I'm in a slump. It has been a while since I've discovered new music that I really like. And when I say "new" I mean new to me. Maybe even rediscovered would count as new.
I do not have a method. I usually stumble into new music that I like. I also don't have loads of hours to sort through tons of stuff I don't like. Plus I find that random sort of pursuit to be frustrating and unrewarding most of the time.
Amazon Music had half decent 'recommended for you' lists but I don't recall if that ever paid off. I use Qobuz now which sucks in that particular department.
I've found a few bands that I like from recommendations here at Audiogon but I have not been here much lately.
So I'm curious as to how some of you approach that search for great music that is either actually new, new to you or rediscovered.
Okay, I’ve got Spotify, the free version. Like it so far.
I like Radio Paradise a lot too.
Now for some tech questions with these:
1) I do not see Spotify Discover Weekly. Either it is staring me in the face or it must be only with a paid subscription.
2) With free Spotify you can select "high" in the qaulity settings but not "very high". Does anyone know what "high" and "very high" mean? To my ear "high" sounds decent. I’m assuming "very high" comes with paid version.
3) My main system is old. I listen to Sonos through an old Sonos Connect. Works fine in that capacity. It does not work with AirPlay. So I access AirPlay through an old AppleTV module. It SUCKS. Audio breaks up and skips constantly. Because of this I can only do Radio Paradise on this system through the Sonos app. For some reason the SQ is a bit flat and you cannot skip through songs within Sonos. AirPlay and the Radio Paradise app works fine throughout the rest of the house because all those Sonos components are newer. What would be the cheapest way to get my main (old) system integrated with AirPlay? I could buy the new Sonos Port but that’s $450 and the only thing I’d get over the old Sonos Connect is AirPlay. There has to be a cheaper option.
4) Happily Spotify works through the old Sonos Connect without AirPlay. I have no idea why. Maybe it came with Spotify integration?
On that page, it says "To generate your Discover Weekly playlist - we need to get to know your tastes for a few weeks, so get Spotify above and start listening. If you are already signed up, click get playlist to see if your playlist is ready."
Got it. That makes sense. I'll spend some time with Spotify, as I have been this evening. It makes it MUCH easier to browse for new music than Qobuz or even Amazon Music as it is already showing suggestions of bands similar to the ones I just listened to and seems to get closer than Amazon. Can't say I've hit gold yet but certainly some artists to explore. Looking forward to when the Discover Weekly feature kicks in.
In addition to trying what others have suggested and what the reviewers mention, a few years ago I stopped at a garage sale. Ended up buying about 1100 CD’s for $100. They kept me busy for months! I actually kept about 350 disks and gave the rest away.
Do you listen to vinyl or CD? Well, even if you don't, I do like Discogs for research. I like to look at granular facts about an album, like where it was recorded, record label, release data, who mastered it and so on. Discogs lets you link right to other albums, for example, that might be mastered by the same people.
I use Roon with Qobuz in the background. It is better than Tidal, Qobuz or Spotify on their own because it lets you get more information about the music.
I highly recommend playing with the features in Discogs.
@curiousjimI would have taken the risk on that box of CDs too!
@jbhillerI am a CD guy. I've got some vinyl but not much. My typical process is to find stuff I like and then buy it on CD. I've slowed down on that a little but if its something really good I get the CD. I have used Discogs in the past. I also consult the Dynamic Range database. My ears are far from golden and I'm not super picky about SQ but compressed DR ruins a recording for me for anywhere but the car or ear buds.
I’d second and third streaming services for discovery with my primary being Spotify discover weekly and release radar, also selecting a song in Spotify you really like and going to the “radio” playlist for that song has generated a lot of new discoveries for me. I’ll add onto recommendations though as well, find a couple of Acquaintances that are into music and join musicleague.app it’s a website, soon to be app where you have a group of people that submit songs based on a chosen topic/category(songs from 1972, songs with body parts in them etc…) and then Everyone votes on their favorite songs and can comment what they like/dislike about the songs. The website/apps keeps tally of the votes so you have a point system for keeping track of who is winning:losing etc… it’s extremely addictive, especially for those that are competitive or think they have “good music taste”. I’ve been using it with two different groups of people for about the last year and my musical libarary has expanded significantly! Not only from songs others have shared but also in doing “research” for songs that might fit the category for that round. If some folks would like to try it out and don’t have others to create a league with, reach out to me as we occasionally look for others to join our various leagues as people decide to drop out. The only “limitation” to music league I know of right now is it only works with songs that are in the Spotify library, but with the “free” option being available it’s not too much of a limitation for those that aren’t in the Spotify userverse.
I like certain players.Mostly bassist and drummers.When I notice one that intrests me, I look them up on Wiki.They list associated acts.I look them up and listen to them on Spotify. I've found a lot of good stuff by unknown artists doing this.A lot of European and Brazilian artists.
