Your Favorite Ways To Find New Music

[Mike Derrick]

please note: You Can Vote For More Than One Option.

I was at a favorite Vancouver record shop today (Zulu records) buying some music, but realizing I hadn't been back to it in a long time. It made me think,...

Which ways do I (we/you) most often find new music? (ie, finding music you've never heard before, that you'll likely go out and add to your collection, and it doesn't necessarily have to be newly released in the sense of "released last year" it can be music from any year, any style.) Has the way you find music changed over time? And how has the advent of new technology influenced your quest for the new music craving?

1.) Record shop - listening booths, you happen to like album artwork, store clerk recommends something, etc
2.) Magazines & Books - reviews, interviews, ads, biographies, history of rock n roll, etc
3.) Friends - heard it at their place, in their car, a party, they recommend something, etc
4.) Radio - AM, FM, Ham, walkie talkie, etc
5.) Satellite Radio - XM, Sirius
6.) TV - Music Videos, Entertainment news, Awards shows, TV music stations, late night info-mercials
7.) Internet Music Stores - iTunes, Amazon, etc
8.) Internet youtube, podcasts, radio, and communities such as myspace, facebook, etc
9.) Live shows - festivals, venues, coffee shops, bars, etc
10.) Movies - soundtrack, documentaries, etc.

For me things have changed over the years. When I was young it was radio and music videos. For a while it included going to live shows. Later it became magazines and record shops. Now I check out music online. Recommends from friends whose musical tastes I trust has always been a steady influence throughout life.

Obviously we encounter new music from all those sources plus others I didn't include in the poll. Just curious as to where people discover new music. Do share specifics and a good story is always good to hear.

thanks for participating in the poll.

[tiari]

Maybe I'm oldfashioned, but...

Every now and then I go to local library and loan a bag of randomly selected cds. One of the best findings was Atlantic R&B 1947-74 8 cd collection.

I also visit allmusic

[Shiny Turd]

Usually I know of new or interenting bands on forums or myspace.

I live in a country flooded with the nasty "latin pop" thing, so the few stores that are still alive only carry those guys ( Bisbal, etc)

Magazines are mostly based on what's hip this week IMO

[Mike Derrick]

Originally Posted by tiari

Maybe I'm oldfashioned, but...

Every now and then I go to local library and loan a bag of randomly selected cds. One of the best findings was Atlantic R&B 1947-74 8 cd collection.

I also visit allmusic

Oh yeah,...I forgot about the public library, I used to do that too, but not often though, since their selection was somewhat limited.

[Disjointed]

pandora.com ...
gnome music project radio.. great source of new music for me...

+++

[Electronique]

Originally Posted by tiari

Maybe I'm oldfashioned, but...

Every now and then I go to local library...

What the .... is a library??


I find most of my stuff on a local independant radio station - 25% Australian music, 25% Sydney music, 50% OS music..

You guys can have a listen is you like at -
Free Broadcast Radio - fbi.org.au

[musicman4life68]

I troll myspace, looking at the comments of bands that i like or their top friends, and clicking through to the other bands listed. found quite a few good bands this way.

Often times too, I'll find a myspace page that is all about the local music scene (detroit in my case) and then all the metro area bands will comment on there or be in the top friends and I'll just roll through them that way. Great way to network too for your own band!

I can't remember the last time I went to a record/CD store....used to be at harmony house 4 days a week when I was younger, before it went under. Nowadays its either iTunes or myspace!

convenient though!

[Mike Derrick]

Anyone here a DJ for any kind of radio? It'd be interesting to hear how the radio guys find new music for their shows.

[freestyle tromb]

for me these days, it's mostly friends' bands and random live music (opening bands, etc.).

then again... I live in the greatest city on earth: New York. (and the greatest borough of said city, Brooklyn.) so that's cool. [/snob]

eeh.

