Poll: Where you find good music

[Cerrida]

I've noticed a lot of threads from people asking where to find good music. I'm also curious about how the methods for finding music have changed over the years. This is showing my age, but when I was younger, I listened mainly to what my friends listened to and what was on the radio. We didn't have the internet yet, so we relied mostly on what was popular and what the album covers looked like. These days I use mostly internet streaming sites and following rabbit trails on YouTube based on what I already like.

I'm creating this thread to help people find out where they can go to find new music and also to satisfy my curiosity.

My basic question is this: how do you find your music? Do you independently seek it out or rely on the opinions of others?

 

[Yuno Gasai]

last.fm

That site has been an absolute godsend. You have the option to listen to a radio station based on an artist or tag you're interested in, and last.fm will do all the rest for you.

ETA: If you let it scrobble music from your music player of choice, you can also ask it to recommend music based on what you've listened to in the past.

 

[lasherman]

I use sites like www.last.fm. You make an account, sync it with your music library, and it finds bands that sound similar to what you listen to.

Edit: Very sneaky, mister ninja...

 

[Julianking93]

Youtube works for me most of the time. If not, I use Tastekid.com

That site gave me Maximum the Hormone and Unsraw and therefore, it's the greatest thing ever.

 

[IamQ]

Spotify. It's not that widespread in the world yet, but it's got 7 million songs and alot of good ones.

 

[darth.pixie]

I used to listen to a New Orleans station that had awesome music...jazz, blues, rock. Since then, it stopped being broadcast outside of the States, I think. So Youtube or some of the friends who have similar tastes in music.

Considering I listen to mostly 80's rock bands, it's not that hard to find good music.

 

[Ghengis John]

Depends on what you listen to. Sites that compile interest and similarity data (Most big services from Last.FM to Rhapsody to Zune do this already) can be a nice place to pick up a lot of artists based on ones you might like already. I also spy on the college radio stations for music or rely on good old fashioned word of mouth. I listen to a lot of independent and alternative artists. Hard to find on the radio and online services don't always have them/ know about new people to recommend.

 

[Anadinolin]

for me its youtube or a local pirate station called "force FM" and my favourite Dj -richie Don releases a few podcasts with a bunch of new music etc.

 

[Lyx]

Mostly through very resourceful buddies. I sometimes do find something interesting via sites like last.fm, but most of the interesting stuff i get directly from insiders.

 

[DJDarque]

I've found music I love with all of these methods. Sometimes it comes from youtube, or wikipedia; sometimes the radio; sometimes from friends; and sometimes sampling the music in the store (where available).

 

[BoredPixel]

Mostly internet streaming and youtube. I generally independently seek it out, since I don't know anyone who has the same taste in music as I do.

When I was younger I used to listen to cassettes, my mother had lots of them so that's where I found my music. I Didn't really listen to radio since it never played anything I liked.

 

[JustShyofGenius]

Last.fm and Pandora

 

[Cowabungaa]

Mostly youtube trails. Every now and then a friend recommends something.

I used to listen to a New Orleans station that had awesome music...jazz, blues, rock. Since then, it stopped being broadcast outside of the States, I think.

What's the name of the station? Lots of stations broadcast digitally by now, and that one sounds preeeetty damn awesome.

 

[Astoria]

Mostly friends but sometimes I'll hear about a band from a site and I'll check them out because they interest me.

 

[darth.pixie]

Mostly youtube trails. Every now and then a friend recommends something.

I used to listen to a New Orleans station that had awesome music...jazz, blues, rock. Since then, it stopped being broadcast outside of the States, I think.

What's the name of the station? Lots of stations broadcast digitally by now, and that one sounds preeeetty damn awesome.

I had it bookmarked somewhere...

104.1 FM. KOBW.

I listened to it sometime ago (more than a year or two ago) so I can't guarantee for music quality now. I think it's still about classical rock though.

 

[Angstysquirrel]

I chose other, becuause I use a mix.
A magazine called Classic Rock goes out monthly, and has done for 200-odd issues, and I've been buying them for about a year now. It has a free 10-14 track CD. Most of the time the songs on the CD are so-so, but sometimes they are just awe-inspiring. Worth a look.
(For examples; White Wizzard, Celtic Legacy, Powerwolf, The Wildhearts, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Cowboy Prostitutes, Lions, The Vriginmarys... the list is rather long)

BBC radio works for me as well. I'm a rock/metal/punk fan so I listen to Daniel P Carter and Mike Davies on mondays and they have fueled my music folder for sometime now. They tend to repeat from week to week a little, but for the most they bring out new stuff every week.
(Examples; Off with their Heads, Kvelertak, Against me!, Dir en Gray, Cancerbats... Not as long as the Classic Rock, but still a good one.)

Friends are another source. I will admit I am not on top of the music scene, so new big bands tend to pass me by, unless a friend mentions them. I didn't hear about Avenged Sevenfold until waaay after they were first starting to get big.

And occasionally, Jango works well. You type in a band name you like, and it links you to popular 'stations' on the site. The stations sometimes are filled with new bands, but usually the track list is pretty poor, if you are looking for something newish.

Edit: I'm from the UK, so I don't know if the Classic Rock magazine is available elsewhere, though I doubt it... It's rather brittish.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Mostly youtube trails. Every now and then a friend recommends something.

I used to listen to a New Orleans station that had awesome music...jazz, blues, rock. Since then, it stopped being broadcast outside of the States, I think.

What's the name of the station? Lots of stations broadcast digitally by now, and that one sounds preeeetty damn awesome.

I had it bookmarked somewhere...

104.1 FM. KOBW.

I listened to it sometime ago (more than a year or two ago) so I can't guarantee for music quality now. I think it's still about classical rock though.

Pah, yeap, even their digital channel has stopped broadcasting abroad. Ah well, there's always Planet Rock UK and JazzFM.co.uk.

 

[darth.pixie]

Mostly youtube trails. Every now and then a friend recommends something.

I used to listen to a New Orleans station that had awesome music...jazz, blues, rock. Since then, it stopped being broadcast outside of the States, I think.

What's the name of the station? Lots of stations broadcast digitally by now, and that one sounds preeeetty damn awesome.

I had it bookmarked somewhere...

104.1 FM. KOBW.

I listened to it sometime ago (more than a year or two ago) so I can't guarantee for music quality now. I think it's still about classical rock though.

Pah, yeap, even their digital channel has stopped broadcasting abroad. Ah well, there's always Planet Rock UK and JazzFM.co.uk.

Hate it when they do that. Also, thanks for mentioning those. Did not know them and they broadcast outside the UK! Now I'm happy.

 

[rubinigosa]

I use Spotify because it is awesome and if you live in Finland,Sweden,France,Norway,Spain,Netherlands or UK you should get it at least to just test.

 

[Del-Toro]

I love how no one here will admit to using the top 40 lists. I mean, I don't, my particular, and at times peculiar (and at times not) taste in music is rarely represented there anyway, but I find it hard to believe no one who's happened across this thread takes any reference from it.