Alternative music

In the 1980s and 1990s, a new genre of rock music emerged and quickly gained the title college rock because of its prominence on college radio. Eventually, the name of the genre became alternative music because of its new sound that did not draw from the more typical heavy metal and new wave genres popular at the time. The style instead built a post-punk era defined by indie sounds and rock roots. Alternative music was extremely popular through the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, when the genre experienced a decline in popularity.

The term alternative music became the defining words of the genre after DJs on radio stations across the United States used the term to describe longer songs that did not fall into the Top 40 category. These songs gave DJs more options for their playlists, but the songs were not necessarily what would now be considered alternative music. College radio stations eventually latched onto the term to describe the new genre, which was prominent among a younger generation on college campuses, and alternative music, as a genre, was born.