The days of walking into Wall Mart or Target on new release Tuesday are long gone for me. I used to enjoy standing in the isle of my favorite music store, looking at cover art and buying a fourteen dollar piece of plastic. Not anymore. I’ve realized that there is a more cost effective and environmentally friendly way to discover new music…and I’m not alone.
Everyone has their own methods of finding digital downloads.Its a new day and if you are not aware of the possible processes of new music discovery, you’re CD’s are dead in the water. I figured that sharing my normal routine will shed some light on how you can position your work to be found. I encourage you all to try my method and contribute your own in the comments section.
Time
I set a certain amount of time each week to pour thru the massive amounts of new music on the internets. Generally Saturday mornings between 8:30 to 10:30 am works the best for me since my wife is still asleep, and I can close the kitchen door (where the wireless bose system is set up) and blast some interesting new tunes.
Step #1: Hypem.com
Then I point my browser to the behemoth blog aggregator, Hype Machine. I hit the Popular tab and press the play button to the right of the first song title that doesn’t contain the words Remix or Mashup.
If I like what I hear, I click the link to the original source, “Read full post >>”. This brings me too the magnificent blog that was smart enough to post the song in the format that Hypem’s API will recognize.
If I really like what I hear I’ll right click>save as the digital record to my hard drive. Lastly, I shoot the blog’s author a quick comment, bigging them up for putting me down, like so: “Great Record. Thanks for Sharing!”
Repeat over and over again. Hypem.com has enough of these posts to ruin a perfectly good Saturday.
Step #2: Fairtilizer.com
This site can kill your social life as well. I’ve yet to reach the end of their extensive catalog and it seems as if new artists are posting to the site every second.
I have a pro account here as you can see by the nifty branded player in the right section of my blog. They were nice enough to give me a customized widget including my logo and color scheme. Like it?
After logging in, I head straight to the Tracks tab. I further drill down by selecting Charts > Today. Depending on my mood I select the appropriate Genre and vuala! The most diverse list of major and independent releases appears before my eyes.
Once I click play on the first selection I monitor my own head nods and toe taps for an emotional response. If all is well, I click the cross icon and add it to my Fairtilizer playlist. The player on my blog immediately syncs the new addition and showcases it proudly for the world to see.
Step # 3: We Are Hunted
When I’m really feeling brave, I head on over to this site. I usually stay on the main page [since its so sharp] and click play on the first box that catches my eye. Both Fairtilizer and We Are Hunted do a good job of bringing back the old Sam Goody feel by focusing on the square images reminiscent of compact disc cover art.
If I like what I hear I head back to Hypem.com enter the song title in the search field and repeat Step #1.
So there you have it. I do this every Saturday morning without fail. During the week I’m often steeped with work and rarely have a chance to dig very deep. Plus my office building uses Websense, a data security company that stalks my life and doesn’t allow me to browse at will. There are plenty of other music discovery sites out there that I use sporadically. Here is a very incomplete list [Sorry...I need to get on with my day]:
Aggregators: Digiwaxx, MOG, elbo.ws
Music Blogs: Maddecent, Mixtape Riot, Me Like Good Music, SLE Soundscapes, Flwrpt Brooklyn
I’d love to hear how you discover new music. What is your process?
Main Blog Post Image Courtesy of Simon Oxley
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Risen on 
Kevin,
I really enjoyed this post as it reminded me of my similar Saturday morning music discovery/listening habits. Your post also introduced me to a couple of nice music resources, thank you.
Best,
Massimo
Hi Massimo. Glad you enjoyed it. I see that you are a Blip.fm fanatic as well. What else do you use?
Timely post… my Sunday mornings are when I spend an hour or two reviewing my favorite music blogs and sites for new music. Being a music geek, I pretty much try every new service that comes along but always gravitate back to a handful of tried and true ones.
I also use Hypem and We are Hunted to get a feel for what the general public is listening to but really like using LastFM to discover new music via my friends. Saves me a lot of time because I really trust my friend’s taste and opinions.
Two other sites I discovered that I’ve been really enjoying of late: http://www.stereomood and http://www.playlistnow.fm. They focus more on playlists/moods not always ideal if you are looking for new music but nonetheless a great way to rediscover music you haven’t heard in a long while.
