How did you find out about the bands you like?

[PunkyMcGee]

a few dierent things

Internet (Vague as that is)
Music Festivals
Friends
Rock Band
Radio

and other things i may be forgetting.

 

[subject_87]

I learned about a lot of great bands (Justice, Franz fFrdinand, etc.) via Pandora, which really is a godsend.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

Youtube, mostly in the form of fan made videos, has introduced me to, Sabaton (now my favorite), Nightwish, Manowar, Dream Evil, Ensiferum, and the Vitamin String Quartet. Basically, its an internet connection and a great deal of spare time.

 

[Caligulove]

My favorite bands:

Queens of the Stone Age
Did a CD exchange with a friend in High School, have been hooked on them ever since, and any subsequent projects or old projects involving Josh Homme, such as Eagles of Death Metal, Kyuss and Them Crooked Vultures. The man sure is busy.

k-os
I saw copy of his album "Exit" at a Cheapo CD store and loved the cover art so much that I took a chance on it- loved it. Definitely one of the best Rap/R&B artists out there right now.

Gogol Bordello
My mom, actually, got one of their albums since she loves all things Slavic and Romani- was listening to them one night while I was home and I copied the CD. Probably the most energetic and entertaining band that's touring right now- if you ever get a chance, see their live show- you leave feeling like you not only lost weight from sweating and moving so much, plus their performance is something you never forget.

Interpol
A girl I liked was listening to them in the car while I was hitching a ride to school. Short-lived crush, went on to enjoy a far more prolonged affair with listening to the band, though.

Kaizers Orchestra
I was visiting family in Sweden, met some people from Norway who were listening to Kaizers Orchestra- I got hooked as well, brought it back to the American shores along with me, introducing it to my friends- none of them understand it but they love it anyway

The Black Keys
They had been around for a long time, but there was this one song that played during a movie I saw when I started, forgot the movie but remembered the kick ass song, had to track it down, and from there I just got obsessed with all of their work, loving each and every bit of it. Glad those two are finally getting the attention they deserve. Brilliant Blues-Rock musicians.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

A lot of them are from games, mostly Neversoft games (Rise Against, Authority Zero, Bad Religion, Powerman 5000, Alkaline Trio, and a ton more). Also radio... well, internet radio: Yahoo radio (Heaven Shall Burn, I.R.A.T.E.) a long time ago, Pandora (Suicide Silence, Rose Funeral), Chronix Metal, Death.FM, and back when I had the metal channel on digital cable. Then there are the other cases where I go to the local CD store, look at the new release metal wall, and say "that looks cool", then buy it. A family friend gave me about 20 demo CD's of punk/rock/metal a few years back, which had good bands on it. Friends, too (Threat Signal). Some other rare cases, like Deadlock I heard on Heaven Shall Burn's newest CD.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

I just looked, and the old fashioned way.....RADIO!!!!

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

Friends, the Internet (Gnoosic, Spotify, last.fm, youtube) and in particular http://www.spirit-of-metal.com is useful. Occasionally the radio and magazines, but not all the often. It'd be remiss of me not to mention games too, To Zanarkand <3

Erm, to expand on games, since I think it's worth noting.

Cage the Elephant - Aint No Rest For The Wicked, Starsailor - Way To Fall (MGS3) and to that effect Harry Gregson-Williams and Rika Muranaka (The Best Is Yet to Come), Clutch (L4D), Jeremy Soule (Elder Scrolls composer), and then some. Games are pretty influential on my taste in music. Maybe not always for the best, Burnout 3: Takedown introduced me to My Chemical Romance.

 

[-Samurai-]

Internet suggestions mostly, and a few live shows and video games. I liked Sevendust before, but loved them after seeing them live. I loved Nonpoint before, and loved them even more after seeing them live after Sevendust. I found both of them from SmackDown Vs Raw.

 

[Manicotti]

I tend to find new bands by looking up a genre that I may be interested in, and then pulling names out of its Wikipedia article at random. Oh, and via Pandora sometimes too.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

Usually through Sputnikmusic. Despite catering to several different genres, it's a very metal-centric site that links to bands similar to the ones you like. And, if you'd believe it, Tvtropes.

 

[LorChan]

Of my three favorites, Florence and the Machine had a song used in an online video, I Am Kloot happened to have my favorite actor in two of their music videos, and Muse gets a lot of radio play on my favorite station.

 

[Wardnath]

The internet and metal-related websites, mainly.

Opeth - WoW Offtopic forum

You were on the OT?!

 

[Chefodeath]

Eh, I'm a classics man, I like to let time sift out the crap for me. Everything I listen to is so widely known, its virtually impossible to live in this culture and not know about it.

That being said, I do tend to be at least 20 years behind the times.

 

[Idlemessiah]

Used to get a loads from Kerrang! and Scuzz. Then over the last few years kerrang went really downhill and scuzz is only good during the night and early morning.
I got a few good bands out of Guitar Hero till I stopped playing after 3.
Now its either from friends, the internet or seeing new bands support bands I already like. e.g. I went to see Good Charlotte and FYS on monday and discovered a band called 'The Wonder Years'.

 

[FinalHeart95]

I got into Metallica via Rock Band. Say what you will, but I think it's a fine way to get into a band. From there I got into 80's thrash in general.
Searching for metal on last.fm I came across Scale the Summit, who I loved and was listed as "prog metal". I looked for some other "prog metal" bands. That's how I discovered BTBAM, Protest the Hero, Human Abstract, and Mastodon.
The other bands I listen to I can't really remember. Probably randomly searching the internet.

EDIT: Other fun stories: When I was 9-ish American Idiot came out. Everyone was listening to it, and it turns out my parents had Dookie lying around. So that's how I got into Green Day. My parents also had a Smashing Pumpkins CD (Mellon Collie, I believe) lying around, which I now love. The first time I heard Coheed and Cambria was actually on a PSP sampler.

 

[Smagmuck_]

The majority of it comes from my mother, she had me listening to metal since I was two, and it's not today's metal, it was the 80s Hair Metal, I grew up with a lot of that, bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Poison, Bon Jovi, and other stuff. I've basically gone through all eras of music starting with the Hair Bands of the 80s, then grunge in the 90s, and now I'm back at metal, although more modern... Hell, listening to Greenday's early work makes me feel realy old for some reason... >.>

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Oh, and I knew the lyrics of "Cherry Pie" since I was three... >.>

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[UltraDeth]

I'm not afraid to admit I learnt a lot of new artists through Rythm games. Hell, the only reason I now tolerate Rammstein and Oasis is because of GH/RB