How do I music in 2021?
December 18, 2020 5:06 PM Subscribe
Listening to music used to be one of my passions. Now I feel completely out of touch, like one of those people whose taste just froze in a particular year and they never got over it. Life has just gotten in the way.
In 2021, I want to enjoy music again. How?
I used to be a huge music fan. I'd head down to the music store every Tuesday. I'd hunt down rare releases and b-sides. I even had my own show on the campus radio station, just playing whatever music I happened to like. I spent hours making mix tapes, CDs, and MP3 playlists. I admit it: I loved following and introducing others to obscure bands. It was a hobby, and it was how I relaxed.
That was back when I was in grad school and my time was flexible. When I started working, at first I didn't have too much trouble discovering new music. I had a job where I was an individual contributor, so most of my days were heads down at my desk, writing. I'd listen to John in the Morning on KEXP every day, and that was my channel to new music, which I'd buy or, after it was launched, stream on Rdio(!).
Now, my days consist mostly of meetings. It's rare I have more than a half hour straight to get into a new album, even if I could stay on top of the new releases. I've poked around in Spotify and Apple Music and can't seem to get comfortable with the interfaces: do I "heart" songs I like? Or artists? I've heard these apps can help me discover new music, but how? Maybe the algorithm just hasn't been "trained" enough, but the suggestions seem a bit off to me. (Seriously, I miss Rdio a lot. That app, I got. Spotify makes me feel old, but Apple Music still makes me think of a spreadsheet.)
When do you listen to music? How do you make time for it? How do you discover new stuff? Apple Music vs Spotify: what's actually better? And then how do you use that?
I used to be a huge music fan. I'd head down to the music store every Tuesday. I'd hunt down rare releases and b-sides. I even had my own show on the campus radio station, just playing whatever music I happened to like. I spent hours making mix tapes, CDs, and MP3 playlists. I admit it: I loved following and introducing others to obscure bands. It was a hobby, and it was how I relaxed.
That was back when I was in grad school and my time was flexible. When I started working, at first I didn't have too much trouble discovering new music. I had a job where I was an individual contributor, so most of my days were heads down at my desk, writing. I'd listen to John in the Morning on KEXP every day, and that was my channel to new music, which I'd buy or, after it was launched, stream on Rdio(!).
Now, my days consist mostly of meetings. It's rare I have more than a half hour straight to get into a new album, even if I could stay on top of the new releases. I've poked around in Spotify and Apple Music and can't seem to get comfortable with the interfaces: do I "heart" songs I like? Or artists? I've heard these apps can help me discover new music, but how? Maybe the algorithm just hasn't been "trained" enough, but the suggestions seem a bit off to me. (Seriously, I miss Rdio a lot. That app, I got. Spotify makes me feel old, but Apple Music still makes me think of a spreadsheet.)
When do you listen to music? How do you make time for it? How do you discover new stuff? Apple Music vs Spotify: what's actually better? And then how do you use that?
I make it My Business to keep my music taste at least mostly current and am Very Intense about this. To do this I look at music reviews every day (though I am sure a reasonable person could also do this once a week) and find music that sounds like what I might like and then go onto Spotify and bookmark (like) those albums to listen to, then I try to listen to each of them a few times each. If I continue to like it, it stays liked and I try to go through my liked albums list (sorted by recently added) regularly and re-listen to things.
This time of year is also good because you can look at the year end Best Of albums lists and pick some stuff you might like and listen to it, then also start fresh in the new year.
I liked Indie in the 2000s. For sources, I also still do Pitchfork (also I know! but they have diversified their editorial and review staff in recent years so it is not holier than though white hipster dudes anymore!), Stereogum, NPR's all songs considered, The Line of Best Fit and NME. I also watch KEXP's YouTube, though lately that's not so useful because they haven't really had anyone come through the studio.
For me, I like Spotify, and chose that after a couple of years of having both it and Apple Music, mostly because of Playlist/Album radio where it will continue playing similar music when what you were listening to ends. This works best if you are listening to newer stuff because what it will recommend to you will also be newer stuff (whereas with older stuff it will be older stuff!). I keep a playlist of likes whenever stuff came up on playlist or album radios that I like so I can continue listening but then go and check out other albums later.
posted by urbanlenny at 5:42 PM on December 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
This time of year is also good because you can look at the year end Best Of albums lists and pick some stuff you might like and listen to it, then also start fresh in the new year.
I liked Indie in the 2000s. For sources, I also still do Pitchfork (also I know! but they have diversified their editorial and review staff in recent years so it is not holier than though white hipster dudes anymore!), Stereogum, NPR's all songs considered, The Line of Best Fit and NME. I also watch KEXP's YouTube, though lately that's not so useful because they haven't really had anyone come through the studio.
For me, I like Spotify, and chose that after a couple of years of having both it and Apple Music, mostly because of Playlist/Album radio where it will continue playing similar music when what you were listening to ends. This works best if you are listening to newer stuff because what it will recommend to you will also be newer stuff (whereas with older stuff it will be older stuff!). I keep a playlist of likes whenever stuff came up on playlist or album radios that I like so I can continue listening but then go and check out other albums later.
posted by urbanlenny at 5:42 PM on December 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
If you just sit and listen to Spotify, once a week they come out with a "Discover Weekly" playlist. It uses extremely sophisticated machine learning and is very good -- non-obvious but perfect suggestions. In some cases music that I liked, had forgotten about, and had never listened to on Spotify. They have a similar feature called "Release Radar" which does new releases only.