[Jamz]

NPR. WXPN here in the Philly area.
commercials, TV, film.
myspace
Siren Records
my interns

[Mike Derrick]

Originally Posted by freestyle tromb

for me these days, it's mostly friends' bands and random live music (opening bands, etc.).

then again... I live in the greatest city on earth: New York. (and the greatest borough of said city, Brooklyn.) so that's cool. [/snob]

eeh.

Yeah you're allowed to be a snob, I was visiting NYC last September and managed to check out some great music at a bunch of venues. Fantastic city.

Although I was surprised that the venues weren't as packed as I expected them to be. Perhaps just my perception?

Freestyle, in general do you find the local live music acts to be well attended?

And do you find some folks going out to venues to check out music in general rather than going to see specific bands with which they are already familiar? (ie, are there many people checking out "new" or "unknown" acts?)

[Space Nugget]

A lot of times Ill read up on bands and musicians I dig and see what they were/are into.

Rarely is it "new" as in "recent," but its new to me even if its from the 60's 70's etc.

[Mike Derrick]

Bump for more votes.

[Mike Derrick]

47 voters so far. Thanks.

Any surprises in the voting so far?

For me, I'm surprised at how few votes there are for radio and satellite radio. I wish there had been a way to split up the internet catagory into separate votes for internet radio, blogs, podcasts, myspace, facebook, etc. (Polls only allow a max of 10 voting options.) I suspect internet radio would be very low as well.

I'm wondering outloud: Has the proliferation of mass amounts of music through filesharing in conjunction with the "shuffle" feature on jukebox type players like iPods and iTunes, Winamp etc killed the need and use of radio in general?
stike

Originally Posted by Jamz

NPR. WXPN here in the Philly area.
commercials, TV, film.
myspace
Siren Records
my interns

Yeah I wish I could've also added a "studio" catagory for voting, in other words, recommends of music from clients of your studio, and as you mentioned interns, and even finding and loving the music of the artists you happen to be recording.

[Mike Derrick]

hmmm, thought there might be more interest in this, perhaps not, I'll give it another bump. I would think that we who record music with studios should be among the ones most concerned about "unheard" or "new" music (since that's basically most of what we do) and interested in how the public at large will consume music. Of course this little poll is sampling us studio people and weekend recording warriors, as opposed to the general public, but we gotta find our music somewhere too, and I suspect the poll will likely come close to representing the music consuming habits of the general public. Who knows though.

More votes welcome!

stike

[baikonour]

Oink was good

WFMU is a great online radio for everything leftfield (old and new)

Friends (fortunately include a record dealer specialised in psych/kraut/crazy records)

[Newcleardaze]

I've heard some of the coolest bands in the last year or so listening to NPR --- some great indie and unsigned bands.

[theblue1]

I went with friends, internet, and -- reaching back to my pre-hermit days -- live shows.

(I was a creature of the night, prowling clubs as many as five or six nights a week at my peak. Now it's the symphony 7 times a year and, once in a great while, I go see a pal or two play. Which ain't the same thing as trolling fro new, hopefully exciting bands... but by the mid-90s when I started dropping out, all the bands seemed to be already trying so very, very hard to sound like everyone else... when I stopped going out, I really didn't miss much, I felt like.)



These days, I'll ask the youngsters I know whose taste I respect -- or which simply intrigues me -- about new bands they've found. At the coffee house where I do most of my socializing these days, I keep an ear on the sound system, since the mostly college-age baristas get to call their own shots (within reason, the boss doesn't go for the harder, nastier edge of things; she's got a broad clientele to keep contented).

And I try to remain open to the suggestions of online friends, as well, when their sensibilities seem to line up with my own.


And, of course, there's the affinity listings in my subscription service's player interface. ("If you like Jimi Hendrix, you might enjoy Cream, Procol Harum, or the Herman's Hermits..." )

[wesarvin]

Rhapsody and Students!

[Mike Derrick]

Originally Posted by guitarwes

Rhapsody and Students!

