How do you find new(er) music you like?

[disneysteve]

I'm 61. My musical tastes were formed in the 70s and 80s and kind of stuck there, which I think is fairly common. Today, 40 years later, I tend to listen to the same music that I did back then. Stuff from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Not exclusively and I have periodically found newer stuff that I liked and added to my rotation, often from a TV show or movie soundtrack. But I still feel like I'm living in the past when it comes to music.

Where do you listen to newer music to find stuff you like? I do not have satellite radio so don't suggest that. I live in the Philly metro area so I've got all of the local broadcast radio stations. And I've got YouTube and Spotify and the internet in general. Do I just find the local top 40 station and listen to that? Do I search Spotify for a feed playing music of the 2000s? Is there a site/service where I can put in a list of groups I like and have it suggest newer artists that I might enjoy?

And one option is definitely asking our 30-year-old daughter (turned 30 yesterday) for suggestions. She has introduced me to some stuff when we were on road trips.

I'm curious what you all do.

 

[Surewhitey]

I use Spotify and choose an "artist station" that will play music in the vein of their music and explore out from there when I hear something I like.

Recently saw a group who protested Spotify with a weirdo name and looked them up and found some I liked too.

 

[Koolau]

Honestly, when I listen to newer music now, I rarely find anything I want to hear. I have all the recorded music I could ever listen to (from 50, 60s, 70s into the 80s). No reason for me to experiment and be disappointed IMHO.

Closed minded? Probably. Satisfied with my choice? Yes. Missing something? Likely. Worried about missing something? No.

 

[audreyh1]

Interestingly, in the last few years Apple Fitness has exposed me to a lot of different music and I’ve found a few things, oldies and newbies. Apple Fitness has a music genre theme for each workout. It’s quite effective.

15 years ago I found a lot of good new music listening to the Sirius XM Electronic (Groove) station. I found many bands that have been favorites since. Sirius XM was great during our full-time RVing days but dropped it long ago, still enjoy that music today.

Oh yeah, and a few years ago we watched a lot of Spanish language soap operas (most produced by Mexico) and were exposed to a lot of Latin music, some of it fabulous. We discovered the great Mexican group Maná and many other favorites that we still listen to.

We have Apple Music in the car and I often let Apple Music curate a channel or playlist for me these days while driving.

 

[harllee]

I take an exercise class with young instructors. They play a lot of newer music. There have been a couple of songs I like but for the most part I have disliked most of what they play. ( a lot of negative stuff, some with bad language). I think I will stick with the older stuff.

 

[Zathras]

I use Apple Music’s generated playlists or ‘infinite’ settings.
I can play an artist or playlist I created and set it to continue to play songs of a similar ilk.

Most streaming services have a setup to work in a similar manner.

While I love my Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel, I have found some absolute gems this way from more modern artists.

 

[Errollyn]

Musical review channels like Michael Palmisano:

Michael Palmisano

Working Hard. Getting Better Everyday. Do It With Me! Guitargate 6 East Eager St. Baltimore, Maryland 21202

www.youtube.com

 

[disneysteve]

I use Spotify and choose an "artist station" that will play music in the vein of their music and explore out from there when I hear something I like.

I'll have to give that a try.

 

[Handymike]

I turn 78 this month and I only listen to recorded stuff from the 50s-very early 70s. Old time rock and roll mostly. Surfing music ( California kid ) dance music from my era. Also I like Arthur Lyman, Ferantie & Teicher, Martin Denny for just relaxing. For newer music I have turned to country music as I like the story telling type music.

 

[ERD50]

I haven't used it in a while, but you can create a free account (with occasional ads) on Pandora (dot com) - IIRC, you create a new 'playlist' or 'station', and enter a few artists you like. It finds other artists of a similar style.

I found new artists that I really liked, and if you play around a bit, you can get it open enough (like enter a few dissimilar artists) to include some similar music, but different enough that you may not have heard before

 

[Aerides]

I know OP isn't interested in satellite but it's been great for me.

The channels make exploring easy, there are more genres than I could imagine, and more in the app than the car.

I recently started using their "spa" channel for background instrumental stuff when hanging out, and some of the slightly more up tempo stuff there I really enjoy.

Luna, from Ciro Hurtado is a favorite. Would literally have never found that on my own, and now I built a playlist for Spotify with hours of music I found there.

 

[bbqcoder]

I like Apple Music curated playlists. I'm an alternative music fan so I'll listen to Superbloom, ALT Ctrl, Indie, and other playlists that are updated weekly. Lots of good music out there.

