Finding New Music

[g349]

Hey! First post here.

How do you find new music after switching away from streaming services like Spotify?

I’m looking to get a modded Ipod classic to transition away from music streaming. But since I’ve been using Spotify all my life, I haven’t really developed the skill of finding new music.

Thanks for your advice!

[December_W_Wolf]

I don't particularly tend to look for new music actively so hopefully my suggestions will help, but ultimately I'm not sure. I'll chip in what I can anyway:

• If your friend sends you some meme or video or... anything really, and a particular piece of music catches your fancy, look to see if it's listed in the video or description or wherever's appropriate. If not, you can search up the lyrics or use software meant for finding songs with either difficult to decipher or even absent lyrics (assuming you're comfortable with using those things). This also applies for any content you may stumble upon yourself. It should be easier in the case of films, since they often list the songs used and the composer/artist(s) in the credits, and they'll usually appear in the soundtrack of the film itself.

• Ask family, a friend or otherwise close person for music recommendations, specifying the genres you like if you so wish.

• Look at the artists you already have in your playlist and just give their other stuff a listen.

• Listen to the radio every so often. If you don't have a device capable of tuning in, do some research on decent online alternatives. From my experience, they usually tend to mention the name of the song and the artist either before or after the song itself, but if you either miss it or they simply don't say anything about the song's origins, follow the steps regarding media sent to you by someone.

• Have any spare tapes, vinyls or CDs lying around the house? Give them a listen, or search up the songs if you don't have a suitable player.

[zonk]

I also don't make a regular habit of actively searching for new music, but I will take any opportunity to recommend Bandcamp. You need to have some idea of what sort of music you like to start looking, but there are some good artists on there, and anything you buy can be downloaded so you can put it on your iPod.

[Crazyroostereye]

Zonk and December_W_Wolf already summarized my goto's when it comes to this.

I have a few Artists I really like, and so I keep tabs on those if they release new Songs, but to find new music I get it either recommended via YT, in my case, or there is a good song on TV or in a Movie. Once I find them I use tools like Audil or Shazam to maybe look them up If I can't find a Name or can't Spell it. After that usually MusicBrainz Database comes in handy with finding all sorts of links to that Artist including Bandcamp or similar where you can Buy the Music.

Other Avenues I have found is ListenBrainz Music Recommendations. I don't have an iPod and therefor listen to my Music from files on my Smartphone. There I have Scrobbler that sends the Music I listen to, to ListenBrainz which first of all Publicizes what I listen to, for anyone who is interested to what I currently listen too, but also generates a Recommendation Playlist based on my Listening habits. This of course shares a lot of Info about your Listening habits and Taste to the Public, but you know what you Share and have Control what you put there.

I don't know how good you can Integrate that into a Classic iPod, but there is the Option to manually add Listens and Define songs you (Dis-)Like to give the Algorithm something.

[MSpaint_Bunny]

One thing I like to do is go to a place that sells CDs, vinyl, tapes and so on. I don't buy anything I just take pictures of what looks cool and when I get home I find them online! I can find new and old music of many different genres by doing this!

[drmollytov]

I have long relied on college radio stations for this. My current favorite is WIDR, which comes out of Western Michigan University and recently won a bunch of awards:

https://www.widrfm.org/

There's also Radio Garden, which gives you access to radio stations from around the world:

https://radio.garden

I like radio stations for discovering new music because I can pick one and just let it play while I do other things. I also use Bandcamp and Soundcloud when I'm in the mood for something new in a particular genre.

[Ray Karr]

I recently got a CD sound system and since I had only one CD a friend gave me, I've started going to a local music store a few blocks from my home. I know there's a few ones close to my uni but they're horribly overpriced.
But still, I recently went into one and picked the first disc with the word "ska" on it that caught my eye and that's how I first discovered The Selecter!
Other than that, I have several friends with whom we just send each other music unprompted, though that's usually through YouTube and Spotify links... still, it led to me discovering splendid bands like WDK and Gli Ultimi.