How do you find new music?

[stonemaybe]

I've been pondering this all day. As someone really into my music, with a wide taste, and quite obsessive sometimes, I find it strange that I have never ever made a habit of listening to radio. Surely that's where most people hear new stuff? That's what this poll is about - I want to know how you first heard your new favourite band, or at least the most common way that you've got into new music (for you) recently.

[Menolly]

I guess "Youtube recommended by friends" is the closest, but truthfully more by mp3's shared by friends here on the Watch. Mostly by one bass playing feline, and one all seeing AllFather in particular.

The music is more "new-to-me" than new. The first introduced me to Simple Faith and the second to Blackmore's Night. I enjoy both groups immensely and everyday I appreciate having been told about them.

[dANdeLION]

Radio's not really where I get most of my new stuff from, though I do get some from it. As a bass player, I hear about new stuff in bass magazines, and check it out on YouTube. But mostly I'm asked to play stuff in the bands I play in, and if I like a song enough, I'll go buy the cd. Also, I have a lot of musician friends who know I'm into prog, and they suggest stuff to me.

[Vraith]

This is actually a real problem for me: I can't NOT have music playing, but I get bored even with stuff I like, and I've always disliked radio [as far as I can tell, if it's on radio it's probably the worst song an the album, and stations don't make money by playing variety]. I also like to hear new stuff...and since I'm post 30, most of the new stuff people recommend sounds like remade old stuff, only not as good. Mostly, I get it from the people I tutor in English [which doesn't seem to lead to much that's really interesting].
In short, I'm starving for good new music.

[Loredoctor]

Radio at work - forced to listen to it.

[matrixman]

Today, I get to know most new music from attending, in winter, the (fittingly named) New Music Festival for contemporary classical music, and, in summer, the Winnipeg Folk Festival for folk, bluegrass and what-have-you.

As someone really into my music, with a wide taste, and quite obsessive sometimes, I find it strange that I have never ever made a habit of listening to radio.

I don't tune into radio now, but back in the early-to-mid 80's, I was an avid FM radio listener. I constantly taped songs off the air, in effect creating my own compilation mixes. I still have several shoeboxes' worth of cassettes.

TV played an equally large role in delivering music to me in the 80's. Shows like Friday Night Videos were a ritual. (I didn't have MTV.) I'm quite nostalgic about this era in my life.

The 80's weren't just about 80's music, though many of my favorites come from that decade. I also rediscovered the Beatles via compact disc. The CD also opened my ears to the wonders of classical music, in many of its forms.

My focus remained on classical in the 90's, as the New Music Festival started in '92. The WSO often played works composed sometimes mere days before the festival. Some of the most awe-inspiring music I've ever heard came from that festival.

Didn't pay much attention to pop/rock in the 90's, except through movie soundtracks. There were exceptions like Soundgarden, who made an instant fan out of me when I heard their song Black Hole Sun on the radio by pure chance. But, I mostly stuck to listening to artists I knew from the 80's, like U2. Funny thing was, I ended up liking the band's 90's material much more. Achtung Baby completely rocked my world.

I've paid even less attention to popular music in this first decade of the new millenium. I don't subscribe to satellite radio, I'm not an iPod/iTunes maniac, I don't watch music videos anymore, and I'm not a habitual YouTube viewer. When I do watch YouTube, it's usually 80's music videos - the nostalgia kick.

A shining exception is Radiohead: I first heard OK Computer as an MP3, and it astounded me. When Kid A came out in 2000, I bought the CD, no questions asked. And I was rewarded with a sublime listening experience. I think that is what I'm looking for today, in terms of rock music: some album that can provide me a transcendent experience like Kid A did.

[stonemaybe]

I'd have to credit my big sister as my first influence, from the early eighties she was listening to the Jam, The Kinks, The Who (and sixties stuff from Quadrophenia), so I was too! Then as the decade went on it was The Pogues, Violent Femmes, Lloyd Cole.

