61–70 of 268 posts
Spotify has this really great alternative app called Stations: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/spotify-stations/id1453043471 You just type in artists/genres you like and it'll play music that matches your tastes. It's like a better Pandora, with the things that makes Spotify great, like Spotify Connect. It's only in the US App Store for dumb reasons, but it works fine elsewhere once you get it downloaded with a US acco…
FM Radio
Eww. Unless you can find yourself an independent station that actually plays something outside of the top-pops, please, please, count me out. In every Uber and/or cab I end up taking, I ask them to turn the FM radio off. The jazz and classical stations are okay, but then the commercials completely ruin the listening experience - especially for 'chill out' genres like the above. Word of mouth from friends - Spotify or…
You can also find it on I <3 Radio.
For my taste, it’s been Radio Paradise for a long time.
"Radio Paradise got its start in Paradise, California (hence the name...). Paradise is a peaceful little town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, far from the big city stress & turmoil. Our goal is to bring a little Paradise into your life, wherever you're located."
I first heard of Paradise from this station, and considered moving there a few years ago to be closer to my daughter in nearby Chico. A bit over a year ago Paradise was tragically hit by a huge wildfire nearly wiped the town off the map and reduced the population by 90%. It sounds like Radio Paradise moved away before the fire, since they still imply that Paradise is stress free, etc. ... I don't see a single mention of the fire on the site. That seems really odd to me.
I'm surprised this article doesn't mention youtube, which is a major way of finding new music for me. Not only can I find new music through videos that youtube selects as related to ones I like, but listening to playlists that contain music that I like is another great way to find new music, and so is listening through the other music posted by people who post music that I like. And then, of course, one always has th…
But YouTube's quality is such hot garbage, and the ads, oh, God, the ads. Nothing ruins the experience of a perfectly good album like Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' more than a jump from cool jazz to an ad for Grammarly that's a full 5-10db louder than what I was listening to. If YouTube's audio quality was worth listening to, YouTube Premium might be a thing, but Spotify and Apple Music have it down to a science, and,…
IMO the only reason at this point for anyone of any technical level not to be running an adblocker is if they have some kind of ethical objection to blocking ads in general. And even in that case, I encourage people to leave their adblocker enabled on Youtube and just pay for Youtube Premium on the side.
One thing I try to get across to people is that pervasive advertising has harmful side-effects that are difficult to see when you're used to that state. I started universally blocking ads on the web, in media, in apps; I got really aggressive about blocking unwanted content. And I very quickly noticed a change in how long I could focus on content, how quickly I absorbed information, how much effort it was to consume things or interact with things.
It was noticeable enough that I don't think of advertising as free anymore -- you're paying a real cost in mental ability, in your energy. Ads have an effect on your psyche, on how you see the world. I don't think it's healthy.
In the early 00s I figured out how to rip Library CDs. They had a surprising amount of NuMetal.
During the mid-00s CNet had a music directory that was manually maintained. Looking back on it now, whoever coded the web page probably just put on whatever music they liked there. It was a great way to find new music.
Next I discovered Pandora.
Later I discovered dnbsets.de
Then YouTube.
Finally, BandCamp.
Other than the stuff already mentioned (subreddits, blogs, playlists, word of mouth) I discover a ton of music via human-programmed streaming "radio". I know it's not as big a thing as it was in the mid-late 2000's but there are still thousands of Shoutcast/Icecast/etc. stations and many of them are programmed by DJs, music enthusiasts, and fans. A good set of bookmarks is like having a radio dial filled with 10 or 2…
Same here, in fact at least 90% of my new music comes from online radio. 90% of that comes from dandelionradio.com. What other streaming radio stations would you recommend?
-Find out who they've toured with - this is one of the strongest signals possible
-Find out who produced their albums, and check out other albums produced by those folks
-See if people in their band(s) have released their own work
-Read interviews to find out who their influences are and who they like currently
-If they're on a small, focused label (Amphetamine Reptile, Elephant 6), go listen to their labelmates
Choose a song, artist or playlist that you really enjoy, right click and select "Go to _______ radio". Spotify will instantly generate a whole new playlist for you based on the selected song/artist/playlist.
I've spent hours discovering new music this way, good luck.
Rather than subjecting oneself to the whims of recommendation engines and random people, I recommend starting with the artists you like: -Find out who they've toured with - this is one of the strongest signals possible -Find out who produced their albums, and check out other albums produced by those folks -See if people in their band(s) have released their own work -Read interviews to find out who their influences ar…
This is a terrible guide that ignores the best algorithmic recommendations that spotify provides, the "Related Artist" feature from the artist page. If you are a life long music explorer, why didn't you mention the last.fm Similar Artist feature? Concert reminder services like songkick are great for learning which bands are touring with your favorite artists, too, in addition to suggesting artists based on your curre…
Spotify's algorithmic recommendations aren't very good. I use Spotify, but always build my playlists by hand, after finding music elsewhere. Typically that's Youtube, but I also follow the artists I like on twitter and get new songs from them.
edit: possible answers might be "Artist Radio", "my Discover Weekly playlist", "Related Artists page", "my Daily Mix playlists"