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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   2336 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 25, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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How do you discover new music when not surrounded by people who are into discovering new music?

Pitchfork's Best Albums of the Decade for each decade are decent, diverse lists (though avoid the ones that came out after 2016 or so). After that Spotify playlists are quite good. Just pick a song you like and the radio station based on that song will usually introduce you to similar but less well-known music. That's how I discovered Melvins through a radio station based on Alice in Chains' Them Bones.

Pitchfork was a fantastic source of music news and reviews before it went to Condé Nast. It hasn't been the same since.

Completely agree, their end of the year list from 2013 is very diverse and holds up really well: https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/255-pitchforks-top-50-albums-of-2013/

One of the last great lists from them.

  1. Discogs to find other works and collaborations by producers, musicians and labels that I like.

  2. Collecting entire discographies has allowed me to find hidden gems and collaborations with artists that I didn't know previously.

  3. Shazam.

  4. Maroofy has assisted me in finding songs that are sonically similar to ones I already like. It's a gem for finding stuff with <100 YouTube views.

  5. The YouTube algo, which is worse than it was in 2015 or 2016 but still delivers gems on occasion. Finding full DJ sets on YouTube also has introduced me to tracks and artists that I'd never would have gotten into otherwise.

I discovered the band that I've listened to the most in the past 10 years by just by hitting the random article link on Wikipedia. Also, I spent a substantial amount of time on /mu/ during the pandemic, and wasn't introduced to a single artist that I liked through the wisdom of that community.

I discovered the band that I've listened to the most in the past 10 years by just by hitting the random article link on Wikipedia

What's the band?

Yellow Magic Orchestra (and the various solo projects of their members).

I listen to most of my music through Youtube. It often shows me interesting new music in my recommended and in the automatically generated playlists.

Also, sometimes random other media will send you down a rabbit hole. I discovered They Might Be Giants when I was younger from them doing a partnered event with an MMO I played. The event’s story featured the band members and their music would play in the relevant zones.

Most of the music, 95% or so, I listen to is new music, and I’m getting close to middle age so that makes me a bit of an outlier.

I use Spotify and pay for premium. It’s one of the best purchases you can ever make. It has a ton of features that help you find new music, and a lot of good personal algorithms.

They have some playlists that are automatically generated for you specifically, which mix in music you have listened to with music you haven’t in a similar style.

One of them is “discover weekly” which is all music that’s new to you based on your listening habits.

Another is “release radar” is new releases from artists you follow. Make a habit of following artists you are interested in and this playlist becomes very useful for finding new music.

Going into artists pages that you know you like and going to the similar artists page and just go to their latest album and give it a listen. I’ve stumbled across a bunch of new artists I enjoy because if that.

You can also go a favorite artists page and they have a “radio” section which is an curated playlist containing music from the artist and similar artists.

Whenever you find something you like, save it into a playlist categorized by style or mood. You can enable a setting called “smart shuffle” which threads in new songs based on your taste.

It even has an AI radio dj which just runs through short personalized playlists for you and can switch it up at will.

They also have concert suggestions for people playing in your area, just go to a concert alone. Going alone is extremely fun and allows you to focus on the music and the atmosphere and maybe make a friend while taking a smoke break or getting a drink or two. I find that often trying to round your friends up to go to a concert of music in a style they are unfamiliar with can be a bit of an ask, and for smaller new artists the time and money commitment isn’t much more than an expensive movie ticket with snacks.

A lot of it is simple discipline, make a habit of constantly looking for new music with all the available tools at your disposal and soon it becomes a self reinforcing feedback loop. It’s exhilarating, it refreshes the soul.

Just like keeping other matters if taste updated and fresh, like food or fashion or cinema, you have to really like it and stay in the loop. But luckily with modern technology it’s easy to do so.

Happy hunting!

I second Spotify: I always at least check out all the music on my discover weekly; but don't let the algorithm decide everything every time. I like to checkout random new releases or curated playlists by other people also.

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