You. You’re looking for new music right? Well, you’re in luck because I have the guide for you.
As a radio DJ, I always need to search for new music. It’s a difficult battle sometimes, having to dig through pages and pages of various platforms just to find something I deem to be up my alley (I’m very picky). So, to help you (yes, you, my dear reader) find new music, I’ve compiled some methods that I use to find my new music.
Fair warning that there’s probably some things that I’m going to miss here. After all, this is just a compilation of methods that I use to find new music, and I’m no expert (I just happen to listen to and discover a lot of music).
Method: your streaming service
Okay okay, yeah, yeah, I get it. You probably already find and listen to most of your music through streaming services. If you use Spotify, you’re probably hitting up the Discover Weekly playlist every week. I was the same way back when I used Spotify. Maybe you’re looking at your Release Radar; or, you’re clicking a user’s custom made playlist. My point being, if you’re using streaming services, they can be a great way to find new music.
I don’t need to talk much about streaming services through this blog. Everybody’s streaming music these days. That said, I’ll tell you that my personal best method is doing exactly what I’ve already said, unless you’re searching for music in a specific genre.
If you’re looking for a specific genre, Spotify’s genre playlists will not give you what you want, so you need to dig a little deeper and look at some custom made playlists. I wanted some heavier shoegazey-style music one time, so I took some diving and found this playlist called “heavy gaze,” and I found some neat music through it. Sure, not all perfectly in the shoegaze genre, but the sound was what I was looking for, so I was happy.
On the other hand, your Discover Weekly and Release Radar are a good bet for high quality new finds, even if you may not exactly know what genre they will be. There are so many incredible bands I found through looking at my platform’s new releases section or discovery section. I believe I actually discovered Die Spitz through this method, and they are one of my favorite bands of all time.
The real point of this section is that you can find good music through streaming, even if everybody says you can’t.
Method: your friends
Friends are a great place to find new music. Working at a radio station, I’m surrounded by friends with incredible music taste that has helped me expand my own music taste into all sorts of new genres. I discovered The Mountain Goats through a friend over a year ago, and while I haven’t listened to all of their discography yet, I’ve been enjoying what I’ve listened to so far.
There’s the alternative, too, of asking your friends what they’re listening to. If they have a Last.fm account, take a look at what they like and talk to them about it. Or, take a look at their Bandcamp collection and grab some things from there that might seem interesting to you. I do this all the time, and I’m pretty sure this is how I found artists like Underscores and Jane Remover.
I heavily recommend this option for finding new music. You’ll find something special that will deepen your relationship with a friend and connect you further to the community that music brings.
Method: the local store
In my opinion, local stores are by far one of the best options for finding new music. I love wandering inside of local record stores here in Raleigh and seeing what’s on the shelves. I often go in, grab a CD that looks cool, and look it up online to see if I’m interested in the sound. I’ve found at least 10 albums out of record stores that I had never listened to before and really enjoyed them after.
There’s something fun and unique about it. Maybe you see a record with a cover you’ve never seen before; you could buy it and take it home and listen to it, and find something you really enjoy. Or, maybe you give it a brief listen online because you want to see if you’ll enjoy the sound; you find out you like it, you purchase it, and there you have it: a new album for your enjoyment.
There’s usually at least a record store around every city and town, which makes it easy to find a store and get straight to listening. Walk in, take a look around, browse a little bit, and you can easily find something that might hit your taste. Or, go with a friend. I like to go with my friends and see what they find that looks interesting to them, prompting me to take interest in what they are browsing and see if I like it. I found Hum through this method (thanks Slim Chino).
Plus, think about what you’re doing for your community. Supporting your local record store helps your local music scene, and, in turn, at some point helps foster new artists or old ones. Some record stores like the Pour House here in Raleigh even do live shows with incredible artists, so you’re supporting your local scene and keeping music alive and well.
Method: social media
Instagram has been one of the best methods for my music discovery recently, which is awful to say considering how much I’ve desired to limit my screentime over these past few years. It’s so easy for a small band to post about their music, or for a larger personality to post about music they like, and these posts are easily accessible to anyone with an account on any social media site.
If you scroll enough and like enough posts about music, you’ll eventually form an algorithm with a lot of basis in the music you like. You can also follow artists you like, and they’ll probably recommend artists they like. It’s a good cycle of life.
Method: marketing platforms
I originally considered titling this method just “Bandcamp,” but I’m sure there will eventually be other music marketing platforms similar in nature (and I’ve heard of some current ones for sure). This method really isn’t different from a record store, so I don’t really have a big amount of information to talk about here, but just take a look through some genres you like and see if you’re interested in anything.
I like to take a look through Bandcamp all the time. My feed is a great way to find something new (since I’m subscribed to genre tags I like), but every now and then if I’m looking for something different I’ll look up a tag I’m not used to. Black metal is a tag I’ve looked through; same for digicore, hyperpop, and many others, and I’ve found so many albums new to me that I ended up enjoying quite a bit.
I’m of the mindset, too, that if I like something I see on Bandcamp that I should buy it. Most things on Bandcamp are listed at good prices, and it directly supports the artist (with a cut to Bandcamp), so I’m always happy to pitch in a small amount to get a new album. If you read my blog on how to create your own digital music library, you’ll know this is my best method for expanding my music library.
So, yeah, marketing platforms are great for discovering and exploring.
Method: the radio
I think you love WKNC 88.1 FM. In fact, I know you love WKNC 88.1 FM. If you’re reading this blog, you’re basically telling on yourself and saying that you listen to the radio at least every now and then.
Yes, sure, I’m not always listening to the radio. I mostly tune in when my fellow DJs are live with their sets, so I’m not tuning in all that often. My main style of listening to music is through listening to whole albums at a time; it’s just something I’ve become accustomed to. But, every now and then, I’ll tune into the radio, find a new track I like, and go and listen to the album it comes from. So, even though I’m not tuning into the radio everyday, I’m still listening and finding something new on occasion.
Radio being a curated experience gives you a new and deeper connection to the music than you might have through streaming services. It’s hand-picked music, selected by either a coordinator or a live DJ who’s playing what they want and desire to play. At least for me, when someone has hand-picked a track because they like it, that tells me I can trust their recommendation. If I like it, I’m going to go give it a listen on my own.
Conclusion
Finding new music can seem like a daunting task, but it shouldn’t be a difficult one. In the modern music landscape, there are so many ways to find new music that should make it an accessible task. I hope my list of methods will help you to find new music in the modern day. And, hopefully, I’ll be back to you someday with even more methods of finding new music.
Take care,
dj starburst.
