One answer to an oft-asked question.
The question "How do you hear of new music?" appears regularly in the AG Forum.
In the early-mid 1960’s it was for me (and most others) of course on AM radio. Then in 1967 Tom Donahue pioneered FM Rock radio on his KMPX station in San Francisco, which moved to KSAN the following year. That station (and similar stations throughout the U.S.A.) played not 45RPM singles, but rather album cuts, songs that would never be played on "3 minute singles only" radio. Hendrix, Cream, etc.
In the mid-70’s a similar thing occurred in the print coverage of music: the emergence of the Fanzine. Small amateur mags devoted to covering either the likes of the emerging Punk scene, or genre-specific coverage of cult audience artists and bands. These provided an alternative to Rolling Stone, which was still stuck in the 60’s. Much better pro-magazines were Creem and Crawdaddy.
My favorite was Bomp Magazine, founded by Rock ’n’ Roll historian Greg Shaw (who also wrote liner notes for LP releases, as well as acting as The Flamin’ Groovies manager). It was in Bomp that I learned of The Nerves (the Power Pop trio that consisted of Peter Case---later leader of The Plimsouls, Paul Collins---later leader of The Beat, and Jack Lee---writer of "Hanging On The Telephone"), The Dwight Twilley Band (though they had enjoyed a hit single in 1975---"I’m On Fire", I wasn’t listening to radio and never heard it until I got their debut album Sincerely. WOW!), Dave Edmunds (Dave had an AM radio hit back in 1970 ("I Hear You Knocking", but I hadn’t heard it), Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, Squeeze, and dozens more.
When the Alt-Country movement got underway in the mid-to-late 1980’s, the magazine No Depression showed up, and was invaluable for those interested in "Roots" music. You name a band or artist of the genre, and you’ll find stories about him/her/they in it. It was a real loss when the mag stopped publishing print copies. But another great mag---Mojo---continued publishing, and remains a great source of info on artists/bands, new and old.
But then the internet appeared, and vast quantities of info on every imaginable subject became available. I have a number of favorite YouTube music channels I watch regularly, including that of Bob Bradley, who resides in the Louisville Kentucky area. He is an audiophile (with a Thorens TD-124), a music lover, and a musician (with an impressive vintage guitar collection). Here he is in a video with his good friend Jefferey Lee Puckett (great name!): They have made a bunch of others. Though Bob’s musical taste and mine intersect only somewhat (he’s really into Jazz, for instance), I enjoy his videos immensely.
There's an entire world of music I haven't heard, so listening to things like internet radio stations near and far, I'm always finding something new and good to listen to. Excellent AOR I missed through the years just catching stuff on Sirius XM stations like Deep Tracks, First Wave... WBGO out of Newark is a high quality Jazz affair. I always catch gorgeous things I never knew existed... WKZE in New York's Hudson Valley is a magnificent mixed bag of good stuff in a wide spectrum of genres. There used to be a good number of these around the country a few decades ago. Sadly that's not the case anymore..
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Up until all of my social group had kids, we had a weekly regular night to get together and listen to music or watch concert videos and we would share and get to explore lots of new music. I miss those times. People don't seem to have the patience for it anymore. Roon is good. Googling genres can be good. Still occasionally friends. Takes work! |
At lunch time I still listen to college radio stations (WSGE or WNCW) that often play new music in various genres to discover music beyond what Tidal recommends. I too sample the albums reviewed in Stereophile magazine. These stations also host a syndicated program called The World Café that presents new up and coming artists from around the world. There are also the YouTubers like Steve Guttenberg, John Darko, and the guy on IIWI Reviews who recommend albums or tell you what they used for test tracks. John Devore often plays entire album sides on his channel. My one complaint with Tidal is that you have to be spot on in your spelling or it won’t find what you are looking for. They need to incorporate a bit of A.I. to help you find close matches when you might have heard a name but don’t know how it is spelled. |
Streaming and FM. I’m privileged to have two great sounding FM stations, 89.7 WGBH & 99.5 WCRB, Boston. Used to find new music in stereo review magazine. I also read hifi reviews and take note on the music they used to review components, whatever media source was used. Good way to find new music. Typically, I can type it into YouTube and have a listen. Streaming is obviously the easiest way to discover new stuff. Pandora is excellent for this. |
I used to keep up with new music from ICE magazine which always posted the upcoming new releases. That's been gone for decades, and I would read about new music in 'Q' Magazine from the UK, but that's gone now too. I'm interested in new music, but there's just so much of it that it's a daunting task trying to keep up, so I don't bother as much as I used to. |
@hickamore totally agree. I listen to pandora during work. Qobuz at night. |
@pennpencil Pandora does indeed have a better algorithm ( better reads your mind) than Qobuz. But Pandora isn't hi-fi, so if I find something there, I will preserve it on Qobuz. Best of both worlds. |
Roon is excellent at recommending music, IMO. That's my #1 source, with YouTube audio equipment reviews a close second. Ron at New Record Day YouTube channel, for instance, has good taste (meaning that it's similar to mine, of course) and is vigilant about listing the music he plays in the comments. |
Now with streaming… Qobuz: New Releases, by genre, internet radio channels for instance - 1.FM they have many dozens of stations by subcategory, Paradise Radio Eclectic Mix… thousands of others. I hardly listen to stuff I have owned ever.
Now that I don’t have to buy albums… when I get to album reviews in the back of Stereophile and The Absolute Sound I’ll sample them and add to my library (virtual library in the Conductor App from my Aurrender) if I like them. |
I used to listen a lot to a public radio station, 91.3 WYEP, out of Pittsburgh, and they used to play a lot of great stuff and artists that were off of the beaten track. I don't listen to music very much in my vehicle anymore, but when I do find 91.3 on the dial, ithey seem a lot more mainstream than they used to. |