Most of the other algorithmic recommendation features in these apps aren't so great but those two playlists are pretty fantastic. My guess is the reason they're once a week only is because they have to use some fairly significant computing power to generate them.
posted by vogon_poet at 5:54 PM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Most of the other algorithmic recommendation features in these apps aren't so great but those two playlists are pretty fantastic. My guess is the reason they're once a week only is because they have to use some fairly significant computing power to generate them.
posted by vogon_poet at 5:54 PM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
I use Pandora. It's more intuitive to me than Spotify. It doesn't let me listen to specific songs/artists easily, but is good at giving me the general vibe I want, which is much more important to me. I find that it's typically very good at finding music I'll like. I've never tried Spotify (due to the aforementioned lack of intuitiveness), but I've rarely felt like Pandora's suggestions are poor. This might be because I've been using the same Pandora account for 10 years, so it's tuned pretty well to my interests, but I'm quite happy with it.
The only problem is that if you listen to one station for months, it can get repetitive, even if you set it to Discovery... then you end up with basically a second, different station, but eventually you aren't hearing many new songs. I guess it maxes out on how much "new" stuff it can find similar to what you've set as your "seed"? So you do have to start a new station from a new song/artist (or mix of them) every once in a while.
A brief overview of how it works:
You put in a song or artist and it'll generate basically a radio station of music that it thinks are similar to what you selected. It's a bit clunky to get there (go to your collection, click on the specific station, then scroll down) but you can "add variety" to mix in other songs and artists you want the station to generate from.
Let it play, and thumbs up the songs you like, thumbs down the ones you don't. It'll tune based on that. You can also set it to a few different modes of music generation. My Station plays music it thinks you'll like based on the seed songs/artists and your thumbs up/thumbs down. Crowd Faves will give you the most popular songs from the artists whose songs you've liked. Discovery will give you a wider variety, stuff that might be outside the zone of what you've curated in My Station. Deep Cuts plays lesser known tracks from artists you've liked, and Newly Released focuses on newer music.
I just turn it on any time I'm not in meetings. It's the background music for any time I'm not already listening to something. If I hear a song I like, I thumbs it up, if I'm not digging one, I thumbs it down (or skip it if it's something I typically like but am not in the mood for--this lets me stop listening to it, but doesn't affect The Algorithm). I'm not always tuned into it, so I'm sure I've missed a lot of songs that I should've thumbed up or down, but basically just always having it on in between meetings and tuning in when something catches my ear has worked for me to find new music. I am not the sort of person to ever spend time seeking out new music, because I have so many other things on my list to do, but this lets me find new things without having to put much effort in.
You can try it for free, there's premium to get rid of ads that play every certain number of songs (but historically a good adblocker will block them if you're listening on a computer, I got premium a few months ago as a perk from a different subscription so can't vouch for if it still works). As I said, you can't select and play specific songs/artists, but I just use Youtube if I want to hear a particular song. But typically when I'm listening to music I don't need it to be something specific, I just want some good sounds.
posted by brook horse at 6:06 PM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
The only problem is that if you listen to one station for months, it can get repetitive, even if you set it to Discovery... then you end up with basically a second, different station, but eventually you aren't hearing many new songs. I guess it maxes out on how much "new" stuff it can find similar to what you've set as your "seed"? So you do have to start a new station from a new song/artist (or mix of them) every once in a while.
A brief overview of how it works:
You put in a song or artist and it'll generate basically a radio station of music that it thinks are similar to what you selected. It's a bit clunky to get there (go to your collection, click on the specific station, then scroll down) but you can "add variety" to mix in other songs and artists you want the station to generate from.
Let it play, and thumbs up the songs you like, thumbs down the ones you don't. It'll tune based on that. You can also set it to a few different modes of music generation. My Station plays music it thinks you'll like based on the seed songs/artists and your thumbs up/thumbs down. Crowd Faves will give you the most popular songs from the artists whose songs you've liked. Discovery will give you a wider variety, stuff that might be outside the zone of what you've curated in My Station. Deep Cuts plays lesser known tracks from artists you've liked, and Newly Released focuses on newer music.
I just turn it on any time I'm not in meetings. It's the background music for any time I'm not already listening to something. If I hear a song I like, I thumbs it up, if I'm not digging one, I thumbs it down (or skip it if it's something I typically like but am not in the mood for--this lets me stop listening to it, but doesn't affect The Algorithm). I'm not always tuned into it, so I'm sure I've missed a lot of songs that I should've thumbed up or down, but basically just always having it on in between meetings and tuning in when something catches my ear has worked for me to find new music. I am not the sort of person to ever spend time seeking out new music, because I have so many other things on my list to do, but this lets me find new things without having to put much effort in.
