music has boomed is becoming more popular and widely accepted



Mainstream Music

1950s - Mainstream music started

1950s - Pop music originated from Britain taking over American Rock n Roll

1950s-60s - Rock n roll influenced pop culture

1960s - There was a divide between 'progressive' pop and mass/chart pop

Mid 1960s - Record labels began investing in artists, giving them freedom to experiment and limited control over their content

1970s - Indie Pop developed

1970 - Urban African Americans began performing spoken lyrics (now known as hip hop) 

1970s-1990s - Pop music diversified into Acid rock, disco, techno and rap etc

21st Century - Hip Hop most recorded american popular music

2014 - Pop music was permeated by electronic dance music