How to Discover New Music

So if you know me very well at all you know that one thing I'm very passionate about is music. I'm even the music manager at the Hastings here in town. When people hear some of the bands I like or I'm showing them something I think they might like I'm often asked "How do you find all this music?". Well This little blog post here is going to answer that question once and for all. I hope it is helpful to you and that you will soon reach my level of music snobbery.

will list for you the four main ways I discover music, these are in no particular order.

1. Last.FM

Last.FM is a social media website that helps you keep track of the music you listen to and connect you to other users with similar tastes. The site also uses this data to refer you to music you might like based on your listening. It collects this data but installing a plug in in your iTunes or Windows Media Player or whatever you use and it keeps track of what you listen to and how much and other things like that. You can also have it upload your data from your iPod when you connect it to your computer. It is a really nifty site and you should join and send me a friend request. Here is my last.fm page My Last.FM

2. Friends

Friends is a great way to find new music! This is honestly one of the main ways I find new music. All you gotta do is ask what they've been listening to. Thats all there really is to it .... yep

3. Pandora

Pandora is a website most of you probably already know. For those of you new to the internet Pandora is a website that lets you create your own radio station. It's rather simple, you simply enter a band name or song title that you enjoy and would like to hear something else of the same sorts. Pandora then plays a song by that band and then plays songs by similar bands based on the formula they use. You can help Pandora learn about your tastes by letting it know if you like or dislike the song.

4. KEXP

KEXP is an awesome radio station out of Seattle. You can listen to the station on your computer or from your iphone, I'm sure they have apps for other phones as well. KEXP plays all sorts of music, things you have probably heard before and others I don't think anyone has ever. They also have bands to their studios to put on a performance from time to time.

5. NPR

NPR, also known as National Public Radio, plays some pretty rad music if you know when and how to listen. My favorite NPR music show has to be All Songs Considered, its pretty much like having a music nerd just throw awesome new music at your ears for about an hour. You can listen to NPR's music shows in quite a few different ways, you can either go to the website or you could download the podcasts from the iTunes store or if your super fancy (like myself) you can download the NPR Music iPhone app (The NPR News app also has some great shows but not that many related to music)

I help this post has been useful to at least someone out there. Let me know how YOU find new music, maybe you have some great methods I had never thought of.