You can try it for free, there's premium to get rid of ads that play every certain number of songs (but historically a good adblocker will block them if you're listening on a computer, I got premium a few months ago as a perk from a different subscription so can't vouch for if it still works). As I said, you can't select and play specific songs/artists, but I just use Youtube if I want to hear a particular song. But typically when I'm listening to music I don't need it to be something specific, I just want some good sounds.
posted by brook horse at 6:06 PM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
I listen to music while working, in the car, and while working in the kitchen. Spotify has been my best source of new music. I don't heart anything. I just listen to things I like or think I might like and every week I play my new Discover Weekly playlist and also check out Release Radar and I regularly find new stuff I like in those playlists. When I find something I like and want to hear again, I add it to a playlist of my own. I have two main playlists: one for songs I definitely like and one for songs I think maybe I like enough to want to hear them again. I think if you add something to a playlist it assumes you like it, just as if you had marked it with the heart. Somehow Spotify must be learning about what I like because it continues to offer me new songs by artists I've never heard of that I do indeed like.
I also have a few streaming radio stations bookmarked and sometimes I listen to one of them for a bit. That was where I first heard Rainbow Kitten Surprise, a band it turns out I really like that Spotify had never played for me. A perfect music service would have been able to figure out I would like RKS, but Spotify isn't that perfect. It's pretty good, though. My main Good Music playlist is probably about 85% stuff I found through Spotify.
posted by Redstart at 6:47 PM on December 18, 2020
I also have a few streaming radio stations bookmarked and sometimes I listen to one of them for a bit. That was where I first heard Rainbow Kitten Surprise, a band it turns out I really like that Spotify had never played for me. A perfect music service would have been able to figure out I would like RKS, but Spotify isn't that perfect. It's pretty good, though. My main Good Music playlist is probably about 85% stuff I found through Spotify.
posted by Redstart at 6:47 PM on December 18, 2020
About a year ago, I took a leap and put Pandora on my iPad and just plugged-in some obscure indie artists I’ve seen mentioned here and there on the web. It really surprised me how much really, really good stuff there is out there. I gravitate toward female artists, and Pandora has exposed me to a ton of artists I wouldn’t have ever known about otherwise.
It also doesn’t hurt that I often AirPlay the stream to my as-loud-as-you-want-it sound system.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:48 PM on December 18, 2020
It also doesn’t hurt that I often AirPlay the stream to my as-loud-as-you-want-it sound system.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:48 PM on December 18, 2020
NPR Tiny Desk concerts are something I gravitate towards on YouTube. Previously held at a desk at their offices, they’ve been home recordings for the past year. They’re putting out something like 3-6 new videos per week now (was less when in the office but still a lot) and they go back over a decade. There’s a lot of great stuff here and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface.
https://m.youtube.com/c/nprmusic/videos
posted by cali59 at 9:56 PM on December 18, 2020
https://m.youtube.com/c/nprmusic/videos
posted by cali59 at 9:56 PM on December 18, 2020
I listen to lots of shows on X-ray, a micro power station in Portland. I find myself enjoying whole genres I never would’ve expected because the DJs are just really good and find some really amazing music. Sunday morning there’s a great show with a bunch of Chicano soul, really good R&B...it’s a weird mix, but always has a fantastic vibe and a lot of it has found its way into my collection. There’s really good Bollywood, reggae, Afro-Caribbean shows. Lots of really interesting psych and prog hours. Saturday afternoons and Sundays are particularly good.
posted by furnace.heart at 10:15 PM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by furnace.heart at 10:15 PM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
I used to do what brook horse does, and i've found many great new bands that way. tiny desk concerts and KEXP live are also a good way to see a short concert type preview of bands. But nowadays i use youtube to take deep dives. the more you watch the more things show up in your feed and each music video has "mix" in the cue of next videos that either continue with the artist you are listening to or play adjacent artists. I find that live performances, truly live takes, show off the bands better than canned videos or even twee performances like tiny desk. and these days, since there isn't actual live music, it's as good as we can get.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:31 PM on December 18, 2020
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:31 PM on December 18, 2020
Spotify's algorithmically generated playlists are useful, but I also like browsing random playlists.
One way to do this is to search for a song and see which playlists feature it, browse around to see which ones seem opinionated / by real people, then look at those people's profiles and see if any of their other playlists are any good.
Another way is to check profiles of music journalists / publications to see if they have any playlists up.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:51 PM on December 18, 2020
One way to do this is to search for a song and see which playlists feature it, browse around to see which ones seem opinionated / by real people, then look at those people's profiles and see if any of their other playlists are any good.
Another way is to check profiles of music journalists / publications to see if they have any playlists up.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:51 PM on December 18, 2020
This year I found Radiooooo which I’ve really appreciated for stumbling on music— pick a country or decade and see what you get.
Nthing X-Ray, and in a similar way you could check out Dublab...
posted by actionpact at 11:21 PM on December 18, 2020
Nthing X-Ray, and in a similar way you could check out Dublab...
posted by actionpact at 11:21 PM on December 18, 2020
I'm in a similar position to you. I use Spotify. One simple thing I do is when I'm interested in an album, I click the toggle to download it on my phone. That means I have a passably short list of albums to filter through when I do get a chance to listen, so I can throw something on and try it out without having to filter through a ton of stuff. (There of course need to be options; a Dua Lipa moment is probably not a Phoebe Bridgers moment.) I then remove the ones that aren't amazing from my library.
I find/make time to listen to music when walking and cooking mostly; I've just literally made it something of a priority to listen to x new albums a year, with the goal of them being generally new, as well as new artists.
