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Discovering New Music?
captainclever asks: "As an avid music fan, I'm keen on discovering new artists that I will like. I have discovered a few by listening to internet radio, and writing down the names of songs that take my fancy. I had a play with The Digital Music Network, but it was very intrusive, full of adverts and only worked in Windows. I found it quite a hard topic to google for as there is so much stuff about music. Has anyone come accoss a decent system that can suggest some good artists to me based on my existing listening habbits?" Word of mouth, of course, is the tried and true method of promoting a new group. Are there weblogs that allow users to discuss music much like Slashdot discusses "news"?
Go to amazon and see what other people have bought based on a music selection. I've used this before and found some great new music.
on SomaFM. Donate as it's 100% non-profit.
sulli
RTFJ.
If you want to discover new music, why do you want something to give you suggestions based on stuff you already know?
Ask your friends what they like... download random songs, etc. One of my favorite ways is to browse other users' files on file sharing programs. Who knows, you might find something completely new and unexpected.
That's how I discovered Apocalyptica - rock'n'roll on cellos - and Our Lady Peace.
DI is a great site with a variaty of music styles. I have found a number of "new to me" artists and DJs here.
The web site has comment sections for discussing the current play list. The streamed mp3 format works great in Windows, Solaris, Linux, and Mac.
Soulseek has done me well on the finding new music department. It's windows chiefly with some kind of broken mac and linux ports, but on the windows side, at least, allows you to browse users files and there's also a section in the userinfo for your favorite artists. Search for your favorite albums and browse the folders and download random crap.
Taste isn't a science, you can't break it down. Just experiment.
You should try this. Go to a site for a band you like, and see if their discussion boards have non-specific music forums.
For REM you have my site, murmurs.com which has a HUGE non-REM music section with very diverse tastes.
U2 has interference.com
Radiohead used to have greenplastic.com for boards, but I think ateaseweb is the best.
Most big fansites have something similar. You'd be surprised what you find.
Ethan
http://www.cdbaby.com
It's a small independent web-based distributor with a cool way for people to get hold of great music. They have lots samples and the money gets pretty darn directly to the artists (as opposed to those recording with the RIAA).
Try this site: www.gnoosic.com. Based on what you like, it will give you similiar artists.
http://artists.iuma.com/ and for an example here is a page where you can download the songs, etc. here
Amazon does a decent job of recommneding stuff that you might like based on other people's purchasing habits. One method that I've found useful is to create a wishlist of albums that you want or like (or even own). Amazon wil provide a list of other artists requested or purchased by people who requested or purchased the same thing you just did. Plus using the wishlist is an easy-to-access way to keep track of the stuff you want, but it is also pretty easy to get carried away. I have something like 250 books, music, and dvds on my list...
Also check out interviews with band members and check their homepages. They often talk about other bands they like or people who have influenced them. Depending on the music you like, certain members may play in a few different bands, or may sit in on concert sets of other bands. I listen to a lot of live music and many of the artists I like to collect I discovered by grabbing shows that an artist I already knew about sat in on.
Message boards and fan sites probably make decent ways to hear about people, as well as topical magazines (ie, GuitarPlayer, BassPlayer, maybe ComputerMusic, etc.).
Don't forget to ask other people at the shows you see what they listen to. CHeck out the local listings of bands in the area. Take the plunge and go see a show of an unknown that plays in a club that often hosts music you like.
Etc, etc, ad nauseam, and so on.
Etc, etc, ad nauseam, and so on and so forth.
I almost forgot.
I like Indie Rock / Emo / Punk / Hardcore and I have found that just by browsing alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie I have found lots of new, very good music to listen to and explore.
Interpol just rocks the Casba
At the Borders near me they have a setup with a pair of headphones and an infrared bar code scanner. You can pick any CD off the shelf, scan it, and can then listen to a minute or so of any track. I believe the system imposes a very faint intermittent beep over the audio, too, for obvious reasons--I couldn't hear it on all tracks.
It made for a very pleasant and educational half hour of music browsing for me (annoying, though, that about 2/3 of the stations were mal/nonfunctioning).
Gnoosic http://www.gnoosic.com offers a service where you input three of your favorite artists and it then refers you to a new artist whom you then state whether you like or dislike. Using your input and the input of others before you it will give you a bunch of new artists to check out...
Actually, before AudioGalaxy got sued into ashes, they had a great feature in their search mechanism that when you searched for an artist or title, it would show what other people who searched for that title had also search for.
I really like the drum n bass duo Lamb and thanks to this feature at audio galaxy I was introduced to the Sneaker Pimps and Hooverphonic.
Err, I mean I rushed right out to my local national chain music store and purchased the CDs.
You kind of get this when you browse through Amazon.com's "other people purchased" links.