Great thread OP!!! Do you listen to vinyl or CD? Well, even if you don’t, I do like Discogs for research. I like to look at granular facts about an album, like where it was recorded, record label, release data, who mastered it and so on. Discogs lets you link right to other albums, for example, that might be mastered by the same people. I highly recommend playing with the features in Discogs.
Since I’m not a streamer yet, I used to do a lot of crate digging, before covid that is. No Roon, Qobuz,Tidal, or Spotify.
But I’m also fortunate enough to live in area where 91.9 WCLK The Jazz of The City at Clark Atlanta University and a few ’underground’ college stations such as Georgia State's Album 88 keeps me tuned in.
Does anybody listen to FM radio in the car anymore? And you here something you like and you check the radio stations playlist?
You know you’re getting older when you see ’St. Paul and the Broken Bones’ and you think this is the guy St. Paul, who is a member of the group ’The Family’ one of Prince’s spin off bands...
Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, a HiFi+ all have a review section at the end of every issue. I just search Qobuz for the ones I find interesting… I only think one was not there when I tried.
@tyrayI live in the Charlotte, NC radio market. And much like Charlotte itself, the radio offerings are pretty cookie cutter. In fact, its a wasteland. At least in terms of rock/indie etc. I don't know about jazz. I still scan the channels in the car but you are not going to hear anything new or interesting on Charlotte radio stations unless I'm missing something after being in the area for 25 years.
One exception is WDAV out of Davidson College. It is a fantastic classical music station. I'm only marginally into classical though.
There is an oldies station south of here that is pretty good. They occasionally play stuff I've never heard from the 60s and 70s..........but there is a catch.......the reason I haven't heard most of those is because they are AWFUL. ;-)
Several people have mentioned the various "what are you listening to" threads here on Audiogon. I used to frequent those threads and over the last few years I have been turned onto some artists that I remain really fond of.
However, what you mostly get in those threads is just a name of a song or an artist or an album. Nothing wrong with that. But from the perspective of looking for recommendations these threads don't offer much more than that. It would be awesome if people would include why they are listening to that song or artist, or what they like or dislike about it, what it means to them. I know that takes more work but it would certainly have more meaning than simply what another person is listening to. For whatever reason it seems very popular simply to state "I am listening to 'x' " and leave it at that.
Radio supplies me with lots of random artists I would otherwise not know about( I’m lucky that I live in a market with two public radio stations, a great jazz station and a great classical station).
Radio Paradise is another good source.
I also have a close friend who’s mother was a concert pianist/composer/broadway musical writer and he has been a great source of artists.
And then there is YouTube. In between my searches for DIY audio how too’s, gear reviews and news stories, there will be some random artist that shows up in my feed. Beth Hart was a recent “discovery” for me.
Sometimes, it’s just about letting the randomness of the universe express itself.
It used to be that way but take a look at @mahgister’spost on this thread and press play. You will see he has posted an active video link of a particular artist with added commentary. Scroll back and press play on the YouTube video @mahgister took the time to post and write about.
I don't know about jazz.
It's been right in front of you all this time and you haven't noticed it.
On this very agon site many post on Jazz for aficionados everyday a ton of music and have been doing so since 2/24/2013.
Only recently has the moderators made it possible to post active music links from YouTube.
Some of us don’t need a lot of commentary when being introduced to new music.
All I need is for someone to say, check this out, then after I’ve heard the (album) tunes then we can talk. You are mistaken if you think there is no communication between the posters there. Take a closer look.
Go on, take another look at Jazz for aficionados and click last, then go backwards and you will find so much new ’active’ content and commentary it will take you hours or even days to get through it all. And there is some serious music presented there.
Check it out, remember to click last and go backwards until you get what it is I’m talking about and let me know what you think. Now if you don't like Jazz...
My thoughts exactly, as India was once part of Persia. This music is hauntingly similar. Perhaps the absence of drums, bells and chimes is an example of a single artist/masters performance of a particular instrument to be recorded for posterity or the sheer delight of the recording engineer/producer.
This is from the 1973 Weather Report album 'Sweetnighter'. I didn't even know who Dom was or had anything to do with Brazil. I just thought he was an guy from India by his percussive style and his dark Brazilian skin tone. He's the cat on the bottom left. Now this is how you share music here on Agon with others...Tchao
Roon credit lists and Roon radio as well, plus record reviews in various publications. I have also found the various qobuz lists to be of assistance but not as much as Roon radio since I tend to already have a lot of the material Qobuz lists. BTW, I've never found Roon to have stability problems. If there's ever a problem, its with my ISP.
I go to the main site for the genre I'm interested in. For instance, if it's metal I go to metalstorm.com and look at the New Releases and Upcoming Releases categories. You can usually find a site like this for each genre. You could even start at newalbumreleases.net, which contains incomplete lists for all the genres.
For old releases find a site that does ratings. Each genre usually has these too. For instance, jazz has allaboutjazz.com/reviews, although it's navigation sucks. If you want to go back more than a few months in time change the page number in the URL.
Used to buy random albums at Goodwill but with streaming, the 3000 or so vinyls I have are sitting fallow.