Another non-algorithmic source for new music is the Polaris Prize, especially since you're in Canada. The selection committee has done a good job of actually finding the best in music; there's a very wide net cast, so it is unlikely to all be to your taste, but there's lots of interesting stuff. Each year there's a short list of ten, from a long list of forty albums. And you can go back in the archives, so there's a ton more. (Personal tip: Jeremy Dutcher.)
Also, I've somewhat come to peace with the idea that, like, there's more good music out in the world after 80+ years of recording it than I will ever have time to listen to. And there's more good music made every day. We will never listen to all the good music, and it's okay to listen to an old favourite when that's what the situation calls for.
As a bonus, because the monoculture is disintegrating a little bit, the idea that there's a canon of music everybody knows because there is only one music video channel is obsolete.
posted by Superilla at 11:47 PM on December 18, 2020
I find/make time to listen to music when walking and cooking mostly; I've just literally made it something of a priority to listen to x new albums a year, with the goal of them being generally new, as well as new artists.
Another non-algorithmic source for new music is the Polaris Prize, especially since you're in Canada. The selection committee has done a good job of actually finding the best in music; there's a very wide net cast, so it is unlikely to all be to your taste, but there's lots of interesting stuff. Each year there's a short list of ten, from a long list of forty albums. And you can go back in the archives, so there's a ton more. (Personal tip: Jeremy Dutcher.)
Also, I've somewhat come to peace with the idea that, like, there's more good music out in the world after 80+ years of recording it than I will ever have time to listen to. And there's more good music made every day. We will never listen to all the good music, and it's okay to listen to an old favourite when that's what the situation calls for.
As a bonus, because the monoculture is disintegrating a little bit, the idea that there's a canon of music everybody knows because there is only one music video channel is obsolete.
posted by Superilla at 11:47 PM on December 18, 2020
I find new music in three main places:
SiriusXMU - I have a satellite radio subscription, but 90% of the time I'm on one channel. This is their indie and emerging artists channel, plus some older stuff.
SomaFM - when I need to concentrate at work I listen to Drone Zone, but when I want to catch up on what's new in the indie pop world I switch to Indie Pop Rocks. If I want to hear more indie rock it's BAGel Radio. SomaFM has a ton of channels across all genres.
Spotify - I don't think I've ever "hearted" a song on Spotify. What I do is search for artists I like, and then use the Radio function to let the algorithm pick similar-ish artists. Eventually the app figures things out and you'll get a good variety in your "Made For..." Daily Mix playlists. I also follow artists I like and that helps to build a library of recommended songs.
I had Pandora years ago, but switched to Spotify because (at the time) Spotify was the only place I could stream entire albums.
As for how I make time...I just try to squeeze it in. I'm still an individual contributor so I'm mostly head down at work, so I just stream music all day. If for some reason I'm in meetings all day I find myself streaming music a few evenings a week while I'm puttering around the house and doing stuff. I have a Roku with the apps for SiriusXM, SomaFM, and Spotify and I just pick one and play it through the TV while I read or clean up or cook.
posted by ralan at 6:06 AM on December 19, 2020
SiriusXMU - I have a satellite radio subscription, but 90% of the time I'm on one channel. This is their indie and emerging artists channel, plus some older stuff.
SomaFM - when I need to concentrate at work I listen to Drone Zone, but when I want to catch up on what's new in the indie pop world I switch to Indie Pop Rocks. If I want to hear more indie rock it's BAGel Radio. SomaFM has a ton of channels across all genres.
Spotify - I don't think I've ever "hearted" a song on Spotify. What I do is search for artists I like, and then use the Radio function to let the algorithm pick similar-ish artists. Eventually the app figures things out and you'll get a good variety in your "Made For..." Daily Mix playlists. I also follow artists I like and that helps to build a library of recommended songs.
I had Pandora years ago, but switched to Spotify because (at the time) Spotify was the only place I could stream entire albums.
As for how I make time...I just try to squeeze it in. I'm still an individual contributor so I'm mostly head down at work, so I just stream music all day. If for some reason I'm in meetings all day I find myself streaming music a few evenings a week while I'm puttering around the house and doing stuff. I have a Roku with the apps for SiriusXM, SomaFM, and Spotify and I just pick one and play it through the TV while I read or clean up or cook.
posted by ralan at 6:06 AM on December 19, 2020
I listen to some radio online - find stations and/or DJs that are up your street.
I use Spotify - 18 year old me, who would read the weekly music papers and often have no means to hear any of what he was reading about, wouldn’t believe how lucky I am now: to be able to listen to (pretty much) anything, between that and Bandcamp.
Every Noise at Once can be a good way to browse very specific niche genres and then listen to automatically-generated playlists on Spotify. You can also search for them on Spotify: “Pulse of (genre)”, “Sound of (genre)”, “Intro to (genre)”.
I used to read more about music online, back when MP3 blogs were more of a thing (some are still going; Sean of Said the Gramophone just posted his 100 best songs of the year for the sixteenth year in a row).
I recently subscribed to a paper magazine (The Wire) and, when I find time to read a bit of it, I enjoy reading about music I have and haven’t heard of, on paper. Anything that seems interesting, I add to a playlist on Spotify to listen to again later.