I'll also explore other genres like R&B, Jazz, etc. Just play the music!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I wish there was some new music I actually like. I am a 70's and 80's music person and I have all I need. There are a few modern bands I like like Coldplay and a few others in small doses, but nothing that I would like to keep. I do not subscribe to any streaming music services

 

[jazz4cash]

There is very very little in the way of new music that appeals to me. I do find music that is new to me, though. Lately I have found a few by using Soundhound app to identify songs played on commercials but honestly I can’t even listen to my favorites which are mostly 60s-90’s Motown, R&B and rock. I have also found some new-to-me music on youtube. Their algorithm for suggesting similar artist is pretty decent.

 

[bloom2708]

Apple Music. Mark songs, artists and albums as "Favorites". Use the "Similar artists" section to look for artists like the ones you like.

Listen to "Radio Stations" based on your favorite artists or songs. They will play similar music.

Monitor and listen to the "New releases for you" section in your Home page.

Monitor and listen to the "New" songs and albums that are being released in the New section.

The hardest part of music is even if you think you KNOW a lot of artists/songs/albums, you are only scratching the surface. Just keep digging.

 

[scfr]

I've found some newer-to-me artists highlighted on morning news shows. There's one artist I first saw interviewed by Al Roker and I've since purchased his music and been to 2 of his concerts.

I also use Hoopla digital from my library. It has a "Recommended for you" feature based on what I've borrowed. It's not that great, but occasionally has a good one.

Do you have a few absolute favorites from your list of artists you listen to? If they still tour and support young up-and-coming acts, check out who they use as opening acts.

 

[jollystomper]

The Spotify route works well.

Although I do not subscribe to Sirius XM, I believe twice a year they have a "free preview" for a week or so. Whenever that occurs I listen to stations of the desired genre and learn about newer music. If I am in the car I note the time, then when home I go online to look up what was playing at that time on that particular station. I had "bonus" satellite listening this year since, for whatever reason, when I registered my newly used car with Toyota I received free Sirius XM for four months.

 

[Jerry1]

My Samsung tv has some music video channels that I listen to and when I hear a song I like, I look up the artist on my Apple Music and play their songs. I’ve never been much of a country music fan but recently I discovered rip that I like Chris Stapleton pretty well.

As others have mentioned, using apps like Pandora that will feed you music based on your “likes” is also a good way to discover new music. When you hear a song you like, note the artist and follow that road for awhile and see what you get.

 

[pacergal]

I'm stuck in the 50, 60, 70's, with some 80's.
Plenty of choices there, mostly classic rock n roll, some country, some early "boy" groups (Beach Boys, Herman Hermits, Dave Clark 5, etc)
I'm ok with that

 

[tutan]

I get to listen to different types of music on our local listener supported station KKUP.. jazz, reggae, oldies from 70’s, and also the college station, KFJC, which plays international music often. When I hear something good, I look it up and save it on Youtube for playing on road trips.

 

[DallasGuy]

I check out lots of music CD's from my library. I look online and see what is new in the library catalog over the last 1-2 years and many times haven't heard of the artists. I listen to a cut or two from the CD on youtube and it if sounds interesting, I check it out at the library and listen to it at home. I rip some of them to mp3 files if I like them...for future listens.

 

[Spock]

I end up listening mostly to utoob... and I don't know if its really "new" music as some of it appears to be recorded over 10 years ago... but it's definitely a new-to-me genre and group of bands.
I think it started by surfing for blues playlists but ended up in "swamp blues" contaminated by "dark country". Even with some new bands it brings up some old stuff that I hadn't heard before ex. JJ Cale and Clutch.

I guess in the end you would say I find new music by surfing youtube and going down rabbit holes.

 

[GrayHare]

We're getting closer to telling AI, "Create some music that I'll like." Rick Beato (youtube) recently posted a video about doing similar and discusses the results. He dislikes that AI builds music by referencing existing human-created music. OTOH humans have been doing the same for a long time which is why music from different composers and bands during a certain time period often sounds similar.

 

[Spock]

We're getting closer to telling AI, "Create some music that I'll like." Rick Beato (youtube) recently posted a video about doing similar and discusses the results. He dislikes that AI builds music by referencing existing human-created music. OTOH humans have been doing the same for a long time which is why music from different composers and bands during a certain time period often sounds similar.

To me the difference is you can tell when a song ends in a human generated but similar play list. Playlists of AI generated crap just goes on for an hour sounding like one continuous song.

 

[Pointby2]

I feel like I could have written your post. I have two boxes of albums. 90s and up an 90s and earlier. It's hard to find music I really like to fill that 90s+ box. Most came via YouTube. (Courtney Barnett, The Big Moon, Wisconsin) Some came from movies and TV. (Gin Wigmore, Royal Blood) A couple from Bandcamp. (Joey Landreth)

Good luck!