SoundCloud indie
Online music scene and style of indie rock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SoundCloud indie (also known as BandLab rock or online indie) is an Internet music scene and style of indie rock that originally emerged in the early 2020s. The genre is defined as a form of indie rock emerging from the SoundCloud rap underground scene, primarily distributed on the online streaming service SoundCloud.
- BandLab rock
- online indie
- SoundCloud indie rock
- Vocals
- guitar
- drum machines
- DAW
| SoundCloud indie | |
|---|---|
| Other names |
|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 2020s, United States |
| Typical instruments |
|
| Other topics | |
In 2025, the style grew in popularity on TikTok, with artists making use of beatmaker techniques, Alex G samples, drum machines, looped guitar beats, and sound effect ad-libs. Notable acts include Wifiskeleton, Jaydes, Aeter, Ayowitty, Crayon, Yiru and Bunii.
Etymology
In August 2025, music critic Kieran Press-Reynolds, writing for Pitchfork, coined the term "BandLab rock" to describe what he labeled "a new wave of SoundCloud indie rock".[2] BandLab referred to the free online digital audio workstation.[2] Press-Reynolds also referred to the movement as an "online 'indie music' boom".[2] SoundCloud indie is primarily defined as a wave of artists emerging from the underground SoundCloud rap scene who began to take an interest in making alternative rock music.[2]
Characteristics
According to music critic Kieran Press-Reynolds, SoundCloud indie artists tend to be members of SoundCloud collectives and use beatmaker techniques like opening and ending songs with slowed versions of the instrumental, or "spamming sound effects like ad-libs."[2][3] Press-Reynolds noted that bedroom producers in the scene posted video tutorials on YouTube for "indie rock beats (without a real guitar)".[2] He also noted that the genre "is closer to emo—often aggressively dramatic, either in the volatile sounds or the woe-stricken lyrics", and that the genre was made up of underground rappers who decided to make alternative rock.[2]
In March 2026, The Fader critic Vivian Medithi wrote that the genre is "populated by bedroom guitarists and guitar-less producers alike", and that "At a glance, these young musicians can seem underdeveloped or derivative, especially for older listeners. But listen a little closer and the digital artifacts of contemporary recording setups come to the fore: punched-in vocals, scattershot adlibs, the way songs are augmented with drum machines and electronic elements. These are not 'fusion' or 'cross-genre' tracks, but their alternative rock stylings take as much from beatmaking tutorials and techniques as they do from Paramore and Alex G."[3]
In a Fader article from April 2026, Medithi described the genre as existing "at the intersection of the hyper-collaborative, Discord-based structures of underground rap and the raw, boots-on-the-ground ethos of traditional indie rock."[4] The scene is primarily inspired by artists Jaydes and Wifiskeleton.[2] Artist Ayowitty stated that a new wave of musicians were making "Wifiskeleton type songs" and replicating his sound to the point of cliche, with fellow artist Bunii adding that artists imitating Wifiskeleton's sound were popular across TikTok.[2]
History
In August 2025, music critic Kieran Press-Reynolds, writing for Pitchfork, credited musicians Jaydes and Wifiskeleton with inspiring a "new wave of SoundCloud indie rock".[2] He compared them to American rapper XXXTentacion, who had similarly emerged from SoundCloud rap and later made rock music.[2] He noted that "a particular strain of depressive droning over looped guitar beats [had] really taken off in the last year."[2] Notable artists in the scene are Jaydes, Wifiskeleton, Aeter, Ayowitty, Crayon, Yiru, and Bunii.[2][1][5]
See also
- Zoomergaze — a Gen Z revival of shoegaze
- Incelcore — an Internet music microgenre inspired by incel culture
- Internet rock — style of rock music inspired by Internet culture, which SoundCloud indie is a derivative of