Any music I like enough on Spotify that I’ve listened to it a few times, I then buy, usually on Bandcamp, because I’m old fashioned enough that I still want to “own” music I like.
posted by fabius at 7:23 AM on December 19, 2020
I use Spotify - 18 year old me, who would read the weekly music papers and often have no means to hear any of what he was reading about, wouldn’t believe how lucky I am now: to be able to listen to (pretty much) anything, between that and Bandcamp.
Every Noise at Once can be a good way to browse very specific niche genres and then listen to automatically-generated playlists on Spotify. You can also search for them on Spotify: “Pulse of (genre)”, “Sound of (genre)”, “Intro to (genre)”.
I used to read more about music online, back when MP3 blogs were more of a thing (some are still going; Sean of Said the Gramophone just posted his 100 best songs of the year for the sixteenth year in a row).
I recently subscribed to a paper magazine (The Wire) and, when I find time to read a bit of it, I enjoy reading about music I have and haven’t heard of, on paper. Anything that seems interesting, I add to a playlist on Spotify to listen to again later.
Any music I like enough on Spotify that I’ve listened to it a few times, I then buy, usually on Bandcamp, because I’m old fashioned enough that I still want to “own” music I like.
posted by fabius at 7:23 AM on December 19, 2020
How cool Bandcamp is hasn't come up much in these answers yet. They have a weekly "radio" show that highlights new releases and reissues. But I don't listen to it that much. I prefer to find an album I like and see what fans have purchased it. Then I can look at their collections, and I follow those with good taste and large collections. You can stream an album for free three or four times, but eventually a nag notice to purchase it will come up.
You can also follow labels and artists. Bandcamp will send you emails about updated activity if you want. And when you buy an album on Bandcamp you are supporting the artists and labels much more directly than the fraction of a cent they get when a song is streamed on Spotify.
posted by Leontine at 7:26 AM on December 19, 2020 [4 favorites]
You can also follow labels and artists. Bandcamp will send you emails about updated activity if you want. And when you buy an album on Bandcamp you are supporting the artists and labels much more directly than the fraction of a cent they get when a song is streamed on Spotify.
posted by Leontine at 7:26 AM on December 19, 2020 [4 favorites]
Like you, I listen to KEXP when I can, often tuning in to the John in the Morning show. That said, John leans more heavily on older (90's) music than some other KEXP shows do, so it might be worth tuning in at other times of the day if you want to hear some newer or different stuff.
Beyond that, I have a friend who hosts a monthly collaborative playlist that works like this: he creates a Spotify playlist at the start of each month and seeds it with a couple of songs, then emails a link to his friends so they can access it. As soon as the friends "like" (heart) the playlist, they can add to it. Everybody adds no more than two songs during the month, and we all get to listen. At the end of the month the host locks down the playlist and publishes it so it's always there for listening. It's fun, and for me it's been a great way to get exposed to music I wouldn't otherwise hear (his friends enjoy a wide range of music). Maybe you could host your own collaborative playlist?
Mostly it sounds like you need to carve out some time. And head down to the record store again when it's safe.
posted by baseballpajamas at 7:59 AM on December 19, 2020
Beyond that, I have a friend who hosts a monthly collaborative playlist that works like this: he creates a Spotify playlist at the start of each month and seeds it with a couple of songs, then emails a link to his friends so they can access it. As soon as the friends "like" (heart) the playlist, they can add to it. Everybody adds no more than two songs during the month, and we all get to listen. At the end of the month the host locks down the playlist and publishes it so it's always there for listening. It's fun, and for me it's been a great way to get exposed to music I wouldn't otherwise hear (his friends enjoy a wide range of music). Maybe you could host your own collaborative playlist?
Mostly it sounds like you need to carve out some time. And head down to the record store again when it's safe.
posted by baseballpajamas at 7:59 AM on December 19, 2020
Seconding Bandcamp - their weekly emails are regularly useful: deep, informed dives into corners of the new musical universe that I'd often never visit on my own. Following labels (vs. individual artists) there has also been helpful for discovering new music. I also still love radio for this - Seattle's micropower FM Hollow Earth Radio in particular. It reminds me of the best of 20th c. college radio: freeform, anti-corporate, "no commercial potential". Practically every time I have it on I hear something interesting to me that I'd never come across before.
I live in an apartment w/my partner and two small kids + rarely have any time to myself to listen to music. My current strategy is to wait until everyone is asleep, pour myself a drink, and then lie on the couch and listen to an entire LP start to finish. On nights when I don't have the mental energy to read or watch a movie, it's often pretty soothing.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:46 AM on December 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
I live in an apartment w/my partner and two small kids + rarely have any time to myself to listen to music. My current strategy is to wait until everyone is asleep, pour myself a drink, and then lie on the couch and listen to an entire LP start to finish. On nights when I don't have the mental energy to read or watch a movie, it's often pretty soothing.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:46 AM on December 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
A nice recent addition has been people not just putting out best album/songs of the year lists, but then turning those into Spotify playlists. It's saved me a step in my annual attempt to catch up on music around the end of the year; here's the one from 102.3 in Colorado that I'm working through. On quick look, I'm surprised not to see Rocks on there from Los Mocochetes, a local funk band. The station played it in heavy rotation this summer during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, and I'm hoping we'll get more music from them next year.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:43 AM on December 19, 2020
posted by deludingmyself at 9:43 AM on December 19, 2020
There's a lot of great advice already, I also recommend Bandcamp and their weekly emails and assorted lists.
