How do you consume NEW Music?

[Lazloryder]

Genuinely curious how people find new music now adays. Tons of great new music out there, would like to know ways to discover it. I'm talking NEW RELEASES, not discovering old gems.

Some of my sources:
Soma FM (phone app)
KCRW 89.9 FM Los Angeles
YouTube search
Links texted from homies

What's out there?

*EDIT*
Be specific. What websites, radio stations, blogs, etc.

 

[Swirling Snow]

I'm still working on the old music. Then again, maybe I don't count as a 'consumer'.

 

[Killing Floor]

Really the biggest sources for me are new music blogs. There are hundreds or more. Find a few that you like and play their selections. If you don’t like it find another.
New music at its worst is better than any song I’ve heard a thousand times.

 

[W.L.Weller]

Bandcamp is probably where I've made the bulk of physical and digital purchases in the last 3 years.

Bandcamp

Discover amazing music and directly support the artists who make it.

bandcamp.com

Every physical record store I used to go to has closed or moved online (or exists in a city I don't live in anymore). But I'm just some junky old man, as my kids like to remind me.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

After I learn that it exists and something about it sparks my interest, I typically stream it, especially if it's an artist/band I've never heard before. If I find I like it a lot, I usually buy the vinyl release if there is one. Then I'll keep streaming in the car or at work, and at home I either stream or play the vinyl, depending on whether I want to listen to the whole album.

If it's a band/artist I "trust" (i.e. I've listened to and like them across many consecutive releases), I'll pre-order the vinyl sight-unseen (sound-unheard?). Then I'll do my usual stream-or-spin, depending.

New vinyl releases tend to include free downloads, so again at home I'll either play that or spin the vinyl depending on my mood. If there is no vinyl release I'll just buy the download.

 

[willietheweirdo]

Mostly Nick Jr. and Disney+.

The music millennials are making for "Gen Alpha" is objectively the worst humanity has to offer.

Please... make it stop

 

[bottlenecker]

#1 is word of mouth, which also includes electronic communications and social media these days.
Close second is live. Checking out people touring through.

I don't read blogs or listen to playlists, but I will sometimes hear about music on podcasts. No alexa, and spotify only to check out albums I hear about elsewhere. None of their "curated" stuff.


Edit: That's how I find it. I consume it mostly on physical media, with some augmentative spotify listening at work.

 

[Dismalhead]

FM radio and CDs.

I do look up music that I've heard about on the forums sometimes, usually going to YouTube for live performances. If I like it I'll pay for it on Amazon, download, and burn to CDs. Technology-wise I'm still firmly in the '80s and '90s. Still have a classic component stereo from the before times.

 

[tuuur]

Recommendations from friends.

I can’t stand radio any more since quite a few years. And I don’t like the Spotify way of presenting music.

Or maybe I am just old and not very open to new music

 

[memorex]

PBS specials have been a Godsend. Especially Bluegrass shows like Bela Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway Live In Nashville. Incredible pickin'.

 

[cyclopean]

Seeing bands live and blogs. Sometimes hearing things at a dj night.

 

[Festofish]

I’ve discovered some cool music in advertising for South Korea.



Japanese Breakfast was on SNL.



Sometimes Ola Englund or other YouTubers will mention names of bands/artists to check out

 

[cyclopean]

Sometimes making impulse buys from labels I trust.

 

[Dostradamas]

Youtube algorithm

 

[BrazHog]

TDPRI posts, and the music they play at the gym.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

The poll question and the text of the OP are slightly different. One asks how you consume music, and the other asks how you discover new music. Those things can happen at the same time (for instance, terrestrial radio or Spotify suggestions), but they are often different. You might hear about new music one way (word of mouth, social media, etc), and then listen to it another.

Most of my discovery happens through reading reviews on music websites like Pitchfork, Uproxx, and Stereogum. I also follow a lot of musicians and music writers on Twitter, and I regularly listen to music-focused podcasts, so I find a lot of stuff that way too. As for the actual listening, though, that's pretty much all Spotify.

 

[BrazHog]

Really the biggest sources for me are new music blogs. There are hundreds or more. Find a few that you like and play their selections. If you don’t like it find another.
New music at its worst is better than any song I’ve heard a thousand times.

What are some new music blogs that you can recommend?

 

[fleezinator]

I'm actively curating my likes & listens & in turn Spotify's Discover Weekly rewards me pretty greatly. Once I hone in on a track I dig, I'll dive further into that artist and see what playlists they've been added to and let that run for a few. It's pretty wild how much that surfaces artists new to me.

The usual tastemaker blogs/sites have curated playlists there too so that'll be in rotation as well.

So, yeah: playlists.

 

[Randy07ACV6]

Yep, YouTube! I probably watch a couple hours a day.
Don't listen to any radio or podcasts, don't buy CDs on impulse.

Samantha Fish showed up in my feed a couple of years ago and I like her. Bought one of her CDs.

But recently my whole world has been shaken to its' core. I don't know why a Band-Maid video showed up but I am blown away. It sounds crazy, how could five young Japanese women decide they want to put on maid's outfits and play western Hard Rock??? And they're good, really good! For example, the drummer, Akane, has the fastest hand speed I have ever heard, seriously.
When was the last time you thought the members of a hard rock band were adorable???
I don't speak Japanese but still like their music and tons of videos.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Youtube algorithm

+1. All of a sudden it recommended Japanoise.

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