::.. check out some Cell Phone Reviews
http://www.besonic.com/ does this
besonic is a site mostly populated by obscure artists, a heap of them electronic music makers, too. if you sign up for a listening account with them, they'll email you once a week (or something?) with tracks and artists they think you'll like based on how many tracks in different genres you've listened to. it's not a very intelligent system, but it kind of fits what is being asked about.
of course, sites like besonic (and the original big one, mp3.com) are dying off. the most promising new one is electronicscene.com. any electronic musician can sign up to have their tracks on electronicscene. there are ample links between genre pages and artist pages so that if you find one artist or genre you like, you can easily find another similar one... or lists of the artists and genres that influenced them. provided you like electronic music, it's an excellent place for finding new stuff.
In general, I find using any of these sites, including and especially MP3.com, to find decent music you haven't heard elsewhere is a ton of work. I continue to contend that, when someone comes up with a decent business model, services which suggest new music will make more money than companies which sell music. I have yet to see one that I think actually works. This is a difficult task: music is an intensely personal decision and relying on suggestions of others takes trust. I really wonder what ever happend to firefly, and the host of other sites that purported to use neural networks to suggest music based on you rating stuff you know you liked. I think these agent based approaches are more likely to succeed than something like a web log or zine.
"If you are an idealist it doesn't matter what you do or what goes on around you, because it isn't real anyway."-R.P.W.
If you're into hip-hop, I encourage you to take the trouple to check out both Dragon Ash and Lamp Eye, two Japanese artists. As far as online music *ahem* communities go, the best one for finding new music is Soulseek (www.slsk.org), due to its napster-esque chat rooms.
I just saw this On edgey's page:
i'll be removing my tracks from online... albeit no cost to those that download, it was a source of income for myself, and such the case, i offered my music free of charge for download to anyone that wanted. The lack of commercial (or independent) releases i've had over the years, was justified by the fact that i still maintained an income off my music, from MP3.com... a goal i think every musician wishes to achieve (unless your one of those that likes to point fingers and call someone a sell-out for wanting to be heard and monetarily successful with their craft).
so needless to say... all my tracks will be removed from online, i can't afford the $20.00 a month to continue their premium artist service, i.e., i can't pay for people to listen to my music...
so, get your downloads before they're gone...
All artists on MP3.com will have to reduce their pages to a maximum of 3 tracks as of January 15th, or PAY for their once free-offered service.
quoted from mp3.com:
"P4P Promotion Will be Discontinued
It's our goal to offer Premium Artists the best service for their money and tools that benefit all members. But this was getting more difficult given the enormous accounting, engineering, research and fulfillment costs that went into both the P4P promotion and regrettably, the monitoring of individuals gaming the system. We have thus decided to discontinue the P4P promotion on January 15.
Artist Cash Program Will be Discontinued
Accounting and engineering resource issues associated with the P4P promotion apply also to the Artist Cash program. This has made it necessary for us to discontinue one of our more convenient Artist programs. If you are currently paying for any subscriptions with Artist Cash, please go to your My Account to easily create an alternate payment method. "
Some folks have been known to get weirded out by this.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
I'd love to see a service like Citysearch (which posts, amoung other things, listings of bands playing in your local area, as long as your local area is somewhat metropolitan), but that actually linked to samples of the band's music, and had the ability to quickly listen to a bunch of samples for bands playing tonight. You could do a ton of tie-ins: buy CDs, buy tickets, buy shirts, send mail to the band, etc.
"If you are an idealist it doesn't matter what you do or what goes on around you, because it isn't real anyway."-R.P.W.
1) Amazon.com : If you haven't tried Amazon.com lately, their recommendations are very smart. They can tell you why they think you would like the recommended products, and their recommendations respond well to new ratings. I also love having a selection of 100+ reviews for each album.. after reading a few of them, you usually can tell whether or not the album's for you.
:)
2) AllMusic.com : Excellent reviews of albums. If they rate something five stars, chances are you'll like it. I guess this is more of a reference site, but it's the ultimate reference
3) Rateyourmusic.com : You archive your cd collection by rating your albums, then you get amazon-style recommendations. It has more of a community focus than amazon or other sites (message boards, private messages, etc) so it's easy to get direct recommendations from other users.
4) Emergentmusic.com : Basically, someone writes a recommendation, and everyone else gets in on it, making corrections, adding new information, and making it better. By the end of the process, you have a well-written recommendation that gives you all the information needed to decide whether or not you like the artist/album.
I think it is plain to see that certain people tend to like certain genres. Sure, some of us are downright ecclectic -- I like Aphex Twin, Bjork, T.A.T.U., Smiths, Squarepusher, Busta Rhymes, Tom Waits, De La Soul, Guster, etc, etc -- but those who like opera, for example, are probably good sources on where you can find more of the same.