Then mid-teens, late eighties, friends took over. We must've made TDK a fortune, we taped so many albums and compilation tapes for people! There was the occasional decent music show on tv, and some friends read the music press, but it was all about making tapes, as many as possible for as many people as possible (a great way to make friends as well as hear new music). this was the indie era for me - Pixies, Stone Roses, etc. right down to flexi discs free with home printed fanzines (but taped for me by someone else!)

The 90s were spent listening to those tapes and buying cds of the bands I already liked - very little new music apart from folk and traditional, picked up from annual trip to Ballyshannon festival, and friends I met there.

2002 to present, music festivals (mainly Glastonbury) are how I find new (to me) music. That first year in Glastonbury, I saw so many good bands that I'd never heard before, came back and bought their cds and then cursed myself for not knowing their music before I saw them live. So now, every year starting about March when the line-up rumours start, I'll go into a frenzy of buying cds and listening to new music. This year's been particularly productive so far, with Neil Young, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, playing continually on my stereo

[Menolly]

When I do watch YouTube, it's usually 80's music videos - the nostalgia kick.

*covers grin*

...with the occasional '70s tune thrown in...

"S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!!!"

...I will find a different theme song video for the Saturday Night Watcher MSN chats...

*see ya tonight, Neo*

[Cagliostro]

It has always been various, but even more so nowadays. It used to be my sisters and parents, then it moved on to the radio and what friends listened to, then 120 Minutes on MTV and the local college radio station, and then I started working at that radio station and picked up a hell of a lot more, then I stopped listening to radio altogether and kinda found new music by friends recommendations, local bands I would randomly go out to see, and CMJ magazine. Nowadays, it is hard to say, as there is still the friend recommendations, but those rarely seem to stick all that much anymore. I've been finding bands from the Weeds website where they list all the music from the show, and from the Singstar games, and Rock Band (the little bitty bands like Freezepop and Honest Bob and the Factory To Dealer Incentives). I have very particular tastes, and it is getting harder and harder for me to get excited about new music these days, but I really think I need to try harder. I haven't fully embraced a new band for a while now. By which I mean that just about everything they do knocks me out and I have to buy all of their albums.

[danlo]

I'm terrible about new music, too set in my ways. I switch around on the radio while I'm driving. Sometimes, but not often, I find a new song on 94 Rock, but my interest is perked more by alt rock on The Edge: Disturbed, Shinedown, Kings of Leon, Rise Against, Sheeter...that kind of stuff.

My older sister, who was one of those girls pressed against the fence at Shea Stadium when the Beatles first came to the US, first turned me on to good music: The Grassroots, 10 Years After, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan...In high school I attended an assorted number of concerts; Phillip Glass, Judy Collins, Allman Bros., Yes, Frank Zappa, The Greatful Dead and the Mahavishnu Orchestra (6 times), among others. I was also getting into Neil Young, CSN & Y, Genesis (Garbriel), King Crimson...I was a DJ at two different colleges I attended and specialized in playing really eclectic stuff from Jazz to Mike Nessmith (don't laugh some of his solo stuff is really good) to groups like: Atomic Rooster, Captian Beefhart, The Flying Burrito Bros., NRPS, Dan Hick and his Hot Licks, The Nice, Rhinoceros, Spirit, ELO, Captain Beyond, Todd Rundgren, Seatrain, Marshall Tucker Band, Gentle Giant, Van derGraff Generator, you name it....

[Lord Mhoram]

Pitchfork Media, word of mouth, music blogs.

[matrixman]

Yes, my sister was definitely a big influence on what music I listened to, right up to the late 80's.

I'm terrible about new music, too set in my ways.

I also might be set in my ways. Maybe I just kid myself that I'm open-minded about music, although in my defense I have come to appreciate genres like folk and country much better than when I was younger. However, I still have no patience for rap.

I have very particular tastes, and it is getting harder and harder for me to get excited about new music these days, but I really think I need to try harder. I haven't fully embraced a new band for a while now. By which I mean that just about everything they do knocks me out and I have to buy all of their albums.

