How to Find New Music

Learn ways to discover new artists that will appeal to your tastes

Sep 27, 2007

Getting tired of the same old Rolling Stones compilation? Bored by the radio dial? If you're sick of the same old song, these tips should help out.

No matter how much you might love any particular musician, all but the most extreme fans will likely reach a point where they want to try something else. The question is, where does one start? Use these five simple tips to begin your quest for something new from your speakers.

Pandora is an internet radio website that attempts to customize itself to your own unique tastes. You can type in an artist's name, and by doing so you will create a radio station. Then, Pandora will play songs by said artist, and also play songs by similar sounding artists. If you don't like what they play, tell them, and the program will adapt accordingly. You can only skip so many songs per hour, however, and using any streaming technology will drain internet bandwidth, so this might not be the best thing to use when you're at work.

Allmusic.com is a fantastic website for learning about your favorite artists, and how their music has been critically received. However, one of the site's overlooked features is its ability to find new music. You can go to your favorite artists and find their influences, as well as artists they have influenced. You can also track the history of a song, to see who else may have recorded one of your favorite tunes. Allmusic also sorts music by style, and this doesn't just mean whether it's rock or pop. You can find music ranging from the Dramatic to the Freewheeling, all at the click of a button.

Several times a year, popular magazines will release their list of the best new music of the year. Also, popular music-heavy magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin will put out articles like "500 Greatest Albums," or "Top Twenty-Five Punk Songs." While you may disagree with the lists, they are a good way to check out some music you've never heard before.

While top forty stations still dominate traditional FM radio, there are plenty of interesting radio programs that crop up and receive airplay at strange times (Little Steven's Underground Garage is a good one of note). Also, Sirius has really expanded the reach of radio, with stations focusing on entire artists, and also programs put together by popular musicians. If you enjoy Bob Dylan or Tom Petty, it might be worth checking out their shows to see what it is they themselves like.

Either by reading a favorite artist's biography, or a book about a particular era, genre, album, or even song, you can find a lot of music just by the name dropping that occurs. Also, learning more about popular music's history is interesting in its own right (Did you know Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders and Mick Jones of the Clash almost formed a band?)

If you're looking for something different for the ears, use the above tips to locate new music, and you'll be jamming to new favorites in no time.

The copyright of the article How to Find New Music in Rock Music is owned by Anthony Inverso. Permission to republish How to Find New Music in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.