Radio is definitely not the venue of choice - there is way too many ways to listen to music (new or familiar) without putting up with commercials.
I'm somewhat limited in that I have very few acquaintances who actually actively participate in music - hence, very little sharing of "finds". I do occassionally follow up on titles mentioned by reviewers and have found some good stuff that way.
One way I do NOT try out new music is the end-of-the-aisle highlight CD's with all the exciting description. Usually it's tied to a listening station, but I'd say that less than 10% of these highlighted CDs I've ever purchased have proven satisfactory.
I like the suggestion (and realize that I use it to an extent myself) of paying close attention to certain labels. This not only often leads to interesting new music, but often recording quality is somewhat consistent from one release to another. -Kirk