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Firstly, I'd like to say all genres are controversial. (:


IMO:

Indie can be a sound. Take Death Cab for example. They've hit mainstream fields, but their found has that musky, light, mature, trance-ish sound. It's pretty hard to describe.

Artists with Indie sound:
Bloc Party.
Straylight Run.
Mae.
Be Your Own Pet.
Panic At The Disco.
I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business.
Hell, I think Radiohead is considered indie?



Then, there's the popularity of indie. Which is what you mentioned, "independent" bands. These are artists that don't have a label, or aren't signed onto a major label. They don't have to sound indie. Metal, hip hop, electronic, all have indie artists.

Artists that are indie:
Sage Francis.
Hadouken!
Owl City.
Insane Clown Posse.
I See Stars.
Dot Dot Curve.
Broken Toy Airplanes.


So really, indie can crossover a lot of things. It's pretty general and multi-dictionary. Pein and Pleasure has a point too, it's an umbrella term. Alternative, like indie, can overlap a lot of different sounds of rock.

And,
I don't know too much about musical politics. I don't think MTV had anything to do with indie. If anything, they did a whole lot to the meaning of the image of music, music videos; mainstream. The whole deal with MTV and music, and correct me if anyone believes I'm wrong, is that before MTV came out, artists became popular purely due to its musical talent. Record labels would sign bands seeking for sound quality, lyrical content, the aura of the band, etc. As MTV became popular with music videos, all artists had to do was create an appealing video to gain publicity, regardless of talent. The meaning of image rocketed. While major record companies will still look out for good sound, they'll prioritize image along with it. Anyone can see this illustrated today; hundreds of smaller bands beat the quality of radio artists. But it can be vice versa, too.