Who Gets to Be “Alternative” Now?

In 2025, “alternative” is everywhere — and nowhere. Once a label for artists outside the mainstream, it’s now slapped on everything from TikTok-pop to post-punk revivalists to indie kids with seven-digit monthly listeners. Spotify has alt-pop, alt-R&B, alt-everything. So what does “alternative” even mean now? And maybe more importantly — who actually gets to claim it?

Because as much as “alternative” sounds like a genre, it’s always been about positioning. And who gets to sit in that space has always been shaped by image, identity, and industry bias.

Alt Isn’t a Sound — It’s a Story

In the ’90s, “alternative” meant bands who didn’t sound like radio pop. In the 2000s, it meant indie rock and anti-mainstream aesthetics. But in the streaming era, genre boundaries collapsed — and so did the idea of what’s “mainstream.” Alternative stopped meaning “underground” and started meaning “different… but still marketable.”

Now you’ve got artists with millions of fans still being called “alt.” And others, making sonically identical music, being boxed into “R&B,” “rap,” or “world music.”

Which raises the question: is alternative about sound — or about who’s making it?

Race and Perception Still Shape the Label

There’s no way around it — the word “alternative” has long been coded white. White artists experimenting with pop or punk or soul get called “genre-bending,” “quirky,” or “alt.” Meanwhile, Black and Brown artists doing the same are often still tagged with genre defaults — “urban,” “Latin,” “Afrobeats,” etc.

Even now, artists like:

• Steve Lacy,

• Willow,

• Teezo Touchdown,

• Rico Nasty,

• Fousheé,

• PinkPantheress,

…often push boundaries in ways that define alternative music today. But they don’t always get the full “alt” co-sign in press, playlists, or award categories. They’re still treated like exceptions instead of examples.

Same with language barriers — artists singing in Spanish, French, or Yoruba get labeled by region before sound. Even when they’re reinventing alt-pop from the ground up.

The Aesthetic Bias

Let’s be honest: a lot of “alternative” branding still comes down to aesthetic. If you dress the part — thrifted, slightly ironic, edgy-but-cute — it’s easier to get tagged as alt, even if the music is straight pop.

But artists who don’t fit that visual mold? Who don’t serve quirky, introspective, or “art school cool”? They often don’t get the same cultural cachet, even when the music is just as experimental.

Alternative has become more about the vibe than the sound — and that makes it easier to gatekeep.

So Who Gets to Be Alternative Now?

The short answer: anyone. The better answer? Anyone who’s pushing the form forward — sonically, emotionally, visually. Regardless of genre, background, or follower count.

But the industry still needs to catch up. Because “alt” isn’t just a playlist tag. It’s visibility. It’s press coverage. It’s booking, branding, opportunity. And right now, not everyone has equal access to that.

Alternative should mean challenging the mainstream. Not reinforcing a new version of it.

Alternative Shouldn’t Be a Box

In 2025, the word “alternative” is overdue for a reset. It can’t just be about what used to be offbeat. It should reflect who’s pushing culture forward right now — even if they don’t fit the old narrative.

So maybe the better question isn’t “who gets to be alternative?”

It’s: who’s redefining it — and are we paying attention?