Where does everybody find the music that they like?

Rahawk2

Rahawk2

Well-Known Member
I'm just curious it seems that each week an album comes out on VMP ( or anywhere really ) that people get super excited about. I listen to a ton of music all day and at least with the VMP releases I feel like I'm always discovering something new that apparently has been huge for years/decades. (Usually stuff not played on the radio) It seems to me that there is just so much new music being constantly released its very hard to filter through what stands out. I have a Spotify playlist with a few thousand songs on it, Spotify has so much stuff on it that sometimes it's impossible to find anything new because there is just so much to filter through. Sometimes I'll listen to a complete stranger's playlist on Spotify looking for new songs that I'll add to mine. VMP has introduced me to a lot of new music from a pretty good mix of genres, ( A bit lacking in harder Rock for me though.) What are some good ideas or websites for people who are into searching for different types of music?
 
Rahawk2 said:
I'm just curious it seems that each week an album comes out on VMP ( or anywhere really ) that people get super excited about. I listen to a ton of music all day and at least with the VMP releases I feel like I'm always discovering something new that apparently has been huge for years/decades. (Usually stuff not played on the radio) It seems to me that there is just so much new music being constantly released its very hard to filter through what stands out. I have a Spotify playlist with a few thousand songs on it, Spotify has so much stuff on it that sometimes it's impossible to find anything new because there is just so much to filter through. Sometimes I'll listen to a complete stranger's playlist on Spotify looking for new songs that I'll add to mine. VMP has introduced me to a lot of new music from a pretty good mix of genres, ( A bit lacking in harder Rock for me though.) What are some good ideas or websites for people who are into searching for different types of music?
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This forum and community has introduced me to more music in 3 years than all other sources combined over my lifetime. The people here have a vast array of great taste.
 
Similar to Lee, this community is a great resource, loads of good recommendations, particularly in areas that would be paths less trodden for me.

For stuff that would be more more my usual thing I have a few trusted newspapers/websites and I also find that the staff in my local record stores are an invaluable resource, particularly for local acts.
 
This forum, primarily, but also a couple music blogs, Said the Gramophone and Aquarium Drunkard. The former writes little stories or vignettes alongside one or two mp3s that may be loosely connected, and the latter does a lot of great interviews and features, especially of more obscure stuff, and I've found that their tastes and interests align very similarly to mine. I'll also listen to pretty much anything Numero Group puts out at least once. And then, of course, the age-old method of checking out artists that other artists I like have played with or mentioned in liner notes, interviews, whatever. I'm also starting to listen to all of the top 1,000 albums rated on bestalbumsever.com.
 
I get a lot of suggestions from Here on the forums but also movies, TV, Spotify, from my Local record shop owner and honestly Goodwill where i’ll Blind buy a record because at 1.49 I can take a chance.
 
I've found the best thing to do is to not get too pretentious about where you find out about music from. I've found good music from mainstream magazines, websites like Pitchfork, forums like this, movies, TV shows, RateYourMusic.com, AllMusic, music books, MP3 blogs, people I trust, coffee shops etc. For a few years I really got stuck to having only a few sources like P4k and Gorilla vs Bear, but I found that really limited what I was listening to. Plus I've become really skeptical of how publications like that "select" the music they highlight, which seems to be driven a lot by marketing dollars.

A new avenue for me the last two years has been Instagram. I've found out about a lot of older records through the record community on there.
 
Most newer things I've gotten into have been because of this community, things I never would have been exposed to otherwise. I sometimes take the time to sort through new releases, but that's a crap shoot.

I think finding someone that's truly passionate about a genre and asking them for suggestions is a good idea. Back in the days of emulator forums in an online Bulletin Board community much like this one I once asked people in a music thread what sort of things they considered good examples of metal music. All I had heard up to that point had been Metallica on the radio now and again. They gave me a list of artists to check out and that sculpted much of what I consider my favourites these days.
 
I find new music through recommendations (friends, this website), spotify discover and new release playlists, and some websites like NPR. Probably the most through Spotify but the best ones have been from people.
 
Yeah there’s so many outlets to find new music now it’s crazy and can be overwhelming. I’m still discovering new things on a near daily basis. I’ve really enjoyed our local public radio indie station here in Denver (Indie 102.3) the past four years since I moved here. Streaming is free on the website at www.cpr.org. Otherwise I know a lot of people hate on Pitchfork but I’ve discovered so many amazing things from them. They have decent best of decades lists too. I generally like Stereogum too. I usually listen to full albums on Spotify and branch off from those with their recommendations in the Discover section.

Otherwise various threads on here are amazing and I’ve discovered so much music just reading other peoples’ comments and recommendations. The regular commenters in the Jazz and Blue Note threads have a wealth of information and knowledge.

Also, from time to time, I like to dive into a specific genre and try to gather as much info about artists that seem to give worthy to listen to. Simple google searches can pop up millions of discussion threads usually.
 
Honestly this forum and community is where it's at for new music discoveries. 🙏 Outside of that there's the usual music streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music, as well as online music publications, and SiriusXM channels XMU and XMU discovery for new emerging indie rock.
 
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As others have said, mostly this board & others. Been exposed to a lot of good stuff via the various Neil Young lists & Pearl Jam message board - although I don't frequent them as much anymore.

Even on the VMP releases, I'm usually not that familiar with them, but find that 75% of the time they really click and I wonder why I hadn't listened to it before. Al Green, Isley Brothers are great examples. Both are acts that I'd been familiar w/ the hits, but never searched out their back catalog so I'm happy to be exposed to in more depth. Got a few friends that are outside of my standard musical interests that have really branched me out as well.
 
Explore record labels' rosters once you've discovered a band/artist you like. It's a great way to turn finding one great new band and turn it into 5. For example, listening to Tycho on Pandora a decade or so ago led me to Ghostly International's stable full of great electronic music, and more recently I've gotten into Triple Crown's many indie and emo bands.
 
zdkaiser said:
Pandora. Create a channel for an artist you like. You'll get more songs from other artists in a similar vein.
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This. I still find Pandora better for discovering the occasional out-there surprise than Spotify, especially when the music isn't brand new but it's new to you.
 
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