So if you're not averse to using file-sharing programs such as Gnutella et al, I would suggest looking for songs you already like and instead of downloading the songs you find (or in addition to), browsing the files of the people who have those songs. This way you can make as big a leap as you want.
Since this is human-based I think you'll find similar tastes that jump genres, something that even the most clever algorithm is likely to miss, and will do precisely what you're seeking; introduction to new sounds.
Also, you might consider stuff like MP3.com. I've found a lot of stuff that is unknown only for lack (or refusal) of a record deal.
My
Limekiller
Garageband.com has great selections of independent bands. There's a big mixture of quality on the site, but you can find some of the best stuff in the charts there, and check the playlists recommended by bands you like.
They also have a ridiculously cheap subscription service that allows you to get CDs of some of the best tracks on the site on a monthly basis.
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
I'm a huge fan of independent and college radio stations, but even then, most of these stations are "programmed" by genre, and I would rather listen to a station that is completely unpredictable, where you might hear the Dead Kennedys followed by Jurassic 5, followed by Johnny Cash, etc. IOW, true "Freeform Radio". KEXP radio in Seattle, I have found, is one of the best freeform stations in the world. They even have an UNCOMPRESSED stream of their broadcast available (sure, it's Windows Media format, but it's still a neat idea), in addition to WMP, MP3 and RealAudio streams. Also dig the real-time playlist!. This is a great way to discover and document cool music that you've never heard before.
You misquote Costello:
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"
No, no, no. This is not a sig.
Try Epitonic. Quite a few gems that I've found there have pointed me towards new groups/artists and even genres I didn't know I liked. It's been the inspiration for quite a number of my CD purchases!
The method I use -
,ZZ Top,Ozzy Osbourne,Black Sabbath,
Go to Google Sets
http://labs.google.com/sets
Search for 2 or 3 bands in a particular genre or listening habit. example: metallica & megadeth
Go with the small set, Pantera,
Slayer,Iron Maiden,Testament,Sepultura,Korn,AC DC
Marilyn Manson,Tool,etc..
Now use whatever method you prefer for downloading music, search for those bands. Download the most heavily shared (popular) songs. After a few minutes, you should have several hours of music in whatever genre your interested in.
I normally just go to the Ultimate Band List ( www.ubl.com ). They have a feature which lists bands that are similar. So look up a band you like, and then look for interesting bands that sound like them. It gives artist bios and discographies too. Then just go to your favorite P2P client and download the stuff you looked up...
No, no, not those 24/7 classical NPR stations, but real public radio is where I find the most new msuci that I go on to love. Check out www.kgnu.org in ther afternoon between 1:00-4:00 (MST) and then after midnight for some of the best stuff out there...
May I suggest IPM Radio as a good way to learn about music?
They've been broadcasting for over 4 years now, and I have to say that in the year I've been attending broadcasts, I have found a lot of new types of music I like.
There is a weekly 6-8 hour live show, that starts at about 8:30 PM EST every friday, with real audio and MPEG-4/AAC versions showing up in the archives a few days later.
Ogg streams might be possible, if someone can direct me to an OGG streamer that lets clients skip around in the streams, like Quicktime/Mpeg-4/AAC does.
here is the link to the mpeg-4 version of the 4th anniversary show as a sample.
has tons of barely heard of artists, links similar artists and groups together. good stuff.
KALX, UC Berkeley's station, streams if you aren't within a mile or two of campus (90.7 FM for locals). It's easy to find some DJs/shows that focus on your preferred genres, although I look forward to new experiences. Good times.
After 5 years in the industry, I can safely say commercial radio isn't about music anymore. It's music between commercials. College radio is an excellent suggestion, however even some college stations are formatted to a certain extent.
mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
soul seek is similar -- great community too.. slsk.org
10 Reasons You Should Check Out CD Baby:
- Using Kazaa, search for a favourite artist. Go and browse the collection of someone with a lot of that artist. Download one track from every artist whose music/name you don't know
- Look up favourites on Amazon, and as well as reading the "other people bought..." section, read the comments, they often mention other bands. I've found a few this way.
- Search on Google Groups. See who is talking about a favourite artist. Who else are they talking about?
- Try and find like minded friends. I find this hard as my tastes are fairly esoteric, but I've got one or two friends who aren't too far off, and I have some good discoveries through them.
- Use Launch. It takes a while but once you've customised it enough it does make pretty good suggestions every now and again. I've discovered at least 2 favourite bands via launch. Also good to listen to at work.
- Find a radio station that plays interesting music. My personal favourite is WFMU - mostly shows are rubbish, but a few real gems in there (your mileage may vary). Browse the playlists. Some of the radio stations have "top 100 most played songs for 200x" lists - these are great.
- Just keep your eyes open. You'll find stuff when you least expect it.
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