There’s an ever-growing amount of music available today, a few taps (or clicks) away. I for one feel like there’s a lot of great music in many genres and styles, coming from many countries, and in many languages. And there’s always new, interesting stuff coming out regularly.
Whether a new release from an artist you like, or an old one you want to go back to, there are so many options to choose from at any given point in time. Yet we can only hear one at a time, so we must choose. So…
How do you choose what to listen to, and how do you keep up with everything you want to keep up with? Do you manage to listen to everything you want to on a regular basis? Do you instead choose to articially limit yourself to keep sane? Or is your music taste narrow enough this is of no worry?
I actively only monitor a couple of channels for music, but try and be open to new sources. I follow a couple of genres on Bandcamp (most of these are bad, but it’s fun to hear new things). I follow MrDoom666, StonedMeadowOfDoom, and Atmospheric Black Metal Albums on YouTube.
I get enough music to listen to. I ask friends for what they are listening to, and I know I am going to be missing some music, and that’s okay.
I don’t listen to everything that comes through the channels I follow, and will quickly turn it off if I’m not liking it.
My attention span for music isn’t good so I only ever listen to around 3 songs at a time. Maybe twice a week. Lol. And I only really care for a few genres, so there’s no need to further limit myself.
The best music is from when I personally was in high school and the genere has never been improved on.
- 90% of people
By being picky and only actively seeking out my favorite genre.
I use the streaming service qobuz, which have curated playlists and “albums of the week”. It allows me to discover new styles or artists that I never thought much about. Sometimes it’s a miss, but that’s depending on taste. Also, the sound quality is really good if you have the hardware required.
In the old days, Last.fm was good for discovering music I might like based on what I listen to.
Nowadays I have this method (hear me out) that consists of drinking a bit too much, listening to favorites on YouTube and opening multiple tabs with what I suspect are good suggestions. This leads me into multiple rabbit holes where I occasionally strike gold.
By ignoring about 99% of it.
I really like the Discover Weekly queue on Spotify. I’ll find a track I like, then listen to the album, and if that’s good, I’ll listen to the rest of the discography. I’ve found quite a few Most Favourite Bands Ever this way.
Mid 40s here - I mostly listen to stuff I’m already familiar with (albeit a pretty wide range, or at least I think so), and/or stuff which is from the same eras/genres/etc, particularly if it’s something acknowledged as influential on something else I know I like
Eg 1 - I’m a huge R.E.M. fan, and via them I discovered (some time ago, admittedly) artists like Patti Smith, the Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, etc.
Eg 2 - I am very much into house/techno, and have discovered so much great stuff old and new via a regular recommendations event on BlueSky (#RaveyardShift, Saturday nights from about 10pm, UK time, if anyone is interested!)
Eg 3 Although I don’t do this so much any more, I found that getting Tidal to generate a radio station based on a single song I like is often a great way to discover other great music in that genre whether it’s funk/soul, hip hop, post punk or whatever.
In all of the above, almost none of it is new… but it’s usually new to me, and that’s good enough.
I used to worry that I wasn’t keeping up with new music, but after a while I realised that that’s ok - there’s really no need to worry about that as it’s literally impossible to hear everything, so just find stuff you enjoy, let others do the same and don’t worry about it.
As an aside, I’m not religious at all, but I’ve long had this concept of “heaven” as a place where you simply have the time and resources to experience EVERYTHING you could ever want to. Every song, every movie, every flavour, every sensation, etc.
That’d be kind of cool. Although I’m conscious that that’s the Côtes du Rhône talking… 😁🍷
If you filter out only what you like, you are left with perhaps 1% of music.
I don’t.
I keep to the Spotify 90s and 2000 mix
Public/college radio broad cast. Also never fell for mainstream data traps and apps. These broad casts stream for free from their websites and have corresponding spinatron links for playlists. May I recommend: WWOZ new orleans or WMUH Allentown
That’s pretty much all you need. For world music Try putumayo world music hour on ever weekday around noon on WMUH for a great source of curated world music by region. For a deep dive on world music there is a crazy detailed World Journey with Logan on Saturday on WWOZ.
Also for fun some times I write down stuff I like with a pad and pen, then promptly lose said notes.
I tend to dislike the music of the day, only to really like it a decade later.
When I grew up I hated Eurodance music, but now it is one of my favourite genres.
I have eclectic taste in music. Mostly I give thanks for streaming services and radio - back when we had to buy albums I got literal anxiety because there was simply no possible way I could get even 1% of what I liked, and the thought of cataloguing it also oppressed me.
So -
I do read Brooklyn Vegan occasionally for stuff I might not have heard of, and tours, Pitchfork for live versions of songs.
I also let the streaming algorithm have its way with my playlist often, when not listening to a whole album. And I listen to radio (literal FM community radio) shows I like, and sometimes my kids scoop me on some artist they think I will like. And understand that the universe of music I might enjoy is blessedly so large I will not get to the end of it.
Oh and I go to concerts - often I have found bands because they opened for someone I went to see.
Yeah living near NYC there are so many great free shows that you can easily find new favorites.
This Thursday Big Freeda is doing a show in Brooklyn for free.
I am fully involved with the music algorithm. I like that song!, clicks radio on it. Oh, this song is nice, clicks radio on that and so on.
I discover music from whatever service has the best algorithm to find what I enjoy. Sometimes it’s from amatures, sometimes it’s from unheard of artists. I rarely ever hear a song with over 100,000 plays, and I believe nobody but my mom thinks my music taste is good…
Your mom thinks your music taste is good? Dang. Mine just be like “wtf we listening to” (it’s Polish) or “Not German” skips. “We hearing Japanese, now?”. I did kinda get her somewhat into modern popular hispanic music, I think. Or at least helped in some way with that.