Rhapsody looks like a great place to test drive music you haven't heard before, BUT somehow it knows I ain't in the USA and blocks my ability to access their player. Frustrating. I thought I was using the World Wide Web, I've never been to a site that minimizes your ability to use regular internet features based on location,...come on Rhapsody what's up with that??? I hope regional restrictions doesn't become a norm, I find that kind-of disturbing actually when you consider the implications of what could be done.

I've been using Amazon's music store and last.fm to sample music lately. Ya gotta be living in the US to actually buy music from Amazon, but thankfully they don't block people from using their player and sampling the music. Although not every album has samples to listen to. I was batting about 50-60% with the albums I was checking out. Last.fm usually had more songs available for listening than Amazon. Myspace fills in the holes when I can't find any samples at either Amazon or last.fm.

Originally Posted by theblue1

I went with friends, internet, and -- reaching back to my pre-hermit days -- live shows.

(I was a creature of the night, prowling clubs as many as five or six nights a week at my peak. Now it's the symphony 7 times a year and, once in a great while, I go see a pal or two play. Which ain't the same thing as trolling fro new, hopefully exciting bands... but by the mid-90s when I started dropping out, all the bands seemed to be already trying so very, very hard to sound like everyone else... when I stopped going out, I really didn't miss much, I felt like.)



These days, I'll ask the youngsters I know whose taste I respect -- or which simply intrigues me -- about new bands they've found. At the coffee house where I do most of my socializing these days, I keep an ear on the sound system, since the mostly college-age baristas get to call their own shots (within reason, the boss doesn't go for the harder, nastier edge of things; she's got a broad clientele to keep contented).

And I try to remain open to the suggestions of online friends, as well, when their sensibilities seem to line up with my own.


And, of course, there's the affinity listings in my subscription service's player interface. ("If you like Jimi Hendrix, you might enjoy Cream, Procol Harum, or the Herman's Hermits..." )

theblue1 brings up a good point about affinity listings (aka if you like this, you might like these.) I wonder how effective those suggestions are at getting people to try out music they haven't heard before? It works on me, I've done it before.

[wesarvin]

Good point!

[vernier]

NPR

A Prairie Home Companion
'

[Mike Derrick]

Alright, how about a Friday morning bump for some weekend votes.

stike

Vernier, is this what you're refering to A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media
Do they play your stuff?

I like the powdermilk buscuit break title, makes me think of Mom's home bakin' yummmmm. Hot outta the oven with some melting butter and fresh strawberry jam. Ok, now I'm way off topic, but yum.

[Jake Gilla]

Originally Posted by Disjointed

pandora.com ...
gnome music project radio.. great source of new music for me...

+++

Yes sir. The Music Genome Project saved my life.

[Mike Derrick]

Originally Posted by Disjointed

pandora.com ...
gnome music project radio.. great source of new music for me...

+++

Grrrrrr,...another USA only site!

Here's what they say,

Originally Posted by pandora site

Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.
We believe that you are in Canada (your IP address appears to be XX.XX.XXX.XX). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at pandora-support@pandora.com
If you are a paid subscriber, please contact us at pandora-support@pandora.com and we will issue a pro-rated refund to the credit card you used to sign up. If you have been using Pandora, we will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you.
We will be notifying listeners as licensing agreements are established in individual countries. If you would like to be notified by email when Pandora is available in your country, please enter your email address below. The pace of global licensing is hard to predict, but we have the ultimate goal of being able to offer our service everywhere.
We share your disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely,
Tim Westergren
Founder

Since they can keep track of the location of the IP addresses and their associated country, I would think there could be a way to satisfy licensing agreements, no? I wonder if Pandora received some serious legal pressure to limit access to USA only? And who? Perhaps this is more complicated than it appears?

Anyone know anything about this?

[Jetblack]

actually, blogs have really had a huge impact on my music listening habits over the past year. the most obscure and rare music is available to anyone. all you have to do is dig dig dig. its the new vinyl shop...

[Mike Derrick]

re: Pandora

Thanks to Andreas Lassak over at 3d Audio forum for posting this link,

Pandora: Breaking Pandora's Heart...