Like you, I place a lot of value on discovering music. I have a few strategies. First, I use what I already like as a method of branching out to new things.
On Spotify, for example, I use their "Fans Also Like" from bands I already listen to or from bands I've just discovered. And I make heavy use of Spotify's "Song Radio" to try to find other songs (and then artists) I might like from a song I already know I like. So Khruangbin's "Evan Finds the Third Room" can lead to Leon Bridges, Vulfpeck, Shuggie Otis, CAN, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, and Funkadelic. From there follow another song you like to its Song Radio and keep going as long as you like / can.
On Bandcamp you can see who has the same music as you do in their collections / who "supports" an album. I will sometimes browse profiles of other Bandcampers and see if they have anything I might like that I haven't heard of before.
I also use Reddit a lot for music subreddits. I really like the vintageobscura subreddit, and from there I go "cratedigging" on YouTube sometimes. See this post on the Blue about ambient Japanese music on YouTube.
And Metafilter has been very, very good to me. A while back I asked what I should buy for Bandcamp Friday and discovered some good stuff I'd probably not have stumbled on alone.
I really wish Mefi would add a music category to Fanfare. It seems like there's a very strong community on Mefi that wants to discover and discuss music, but the avenues to do so are limited to FPPs and Asks.
Finally - you mention time is a factor. I'm fortunate that a big part of my workday is editing and writing, which allows me to listen to music while I work. But I also set aside time to explore music and give things a good listen.
posted by jzb at 11:58 AM on December 19, 2020 [3 favorites]
Like you, I place a lot of value on discovering music. I have a few strategies. First, I use what I already like as a method of branching out to new things.
On Spotify, for example, I use their "Fans Also Like" from bands I already listen to or from bands I've just discovered. And I make heavy use of Spotify's "Song Radio" to try to find other songs (and then artists) I might like from a song I already know I like. So Khruangbin's "Evan Finds the Third Room" can lead to Leon Bridges, Vulfpeck, Shuggie Otis, CAN, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, and Funkadelic. From there follow another song you like to its Song Radio and keep going as long as you like / can.
On Bandcamp you can see who has the same music as you do in their collections / who "supports" an album. I will sometimes browse profiles of other Bandcampers and see if they have anything I might like that I haven't heard of before.
I also use Reddit a lot for music subreddits. I really like the vintageobscura subreddit, and from there I go "cratedigging" on YouTube sometimes. See this post on the Blue about ambient Japanese music on YouTube.
And Metafilter has been very, very good to me. A while back I asked what I should buy for Bandcamp Friday and discovered some good stuff I'd probably not have stumbled on alone.
I really wish Mefi would add a music category to Fanfare. It seems like there's a very strong community on Mefi that wants to discover and discuss music, but the avenues to do so are limited to FPPs and Asks.
Finally - you mention time is a factor. I'm fortunate that a big part of my workday is editing and writing, which allows me to listen to music while I work. But I also set aside time to explore music and give things a good listen.
posted by jzb at 11:58 AM on December 19, 2020 [3 favorites]
Apple Music vs Spotify: what's actually better? And then how do you use that?
I used Spotify for years. The algorithmic playlists ARE good if you listen consistently. However, I felt like I was even more passive about music and didn't really "discover" anything I really loved the way that I discovered music when I was in my 20s. It turns out my tastes are way more varied than the algorithm thinks but it kept shoving me into a corner (even though its year-end recaps recognize I listen to a zillion different genres) - and the more I listened to their playlists, the more narrow its recommendations became.
I switched to Apple Music because I couldn't stand the thought of my money going to a certain extremely popular podcaster. Since its auto-generated playlists aren't nearly as good, I've found myself having to seek out music the way I used to when I was in my early 20s (similar to you, I was SUPER into it). I spend my weekends looking at music subreddits, looking at music blogs, and keeping track of albums/artists I want to try using the Sofa app. I've also been trying out a lot of albums from tons of year end lists from NPR, The Quietus, Loud and Quiet and Get Alternative. Apple Music's curated playlists are also pretty solid.
Since you're pressed for time, I do think the Spotify playlists will serve you pretty well. If you want to emulate more of your music discovery from your 20s, it will take some more active participation in your spare time via music blogs/subreddits/forums. There are a lot of really good suggestions above that are non-Spotify, non-Apple Music too!
posted by thebots at 1:12 PM on December 19, 2020
I used Spotify for years. The algorithmic playlists ARE good if you listen consistently. However, I felt like I was even more passive about music and didn't really "discover" anything I really loved the way that I discovered music when I was in my 20s. It turns out my tastes are way more varied than the algorithm thinks but it kept shoving me into a corner (even though its year-end recaps recognize I listen to a zillion different genres) - and the more I listened to their playlists, the more narrow its recommendations became.
I switched to Apple Music because I couldn't stand the thought of my money going to a certain extremely popular podcaster. Since its auto-generated playlists aren't nearly as good, I've found myself having to seek out music the way I used to when I was in my early 20s (similar to you, I was SUPER into it). I spend my weekends looking at music subreddits, looking at music blogs, and keeping track of albums/artists I want to try using the Sofa app. I've also been trying out a lot of albums from tons of year end lists from NPR, The Quietus, Loud and Quiet and Get Alternative. Apple Music's curated playlists are also pretty solid.
