Tracking album releases: easy way?

February 13, 2007 12:21 AM

On keeping track of music: how does one know when bands release new albums?

I have a big long list of bands that I follow, but it seems that more often than not, I hear friends listening to my bands before I even know a new release is out. I would prefer to keep away from advertising if at all possible, so MTV/radio doesn't really do it for me. The ideal solution would be an RSS feed for each band's release schedule.. does something like this exist, or am I stuck checking 50+ websites every month to see if anything new is out and/or watching countless ads on tv?

posted by gormanite to media & arts (20 comments total)

I find the podcasts NPR Music and NPR All Songs Considered to be good sources. Also, though some are loaded with ads, music mags? Mojo and Magnet are faves of mine, and the ads are easier to ignore when you're reading versus listening.
posted by Brittanie at 12:34 AM on February 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Google news.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:38 AM on February 13, 2007

A fair number of mid-sized indie record labels (and to a lesser extent, artists) use rss-able blog-like pages for label news and release info. For big labels, it should be in national entertainment news.

With a collection of feeds, maybe some broader music or news ones filtered, this might be a good use for the web 2.0 app that everyone is buzzing about this month - yahoo pipes.
posted by p3t3 at 12:57 AM on February 13, 2007

also, lots of distributors and record shops all have weekly mailing list updates for new stock. this can be a bit much to wade through sometimes, but if you find a shop with similar tastes to your own, it might be another good source.

also look for rss's of online music magazines' review or charts sections. i'm on a few mailing list / magazine type things (like earplug for electronica) that send new release info and reviews directly to my email periodically.
posted by p3t3 at 1:58 AM on February 13, 2007

Myspace & mailing lists
posted by Human Flesh at 2:34 AM on February 13, 2007

Metacritic has a decent releases list, and the record stores in your area should have release schedules (at the very least the chain ones will; if you're looking for more obscure stuff the indie shops should at least be able to look it up for you).
posted by chrominance at 3:03 AM on February 13, 2007

releaseguide.com has rss feeds for book, movie (theater), movie (dvd), and music releases
posted by sharkfu at 3:08 AM on February 13, 2007

Pauseandplay.com is pretty complete.

You can subscribe to a weekly update from allmusic.com.

It's pretty complete too.

Metacritic is pretty skimpy and very elitist, genre-wise, I've found - but happily, it's covers what it covers better than the two above.

The best thing is all three.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 3:30 AM on February 13, 2007

Usenet. I scan the audio binary groups regularly looking for my favorite bands. I'll often find new releases 4- weeks before official release (an then I buy it).
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:16 AM on February 13, 2007

n+1 the PauseAndPlay.com mailing list (however, it gives you a list of evertyhign thats coming out in a particular week, rather than anything from a particular band)

For band-specific info, you might want to check out something like EarFeeder, which generates a customized RSS feed for you based on your iTunes library.
posted by softlord at 6:09 AM on February 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

I used to use the RSS feed of the Pitchfork releases list, but it seems like they either don't update it, or something is broken between me and their RSS... (Haven't been to the site to see).
posted by klangklangston at 6:34 AM on February 13, 2007

largeheartedboy does a list of new music/dvds each monday. however, there's only an rss feed for the whole site
posted by noloveforned at 6:40 AM on February 13, 2007

I do a pretty good job of keeping up with new releases and discovering new music just by following music review sites/blogs/misc. such as Pitchfork, Idolator, TinyMixTapes, and Questionable Content (the author works a lot of new indie music into the comic and his commentary).
posted by J-Train at 7:33 AM on February 13, 2007

Another: Blogcritics Music.
posted by megatherium at 7:36 AM on February 13, 2007

The iTunes Music Store has a feature where it will e-mail you about new releases on bands you like. I use it and it seems to work.
posted by wackybrit at 8:04 AM on February 13, 2007

KEXP Newly Added Releases chart
posted by matildaben at 8:40 AM on February 13, 2007

gormanite: "am I stuck checking 50+ websites every month to see if anything new is out and/or watching countless ads on tv?"

I know this isn't precisely what you're looking for, but, personally, I still do this, I just get more creative/quick about it with bookmarking. Which is to say: I have firefox; I put all the bands' pages in bookmarks in one folder; and I right-click on that folder and select "open all in tabs." That way, I can check-close tab, check-close tab, pretty quickly, and look through all of them in a few minutes.
posted by koeselitz at 8:45 AM on February 13, 2007

The All Music Guide new release newsletter is pretty sweet. It comes into my inbox every Tuesday, is comprehensive, with links to reviews of every release. Of course, this isn't going to help you anticipate releases, just know about them when they happen. For longer-term planning, I second (fifth?) Pitchfork.
posted by jtajta at 9:33 AM on February 13, 2007

Rhapsody offers several RSS feeds around artists. For example the feeds for Snmnmnm include discography, key tracks, playlists, and music videos.
posted by xiojason at 11:27 AM on February 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

MyHound will send you an email alert for new releases by the bands/authors/actors you choose.
posted by hsoltz at 11:25 AM on February 14, 2007