I’d hypothesize that if you ask a large group of people if they like discovering new music, it’s pretty difficult to find someone who says they don’t.
There’s always that fun little feeling you get right when you discover new music, a little “Aha!” moment, such as when you hear a new dance single you wanna break it down to or an acoustic album that’s perfect to soundtrack your commute.
If it feels so great to have new tunes, why don’t we prioritize the need to discover new music? I can give you a couple of my theories: no time, too lazy, etc. etc. So I rounded up a few ways to discover new music with the least amount of effort.
Create a music loving community
This one is so easy! Just ask your friends about their current favorite songs, create a community around music that is willing and open to enter discourse about smaller artists.
Think like a book of the month club, but instead it’s single of the week. Everyone gives a little and gets a lot. It helps if you all have different music tastes, because then you’re exposed to artists and bands you wouldn’t necessarily know about based solely on your tastes.
Set aside time to dive deep
This doesn’t have to be a large portion of time you set aside, but instead just a tiny moment each day. Almost all streaming platforms have worked relentlessly to perfect “recommended” and “because you liked” algorithms. Dedicate time to explore these related artist algorithms. Computer science is on your side!
Learn from strangers
Public playlists are a great exposé on this! Follow new playlists from people you don’t know as different areas and communities in the nation have different tastes. You might see a few songs you love in a playlist with some new songs, and that’s an easy way to discover new music.
I’d also recommend checking out artists your favorite artists love. They probably have a slight influence (whether musicians want to admit it or not).
Create a routine
This routine can be where you check out #NewMusicFridays, where people round up their pick of the albums released that week. It’s a fun Friday activity, and you can even do it on your lunch break!
See more live music
The openers for your favorite artists are probably musicians you’ll enjoy as well. Then hopefully, these artists will grow and pick out more small guys to showcase on their next tour. It’s basically a curated feedback loop.
Do you have any tricks for discovering music for the lazy? Let us know on Twitter.