Since you're pressed for time, I do think the Spotify playlists will serve you pretty well. If you want to emulate more of your music discovery from your 20s, it will take some more active participation in your spare time via music blogs/subreddits/forums. There are a lot of really good suggestions above that are non-Spotify, non-Apple Music too!
posted by thebots at 1:12 PM on December 19, 2020
I have the same problem.
My experience with Ppotify is that the algorithm is... bad. Its algorithm doesn't understand musical style well and is heavily biased towards the most popular artists. For example, if you listen to a quirky indie song from a Korean artist, it's going to think you want to listen to BTS.
On the other hand, there are a lot of curated playlists that you could spend months listening to. I've found some real gems that way.
Pandora is much better for finding music that has a similar style to its starting input. If you input a quirky indie song, you'll hear more quirky indie songs. It's not as popular as Spotify but it still seems to have a pretty good catalog.
I tend to listen to Pandora more often when I want to listen to radio, and Spotify when I want to find a new album to listen to. I also follow Bandcamp's round-ups when I have more time.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:59 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
My experience with Ppotify is that the algorithm is... bad. Its algorithm doesn't understand musical style well and is heavily biased towards the most popular artists. For example, if you listen to a quirky indie song from a Korean artist, it's going to think you want to listen to BTS.
On the other hand, there are a lot of curated playlists that you could spend months listening to. I've found some real gems that way.
Pandora is much better for finding music that has a similar style to its starting input. If you input a quirky indie song, you'll hear more quirky indie songs. It's not as popular as Spotify but it still seems to have a pretty good catalog.
I tend to listen to Pandora more often when I want to listen to radio, and Spotify when I want to find a new album to listen to. I also follow Bandcamp's round-ups when I have more time.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:59 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
I write for The Singles Jukebox, and we cover everything that is loosely 'popular music' from around the world, and have some of the best thoughtful and most critical music review writing on the web. We covered K-Pop alongside Western releases before that was even popular or well-known. Several of us have written for Pitchfork and other name-brand mags, but that's really because music journalism is a paltry business and we just need cash somehow!
We often cover things within the first week of release, and the oldest is within the last two months. We wrote about 'Old Town Road' right before (or the same week) as the surprise Billy Ray Cyrus remix came out.
posted by yueliang at 2:12 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
We often cover things within the first week of release, and the oldest is within the last two months. We wrote about 'Old Town Road' right before (or the same week) as the surprise Billy Ray Cyrus remix came out.
posted by yueliang at 2:12 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
> For example, if you listen to a quirky indie song from a Korean artist, it's going to think you want to listen to BTS...
...Pandora is much better for finding music that has a similar style to its starting input. If you input a quirky indie song, you'll hear more quirky indie songs. It's not as popular as Spotify but it still seems to have a pretty good catalog.
Funny thing, I did recently put in a quirky indie song from a Korean artist for a new station. It gave me one or two BTS songs but a bunch of other varied stuff. Can confirm that Pandora works for quirky indie Korean songs!
Also, OHenryPacey reminded me that when I do want to listen to a single song, if I don't notice when the song ends it'll shunt me automatically into one of those playlists. It sometimes take me... a while to realize I'm not listening to Pandora anymore, especially if I'm away from the computer. So that's an equally effective method, probably.
posted by brook horse at 4:07 PM on December 19, 2020
...Pandora is much better for finding music that has a similar style to its starting input. If you input a quirky indie song, you'll hear more quirky indie songs. It's not as popular as Spotify but it still seems to have a pretty good catalog.
Funny thing, I did recently put in a quirky indie song from a Korean artist for a new station. It gave me one or two BTS songs but a bunch of other varied stuff. Can confirm that Pandora works for quirky indie Korean songs!
Also, OHenryPacey reminded me that when I do want to listen to a single song, if I don't notice when the song ends it'll shunt me automatically into one of those playlists. It sometimes take me... a while to realize I'm not listening to Pandora anymore, especially if I'm away from the computer. So that's an equally effective method, probably.
posted by brook horse at 4:07 PM on December 19, 2020
I dont know if it will work for you, but I watch YouTube videos of musicians who discuss the lesser known corners of the musical world. It's a way to get introduced to the new or reminded of the old. Start with Adam Neely and David Bruce.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:28 PM on December 19, 2020
posted by SemiSalt at 5:28 PM on December 19, 2020
So funny. I listen to the radio using an actual boom box with a radio while I’m working or cooking and in the car using my car radio. Just like when I was a kid. I also stream quite a bit but I find new music through the radio. Every time some song comes on that I don’t care for, I switch stations, so I end up listening to a lot of types of music. Pop, soul, country, rock, alternative, hip hop.
posted by gt2 at 7:57 AM on December 20, 2020
posted by gt2 at 7:57 AM on December 20, 2020
I use Spotify the way many others have mentioned, in conjunction with following bands, labels, and a few music reviewers on Twitter. I've discovered amazing bands from seeing them mentioned on Twitter and then checking them out on either Spotify or Bandcamp. My specific jam is whatever wave of emo we're currently in, and there are a few well-known reviewers / podcasters whose taste is not always exactly mine but tends to steer me well in general.
