At work I am able to have headphones on all day, so I am constantly listening to music. I love that I have that option, but often I get bored with the same old stuff. It has forced me to be able to find multiple ways of discovering new music. My friends often ask; “Where did you hear about that band?” or “How do you find new music?” I’ll let you in on a few of my little tricks:
1. Listen to soundtracks
Right now I am listening to The Hunger Games Soundtrack, and there are four artists who I hadn’t heard of before and I plan on listening to each of them further! It’s one of my favorite ways to discover music, because you never know what you’re going to get! (For those who enjoy folk-country-indie you too, will enjoy The Hunger Games Soundtrack)
2. iTunes lists/charts
This is one of the best ways to find out if an artist has released something new. Now, you can now listen to 1 min and 30 seconds of each song per album, so this is a great tool if you haven’t heard of someone and you just want to check them out. Also, if you click to listen to an album and you enjoy it, look at the list underneath saying “Listeners Also Bought” because someone else may have the same taste as you! I’d also recommend taking advantage of the iTunes genius recommendations they’re usually pretty accurate.
3. Last FM
If I am listening to an artist I love, I will Google “similar artist to…” and Last FM is usually the top link with an extensive list of artists. They start from the most similar to least similar and its a great place to find more indie artists.
5. Keep up with your favorite local bands
Follow your local band on Twitter and Facebook and read their updates. They will often do shows with other artist you may love, or post about some of their favorite bands. ***Shameless plug time: check out my band Steel Audrey and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Every Monday we do a music post!
6. Grooveshark
This site is the best. It’s changed the way I listen to music. It is a great place to “test drive” an album before purchasing, plus you can create and save playlists. An awesome new feature to Grooveshark: when you search they will recommend similar artists. So, take advantage of this, when creating your playlists! Feel free to follow me on Grooveshark!
Hope this helps you on your journey discovering new music! If you have any other tips and tricks feel free to comment! Happy Listening!