Something else that is still in it’s real early stages is http://playdar.org. Again, the thinking is shifting away from MP3s to playlists where the web is a massive jukebox. Hopefully services will start implementing this service which helps us music geeks easily find and hear music regardless of where it is stored.
And, one another spot for finding music is Tumblr. A lot of amazing music blogs! Here are a couple of lists:
http://mashable.com/2009/02/22/music-tumblr-blogs/
http://yvynyl.tumblr.com/post/150291876/best-music-tumblr-blogs
Thanks Kevin for the post!
g.
Great suggestions Gabriel.
I love steromood as well. Just getting turned on to PlaylistNow.fm now. I like the trend towards mood based music listening. Maybe someday the genre box will finally be lifted and fans will think more along these lines.
Thank you!
I agree with you about breaking out of the genre box. Like food, people are afraid to step out of their comfort zone and explore new tastes!
It is unbelievable how broad and diverse music is around this world yet looking at the usual mainstream charts, you would think that nothing else exists.
Thanks!
@Kevin Great piece! I just shared a selection from this on the a’tris blogs with a link back to your site. I hope that helps to drive some traffic your way!
@Gabriel Thanks for introducing me to stereomood! I really dig what they’re doing and am currently listening to their cinema playlist. Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” is currently playing. Every time I hear that I think about the Kill Bill movies. That Tarantino knows how to put a killer soundtrack together.
Thanks Mason! The only issue I have with stereomood is that I keep hearing the same songs over and over again. Maybe I need to change my mood?
@gabriel , i think playlistnow.fm is cool, very good way to discover music, and you re right, sounds i forgot about and also very recent tracks
thks mate
Kevin, this is a great post. I’m on hypemachine listening to music now and I’ve already heard three songs I love! Thanks for the heads up; now I’m going to spend entirely too much time on hype machine.
I am one of the few who still buys cds, but when I am looking for music online, i normally use last.fm.
Hi Ryan. Glad you liked the post. Last.fm is a good one. I’ll be interested in seeing what they do in 2010 to battle the Google integration of Lala. Funny..no one mentioned Lala.
I only bought one physical CD this year, Pot Of Gold: Remixes via @alicemcrussell. Check it out!
Good stuff Kev. I have been using We Are Hunted as well to see what is buzzing. I usually filter it though, either by genre, or by medium – like Twitter or blogs.
It is interesting to see how we find new stuff these days. Honestly most of my new music finds come from Twitter recommendations. I’ll see someone I trust throw out a link with a “I’m feeling this” type of post.
Another quick way I have been checking out artists is with Google’s new integrated music search. I’ll Google the artist and see what Google thinks are the top 2-3 tracks and play them right there on the search results page.
Good stuff man and something that artists need to recognize, as fans are not just going to one place to find the music.
Thanks Greg. Twitter recommendations are always fun. I’ve seen a drop off in #musicmonday as of late. Is it just me?
Google has made it simpler with the integration of Lala, but I rarely click those play buttons. Not exactly sure why.
Maybe I just don’t want to give Google the satisfaction of feeding me what they think I want to hear. I’m sorta stubborn that way.
Anyway…Cheers. Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Kevin, nice piece. I wander around some of the sites you mention but I also have noticed that my search for music is geo specific sometimes. I was born and raised on the west coast and I have a fondness for west coast music, that bias was born in me.
I use sites like http://dubcnn.com or http://wethewest.com where I can find more about artists locally. I love hip hop from all over the world, but am very curious in finding how relevant this is to users across the map. Im wondering how many people use similar ways to track their new upcoming artists. If I lived in the south, my habits might be different, searching for more southern style rappers and blogs that relate to my taste.
Twitter and http://potholesinmyblog.com have been my favorite recently. I’ve had some good conversations with some newer artists and found it to be pretty good.
Great suggestions Mario!
I’m into Dub CNN and Potholes as well. WetheWest is new to me however. Thanks for sharing.
If you’re looking for local blogs, Greg Rollett of Gen Y Rock Stars posted this awhile back. I found it useful in finding geo specific outlets for a client in Austin.
See more here: http://bit.ly/c1VjAQ
Best,
Kevin
Something that won't take up your whole Saturday – http://www.fuzzedout.com – A simple music discovery site I started, that is (get this) completely legal. You can download the music legally. It's all pre-cleared and hand picked.