I also have taken to listening to a weekly Saturday night show on Radio Wales that features Welsh (or Welsh-adjacent) music, and I have found some really good music going down that rabbit hole. It's on from 10 pm - 1 am British time, which makes it nice Saturday evening listening here on the East Coast of the US.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 11:01 AM on December 20, 2020
I also have taken to listening to a weekly Saturday night show on Radio Wales that features Welsh (or Welsh-adjacent) music, and I have found some really good music going down that rabbit hole. It's on from 10 pm - 1 am British time, which makes it nice Saturday evening listening here on the East Coast of the US.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 11:01 AM on December 20, 2020
Similar to jzb, I use Spotify and YouTube. Between the two they have almost everything.
I used to be an obsessive music fan and would go to record stores and buy music based on album covers (!) and whatever Mojo magazine said was good and whilst i've never returned to that level of obsession, I am still seeking out new stuff (by 'new' I mean 'things i've never heard before' as opposed to 'things made this year').
Spotify. I use this the most. I made tons of playlists based on songs I already knew I liked and as a result Spotify recommended some news ones. They present you with a playlist every Monday I believe of songs they think you may like. It's in the playlist section called 'Made For You' and it takes you to a playlist called 'Discover Weekly'. Now I agree with the person above who said the algorithm is a tad off however I have found that if you follow each song to the 'proper' album it came from (e.g. if it's 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles, you would go and find 'Rubber Soul'), you will likely find a few things on that album that you will like. It works well for me that way. It's often a case of 'right artist, wrong song'. That's good enough for me.
YouTube. Some of my favourites get taken off Spotify (especially "world" music if anyone is still using that term after 1995) so I have to go on YouTube for what they removed. You think you have heard everything of a genre you like and some freak on youtube will have posted rare gems of bands you've never even heard of. There is no sophisticated or organised way of ploughing through YouTube. It's the wild west until the algorithm gets you then it's a joyful prison you can't get out of (hello sidebar salesman). It can get overwhelming. I have a tendency to open hundreds of tabs in my excitement and then crash the whole computer. It's the only thing that finally gets me off YouTube. That's the good thing about Spotify - you can only have one thing open at a time.
I should also add that amidst all of this, I will check out Wikipedia for discographies and personal info. Then i'll look at Youtube for interviews with the band, documentaries etc. Also I will google e.g. 'reddit best Zappa albums' or 'bands like The Kinks' and look for things that way. Despite my approaching 40, I still have a cringing ability to fangirl over any male from the 60s.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 3:58 PM on December 24, 2020
I used to be an obsessive music fan and would go to record stores and buy music based on album covers (!) and whatever Mojo magazine said was good and whilst i've never returned to that level of obsession, I am still seeking out new stuff (by 'new' I mean 'things i've never heard before' as opposed to 'things made this year').
Spotify. I use this the most. I made tons of playlists based on songs I already knew I liked and as a result Spotify recommended some news ones. They present you with a playlist every Monday I believe of songs they think you may like. It's in the playlist section called 'Made For You' and it takes you to a playlist called 'Discover Weekly'. Now I agree with the person above who said the algorithm is a tad off however I have found that if you follow each song to the 'proper' album it came from (e.g. if it's 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles, you would go and find 'Rubber Soul'), you will likely find a few things on that album that you will like. It works well for me that way. It's often a case of 'right artist, wrong song'. That's good enough for me.
YouTube. Some of my favourites get taken off Spotify (especially "world" music if anyone is still using that term after 1995) so I have to go on YouTube for what they removed. You think you have heard everything of a genre you like and some freak on youtube will have posted rare gems of bands you've never even heard of. There is no sophisticated or organised way of ploughing through YouTube. It's the wild west until the algorithm gets you then it's a joyful prison you can't get out of (hello sidebar salesman). It can get overwhelming. I have a tendency to open hundreds of tabs in my excitement and then crash the whole computer. It's the only thing that finally gets me off YouTube. That's the good thing about Spotify - you can only have one thing open at a time.
I should also add that amidst all of this, I will check out Wikipedia for discographies and personal info. Then i'll look at Youtube for interviews with the band, documentaries etc. Also I will google e.g. 'reddit best Zappa albums' or 'bands like The Kinks' and look for things that way. Despite my approaching 40, I still have a cringing ability to fangirl over any male from the 60s.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 3:58 PM on December 24, 2020
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I also pay attention to what my friends are listening to and that often leads me down various paths (your friends having good taste in music helps).
I also have SiriusXM but since I'm driving a lot less, I don't really find that a huge source of new stuff (and I feel like they're usually behind anyway, but I still enjoy their stations). Accuradio is hit or miss, but it's also programmed by humans.
I have never found Spotify a reliable source of new music, personally.
Things that are hit or miss: still reading Pitchfork (yeah, I know). Bandcamp Daily is a lot but also finds interesting things and groups music in interesting ways.
I also find smaller labels I like and subscribe to their mailing lists. Do I love everything Sacred Bones releases? No, but I'm always happy to take a look.
It's an effort! I am definitely discovering a lot less music than I used to (although my record collection would disagree) but I also feel like wanting to do it is a good first step. Good luck!
posted by edencosmic at 5:20 PM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]