sort of music to which it refers was known by a variety of terms.
In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about.
College rock was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students.
In the United Kingdom - dozens of very small DIY (do it yourself) record labels, charts based on small record stores called "Alternative Charts“.
The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980. The term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, it had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status.
The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s
The term alternative rock
At first the term referred to intentionally non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by "heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave" and "high-energy dance anthems".