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Ask HN: How do you discover music?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#51

Post by gandalfgreybeer »

Nic0 wrote: post #44

I listening only classical music here is some search I do. - Filter with compositor, rachmaninoff, mozart... - I filter with record label in spotify, with very specific and quality like "hamonia mundi", "erato" and others. - Select orchestra (London Symphony Orchestra, Choir of King's College) - Select musician (Baremboim, Argerich...)

I listen to a lot of classical music too and I have had a better experience in Apple Music for classical music. Also a plus that they acquired Primephonic last year which indicates good things https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/08/apple-acquires-classi...

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#52

Post by Cockbrand »

Great discussion, thank you for bringing this up!

I used to find a lot of interesting new music on Facebook, but I've given up on the platform a few years ago, which now actually leaves quite a gap in my ability to discover new music.

Lately, I'm following nodata.tv and exystence.net in my RSS reader, which is somewhat hit and miss, but connects me with a lot of very eclectic stuff. Also, I find the Bandcamp recommendation algorithm at least acceptable, so I discover some new stuff there. And then there's the DJs and producers I follow on Soundcloud.

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#53

Post by eunice »

i've really struggled with this for a few years now - spotify's algorithm has bubbled me and just recommends the same half a dozen albums and artists no matter what I listen to. NTS radio has been fantastic though.

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#54

Post by terramex »

95% from music playlists I follow on Spotify. Check "Discovered on" section on your favourite artist page, look for playlists that seem to align with your taste. Avoid official Spotify playlists and look for ones created by actual people.

Also "Right Now" playlist from Ryan Schreiber (Pitchfork's founder) if you're into that style. Try looking for playlists created by music journalists you enjoy.

Algorithmic recommendations never worked for me.

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#55

Post by processing »

Mostly via online record stores

Discogs (Genre) Sort by "Hot"

https://www.discogs.com/search/?sort=hot%2Cdesc&style_exact=...

https://www.phonicarecords.com

https://www.junodownload.com/leftfield/

https://hardwax.com Great weekly recap mixes featuring their latest releases on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/hardwax_official/videos

Bandcamp search by tag/genre. Discover tracks I like, then click through to see what other tracks supporters have recently purchased - honestly found some of the best music via this method.

I also run a monthly mix series called Dystopian Disco - that's predominately focused on unearthing new house/techno/dark disco releases.

https://www.youtube.com/c/DystopianDisco

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#56

Post by so-chrisp »

Before Google Play Music was shut down in favor of YouTube Music, they had a feature called “Playing Near You”. I discovered so many fantastic, relatively unknown/new artists that became my favorites. I also went to many more live shows because of it. Was the golden age of music for me.

Still waiting on YTM to migrate the feature.

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#57

Post by Bakary »

- Constant usage of the "create radio based on X" feature of Spotify

- Searching songs by their producer

- Spend a lot of time researching music and genres

- Music subreddits

- Looking up songs sampled by other songs

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#58

Post by wdutch »

sshine wrote: post #19

I discover music through Spotify. You could say "Spotify's algorithm", but you need to help it. It is more their links between artists that I use, and the general availability of a lot of artists. (Not as many as on YouTube.) If I have found a lot of great, new music this week, next week's "Discover Weekly" and the albums recommended in "Home" are better. Most of the music I find is by looking at the tracks I'm alrea…

I make extensive use of the Spotify algorithm to discover the music I want to listen to based on my own idea of what it should sound like. For example if I want some music with a house beat but folky feel to it, then I'll create a playlist and 'seed' it with some house music and some folk music; about 10 tracks total. Then I'll scroll to the very bottom of the playlist and go through the Recommended Songs. Spotify is often pretty good at finding an 'average' of the different songs added to the playlist. I add the songs that fit my expectations to the playlist which further refines the recommendations. After I've added about 10 songs I'll remove the songs I used to seed the recommendations.

Sometimes this method doesn't work because maybe the 'average' you're looking for doesn't exist or Spotify hasn't connected the dots. Sometimes a track in the 'seed' can dominate the recommendations so try removing tracks that seem to skew the results or adding more from the opposite genre.

Re: Ask HN: How do you discover music?

#59

Post by printscreen »

For dance music, as a DJ, I find the best way is to find an artist through their song being played in a set I listen to, then check that artist's label for more. I can then buy / follow on Bandcamp to be alerted of new releases. I hear alot of talk about labels becoming obsolete nowadays, but they're great for this use case.

For ambient music, I also make a site (https://flowful.app) which procedurally generates ambient music for you. I have a Discord of people who use it, where theres a section for people to share music. Most of the new ambient stuff I find now is through there.

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