Comments on: Top 5 music discovery tips for the unhip, unmotivated

Senior Editor Donald Bell offers five tips for easily finding new and exciting music online.

[jarkoet]

I use Wikipedia, I just enter an artist I like and you can usually find artists music that they will be featured on or will be releasing in the very recent future. Then all you have to do is what for Itunes to carry the song. Its abit more research but I usually know singles several weeks before they are released.

[drewmcd621]

Skreemr.com is a great site that searches blogs for posted music

[Riggs3001]

Admittedly the point of this story appears to be for the shilling of internet services. If you want to actually get connected to good music you need but to go listen to the Internet feed for KEXP! It's recommended by astronauts.

[talker29]

I've been going to albums I like on amazon.com, them scrolling down to the "you might also like..." section, I've found some good stuff this way

[sablespecter]

RE: "We swear, there's no reading required to expand your musical horizons these days."

But reading is still one of the very best ways to expand your musical horizons. I know you didn't say it's not, but that's how old school I am: I actually *do* read about artists and music, and I mean beyond the blogs and music mags. (In fact, I probably read more about that than any other topic.) I think it's part of what they used to (still?) call "music appreciation" and I think that's apt.

I know it's hard to find time but I consider it an investment with a great return. The list of artists that I've gotten into because I read a guide to their music or a biography or even an extended feature in a long-format rock magazine like MOJO is a long list indeed. Including bands that I was once short-sighted enough to think were lame just based on listens to the couple of songs that *lame radio* stations keep in their shortlists or the "hits" that invariably bubble to the top of "recent plays" lists on the social sites.

If that return isn't rewarding enough, you can then "re-invest" your dividends by also making your reading about music a social activity through tagging/reviewing/recommending what you've read via book tagging sites like LibraryThing. When you do, you can then discover other good reads that like-minded readers have discovered. (My collection is on there under the same "sablespecter" profile name.)

[smitty2324]

emusic.com. Best subscription site out there. You can download 50+ songs a month for $15. It also has decent social interaction where you can rate bands and people who like similar music will offer suggestions.

[ace10134]

Zune Social and Zune Marketplace

With the Social, I can just look at what my friends listen to and then download those songs if i like them, and because I have the Zune Pass, I get them all for $15 a month.

And with the Zune Marketplace, you can go to an artist's page, and then look at related artists, who the artist was influenced by, and the top listeners of the artists. I've found many new bands by doing this.

Zune and Microsoft has mastered the art of music discovery

[jskrenes]

Not sure if the regular rhapsody has this, but Verizon's VCAST w/rhapsody has a deal where you can enter in your favorite artists and it creates a virtual radio station for you. That and the fact I sell VZW phones is making me think of changing my zune subscription to VCAST w/rhapsody.

Also, this link from crave http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9991977-1.html has instructions on how to strip your songs from their DRM restrictions, and using audacity works for subscription stuff.

[gabevidal]

There's also the concert site sonicliving.com

You tell it who you want to see and it tells you when they're playing - it works with iTunes, Last.fm and Pandora (a couple of the top picks for finding music).

[spork27]

I use Last.fm. I type in an artist that I like and then if you gives you kind of a cloud list of genres that that artist fits in. From there I pick one of the genres and look at the top artists for that genre. Pick one of the artists, check out some of there songs, pick a genre from the cloud list, and so forth and so on...

[twister141]

I've been using JANGO.COM for years and I love it! The problem with Pandora is the limited number of skips you can do, where Jango is unlimited. That's important to me because I am really picky about my music.

[ajharbison]

A shameless plug.... I author a blog called The Listening Blog (http://www.thelisteningblog.com) that fits neatly into your category #5. I have a college degree in music composition, but I'm interested in all kinds of music--art music, popular music, theatre, film, etc.--and I write about all of these on the blog. I try to include clips and full songs whenever possible, and I've made extensive use of Last.fm and iLike in the past. If anyone is interested you're more than welcome to check it out:

http://www.thelisteningblog.com

[officelover]

When I watch a movie with a soundtrack that I like, I look up the soundtrack (if commercially available), and make note of the artists.

[shredbobted]

XM radio. Yes, like most good stuff, you have to pay for it. The benefit is, there aren't any commercials on most of the channels, and shows like Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, Tom Petty's Buried Treasure, and Marty Stuart's American Odyssey are not only entertaining, they have introduced me to music I never would have thought of listening to. Granted, some of it is old, not new, but a lot of new music ain't any good anyway. And while my friends may think they're music experts, Tom, Bob, and Marty actually have the qualifications and diverse musical taste to send me in new, yummy directions. For example, I heard Atmosphere's "Sunshine" for the first time on American Odyssey; a great hip-hop band I never would have known about, and a great song, from a show that mostly concentrates on country. I highly suggest XM station #2. I rarely listen to a show without hearing something I want to buy.

[Wesinpdx]

I have never found finding music difficult. Go to an independent record store and listen to what they play. Oh, that involves taking time to pay attention, I know, but most record store people know enough about music to help you out. Also read some music magazines and reviews. And go to some shows. You know like you did when you were young. Americans have more free time than they know what to do with and make everything seem a heck of a lot more difficult than it needs to be. Music is entertainment, fer chrissakes. Entertain yourself. All this personalized radio and internet nonsense is screwing up the whole joy of discovery.

[jrae656]

I like getting new ideas from the net as much as the next person, but I still find the good old fashioned way of going to concerts the best. Over the past couple of years, I've gotten free tickets for several shows, or picked up others for $15-20, for dozens of bands I have never heard of before. And I would say 75% of the bands I've heard I've really liked, some of which I've gone back to see since. If you are lucky enough to have cheaper venues, or get free tickets, it's definitely the way to go. Or tag along with a friend when they go see their faves. There's nothing like hearing a band live to really see who's great and who's not.

[RoscoMontoya]

I know it may be a little shameful to say, but I usually find new music on youtube, actually, that's how I discovered Nightwish, and they've now become my favorite band.

[yummyshark]

With the style of music I love (death metal), I've found I have to 'discover' it by an means possible, because these bands are typcially a) not from the U.S. b) do not get radio play c) do not tour, and d) are not for sale at a retail store. It's hard to even know what's out there! Therefore, I network by seeking out death metal websites, reading on the internet about the bands, who they used to play with, who they signed with, etc. and then I load all these artists and band names into Pandora. I LOVE PANDORA! Then if I find an artist I really like, I've gone to Amazon and bought used CDs for cheap so I can hear the rest of the tunes on a CD that Pandora didn't play. Basically, I do a running combination of the author's suggestions. I've had great success.

[oldgreycat]

Amazon's recommendations. They do a good job of introducing me to new music, such as Adele or Duffy, and new-to-me music, such as Peggy Lee.

[soundman45]

Looking for good music ? Try searching the 500 greatest albums of all time, according to Rolling Stone magazine. You can't go wrong !

[xapdal]

yah i tried that but it really screws up itunes