Hey!
I have always been a music lover, whether it's playing music to myself in my room, singing at church and small events, or 'trolling' the internet for new tunes, I love engaging with music. Recently however; I've been stuck in a place where my music has become stale and old, and I'm ready for some new content - but how do we find the good stuff that we love amongst all the noise? It's hard! So here are my ten tips for finding music you love.
1. Get Spotify. I can hear the sighs, and yes - I know what you mean. Who needs more Facebook-connected platforms to clog up their newsfeed and send emails just incase you wondered if 'Polly Joined Spotify'? But it's actually this that I have learned to love. If you're familiar with Spotify, you'll know that your Facebook friends have a feed running on the right hand side of the program, notifying you of what they are listening to. Click away! You never know what your friends are into, and sometimes it can be unexpected. Once you find someone with similar taste to you, keep clicking on their songs, and see if you can find new bands that you like.
NOTE: If you don't want people seeing what you're hearing, you can remove yourself from this feed so that no one can view your embarrassing choice of music. I only learnt this yesterday.
2. Old is not necessarily bad. Buy a record player, or borrow one from someone you know, and play some of your parents old stuff. Vinyls are beautiful things, and believe it or not, not ALL 80's music is lame. If your parents have tapes or CDs, try these out as well.
3. Consult your siblings. If you don't have siblings, consult your cousins. Families aren't always similar, but they often are. The majority of my new music has come from my brother, who has a knack for finding new alternative kinds of music from artists I've never even heard of.
4. YouTube. YouTube is smarter than you think - if you watch a music video for an artist you love, chances are some random options will come up in the right hand side bar. Again - click away! One things leads to another, leads to another!
5. iTunes Genius! Imagine or remember this scenario - you've just bought a new album you've been dying to buy for weeks. You buy it, you close iTunes, you play the music. Hold up! When you buy the album, or even when you're on the page the album is on, take a look at the bottom of your screen and flick through the section that says, 'listeners also bought'. This is not always accurate, and I've had times where I've thought, "how on earth can people like this album and listen to this rubbish?" but often there's some great albums. iTunes also has a Single of the Week every week, which is a great way to grab new music for free and expand your taste.
6. Listen to Ads. Believe it or not, advertising agencies employ people to match ads with popular songs or jingles which are likeable and engaging for contemporary audiences and the demographics which they're advertising to. A lot of music used in ads is what I like to call 'under the surface music' - tunes that are bursting at the seams of popularity, but not quite there yet.
7. Find a site that you like which has free music. I'm not talking about illegal downloads, I'm talking about sites where new artists promote their music by giving you a free download of their EP or album. It was on a site called Noise Trade that I discovered one of my favourite artists, Matt Wertz.
8. Swap your iPod with a friend. I have to admit that I have never done this, but I have always wanted to. Probably the closest I have come to doing this was last night when my boyfriend was parked next to me, and a CD started playing in his car. Jokingly, I said, "Wow, I want your music!" To which he responded by ejecting his CD and handing it to me through the window. So either swap CDs for a month, or swap iPods - but don't steal the music. It's illegal.
9. Go to concerts with friends. This is good, because it's social as well. Even though you might not love the music, it's still an experience worth having. They don't have to be huge concerts - it might be a gig, a school or university event or local musical. You'll be amazed at what is in your local area if you really look.
10. Don't be afraid to try new things. New music will always be different to your old music - but it should be! Let it sink in, listen to it a few times before writing it off, and let it grow on you.
I wish you an evening (or morning, depending on where you are and when you read this) full of successful music searching! Feel free to comment with your favourite artists, albums and genres. Share the love!
Written for you by TenTipsToday :)
8. Swap your iPod with a friend. I have to admit that I have never done this, but I have always wanted to. Probably the closest I have come to doing this was last night when my boyfriend was parked next to me, and a CD started playing in his car. Jokingly, I said, "Wow, I want your music!" To which he responded by ejecting his CD and handing it to me through the window. So either swap CDs for a month, or swap iPods - but don't steal the music. It's illegal.
9. Go to concerts with friends. This is good, because it's social as well. Even though you might not love the music, it's still an experience worth having. They don't have to be huge concerts - it might be a gig, a school or university event or local musical. You'll be amazed at what is in your local area if you really look.
10. Don't be afraid to try new things. New music will always be different to your old music - but it should be! Let it sink in, listen to it a few times before writing it off, and let it grow on you.
I wish you an evening (or morning, depending on where you are and when you read this) full of successful music searching! Feel free to comment with your favourite artists, albums and genres. Share the love!
Written for you by TenTipsToday :)
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