That sums it up for me as well.

When I do watch YouTube, it's usually 80's music videos - the nostalgia kick.

*covers grin*

...with the occasional '70s tune thrown in...

"S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!!!"

...I will find a different theme song video for the Saturday Night Watcher MSN chats...

Nothin' wrong with that theme song, Menolly, but do as you will...

[stonemaybe]

Pitchfork Media, word of mouth, music blogs.

One of my friends, whose taste I generally trust, is a big fan of this site. Though it has made him appreciate (and try to recommend to me) some truly shocking albums. I think they throw in some jokes sometime, just to see who can think for themselves!

[Lord Mhoram]

Well yeah, sometimes they recommend some real shit because it's artsy or whatever. But in my experience most of the stuff they support is very good. Also they have led me to a lot of great older music of which they've reviewed reissues. Plus every music critic recommends bad stuff sometimes.

[Vraith]

That link was helpful LM, thanks. I also just discovered "Pandora"...all of you probably already know about it...but you can make a list of up to 100 bands/songs, and they'll stream a custom station with similar stuff..but the cool part: put in your list, then add the whole bunch to "quickmix" and play: random shuffle of all the styles in your list..stuff you like, stuff you might. I put in everything from Bach to Bat for Lashes. Best music day I've had in years. (and it's free, and there's no install)

[[Syl]]

stonerrock.com/forums2/summary.asp?forum=ap809241559&page=1

[The Dreaming]

Usually I stumble upon it through Wikipedia cross referencing, and browsing review websites. I tend to subject my tastes on my friends WAY more than vice-versa, so I don't get introduced to enough stuff. There used to be a progressive rock station on XM, and I heard a lot of cool stuff on that.

Right now I am listening to a crapload of Opeth, who I learned about browsing wikipedia. (I clicked a progressive metal link).

[Cagliostro]

Yes, my sister was definitely a big influence on what music I listened to, right up to the late 80's.

I'm terrible about new music, too set in my ways.

I also might be set in my ways. Maybe I just kid myself that I'm open-minded about music, although in my defense I have come to appreciate genres like folk and country much better than when I was younger. However, I still have no patience for rap.

I have very particular tastes, and it is getting harder and harder for me to get excited about new music these days, but I really think I need to try harder. I haven't fully embraced a new band for a while now. By which I mean that just about everything they do knocks me out and I have to buy all of their albums.

That sums it up for me as well.

Yeah, I'm pretty open to music of most genres. I'd say new Country gets on my nerves more than any other mainly because I generally feel like I'm listening to same thing after a while. And I'm a lyric guy, so I frequently feel like there isn't a lot going on there, at least that fits my world.

But it seems that every time I fall in love with a new song, I pick up the album and am bored with it right away, or I'll fall in love with a couple songs, but that's about it. The artists that I already love and are still cranking out music are the ones I can expect new and good things from (which these days boils down to They Might Be Giants (who I feel are getting better and better with each new album), The Eels, and the occasional Tom Waits). I'm really hoping to find a new love, but I've also slowed down a lot in listening to music in general.

[StevieG]

Friends - those that I know have similar tastes to me (of which there are really only 2 or 3). We'll both like one band and discover others that are related somehow.

This is a slow way of discovering new music that I actually like, but I don't really do it any other way these days.

[stonemaybe]

There's a great music show on tv here on a Friday night, 'Later...with Jools Holland' with about 5 live bands every week. Very mixed genres, normally a cult oldie, cult indie/metal, couple of new bands and various world music types.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ and search for 'later jools' to watch. tonight's was exceptionally good, featuring sonic youth (they did 'teenage riot' my fave! + 2 others), depeche mode (never listened to them before, but they impressed me), michelle ahn (what a voice!), lilly allen (normallly hate her stuff tonight she ..nearly... impressed me), rajeed someone (manic dancing), taj mahal.

check it out, all you non-uk'ers