Now it's" Radio Paradise => Qobuz => "Go to Artist" => "Similar Artists" and you're off on an adventure.
BTW, when I find someone or something interesting, it gets tagged in my Qobuz "Follow Up" playlist. Radio Paradise has multiple channels so you can mood-hop as needed.
Roon is built for discovery. Definitely a good place to start. But beware, it's a rabbit hole that includes overbuilding gear and a large amount of network troubleshooting. Roon's first answer to any user problem is "it's your network." You could live in a colocation facility and they'd say that.
Many references in this post to Rasio Raradise. I does offer a great means to find new music but I have an issue. Each time I "tune in" (typically to Main Menu) the same rotations of music reappear. It appears there is a limited playlist or number of playlists that are repatedly used so, at least in my experience, the opportunity for new discoveries is lost. Is there some solution I'm unaware of?
@dsands - Any chance you are listening to an off-line cache that you downloaded? I use that feature when I fly. I download a couple of medium bitrate caches onto my mobile phone, so I can listen in off-line mode while my phone is in airplane mode.
If you like something, go to Discogs.com and look at the credits of that release, from there you can explore other things by that artist, producer, player, label, etc
Thanks for the thought. I access RP via my BluOS app in rder to stream from my Node 21. Usint the RP app allows me to listen on my phone or tablet but I haven't found a way to play that on my system via wi-fi--only Bluetooth to the Node. Just now when accessing RP on the app with my phone the music appearing is from a rotation I have seen before.
+1 for Roon. I stream my old favorites and then Roon dishes out other music not in my library that follows along in the same genre. I can't tell you how many new albums and artists that I have discovered by letting Roon do its thing, and then thinking "wow, that music is good . . . who is it?" For me, with an all digital system, Roon is irreplaceable.
I’m rather old-fashioned in my ways, but one of the things that introduced me to different kinds of music is my library. They have an extensive collection of CD’s to take out for free. I just go and look through the bins of CD’s and come across artists and albums I have never heard before — even some genres of music I’ve never heard. Then I play them in my car while going about my errands, and in my home while relaxing or doing chores, and find that some I like and want to hear more and others I don’t care for. This helps me expand my music choices for things like streaming.
My older friend is more Tech-savvy. He subscribes to Sirius radio and has full choice of music that streams to his new-fangled car.
Please, share your links with us here as Audiogon now has a way to make it easy to share your internet station links. Just press the ’link’ above, click ok, the URL will auto populate and then type in the text you want your link to be! That's it! Why didn’t I think of this before? Thanks OP n80 for this thread!
If anyone is into indie rock, Americana, and country, I always check out the weekly recommendations and reviews in The Nashville Scene (your local weekly alternative would work, of course), and I subscribe to weekly newsletters from Grimey's New & Preloved Records, Third Man Records, Saving Country Music, the Americana Music Association, and New Releases Now. Local Nashville musician Aaron Lee Tasjan has great recommendations in his Twitter feed as well. I find that having descriptions and recommendations from people who spend their professional lives in music, or who promote in the genres I like, have good ideas.
I will check out those links. Thanks. We need something similar here. I know there are "new for 2021 etc" threads. And there are "what are you listening to threads" but I do not recall a long running "little known artist thread." There needs to be one here.
I will start one if it isn't redundant or stepping on someone else's toes.
Sure. It's a shorthand I use to describe movement somewhere on the web. This is based on using the free Bluesound app BlueOS, which I forgot to mention (sorry!). I'm betting there's Tidal or Spotify or Amazon have similar functionality.
1) It means I listen to Radio Paradise and hear a song I like.
2) I go to that song on Qobuz (one click if you have the Bluesound app)
3) I then go to the artist's page on Qobuz via their "Go to Artist" function (again, one click.)
4) Once at the artist's page, Qobuz automatically suggests other artists (one click on their "Similar Artists" feature)
So now you have a bunch of similar artists to explore in three clicks.
If not already mentioned, Brilliant Classics on YouTube regularly posts attractive classical music including lesser/unknown composers eg today piano sonatas by Galuppi. They post music from Baroque through actually attractive more modern stuff.
One that has not been mentioned yet is "Pro Studio Masters". If you are on their email list you will receive 4 or 5 mailings per week of new releases and remastered music from several genres all in hi-res. Almost all of the albums have samples of all tracks that you can listen to as well as read reviews. Even if you are not interested in hi-res, you can usually find the "red book" version.
Others have already mentioned record reviews in Stereophile and Absolute Sound. I take that one step further by noting all of the music used to evaluate equipment. I have found quite a bit of new-to-me music that way.
My friend Jae Sinnett's jazz programming on WHRV-FM 89.5 can be streamed and he plays incredible amounts of new music every week. Sinnett In Session is live Monday through Thursday evenings from 9pm-1am, Saturday mornings from 1-5 and Sunday afternoons from 1pm-5pm.
"Discover Weekly" still has not popped up on my Spotify app. There are lots of other categories for looking for new music but I can't find that particular one.
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