A half-serious/half-humorous term, used by some
indie rock scenesters, that refers to the constant struggle of
trendy music snobs to stay
hip and
current with the cool new music of today.
If a scenester is among the first to discover a hip new band or declares allegiance to a band that is currently popular with the rest of the music scene, this scenester might joke that he or she has gained "cred points" or "cred."
On the other hand, if the scenester decides to deliberately praise a band that is uncool or do anything that might be considered unhip by other scenesters, that scenester might note (jokingly or not) that he or she will lose "cred" for this.
In the second case, the scenester hopes to perversely gain cred points by deliberately defying the scene. By defying the scene, the scenester demonstrates his or her individuality and proves that the scenester is truly a non-conformist.
Compare to political correctness, which was originally invented by radical leftists to describe a similar situation among their ranks.