8 Ways to Discover New Music

Ever feel like you’re iTunes library is on repeat? Lament the fact that Canada can’t access Spotify or Pandora? Well, fear not – we’ve compiled a guide of great options for you to stay up to date with the music scene and most importantly, breathe some life into your music library with the discovery of new genres, songs, playlists and artists to keep you going through the semester!

Online Discovery:

1. Songza

– This site makes finding good music easy. Once you sign up for a free account, you can browse through hundreds of playlists created by professionals and organized by genre, emotions evoked, and/or actions that work perfectly for the music. Before you know it you’ll have found a plethora of new artists from playlists like, “Perfect Summer Drive,” “Indie Makeout Session,” “Blues Barbecue” and “Abandoned Warehouse Techno”. You’ll find yourself bookmarking your favorite study playlists when midterm season arrives!

2. 8tracks

– Even if you’ve been listening to the same music repeatedly, you may have a playlist worth sharing – and 8tracks is the site to get it out there. The fun thing about this website is that you can become a celebrity of sorts – if you make a good enough playlist, you might be noticed. If you rack up enough likes from your fellow users you reach different status levels (Gold, Platinum, and Diamond) and your playlist is listed as a “Gem” on the site. But, if you’re just looking to find new music, this is a great place to do so – you can choose what type of music you want to listen to by combining mood and genre ‘tags’ and receiving lots of optional playlists based off those selections. Consequently, you may find yourself getting excited about those throwbacks from the early 2000’s that you forgot about, or wondering why you had never heard of an amazing artist that gets you smitten when you stumble on to them in one of the songs. However that being said, the playlists can be a bit hit or miss and random so you may have to be willing to work to find your songs – but it’s worth the wait!

3. Shazam

– There are a couple free music apps like Shazam and Sound Hound that work hard to ensure you never have another, “I wish I knew what song this is” moment again. Heard something amazing you’ve never heard before? Feel like you know the artist but want to double check? Want to impress your friends and pretend to be the biggest music aficionado ever? Just use one of the apps, where you simply have to press a button and it listens to what’s playing. If there isn’t too much background noise, you’ll get a good response immediately.

4. Soundcloud

– Soundcloud is a nifty website that can help you explore countless genres, artists as well as podcasts and new singles as soon as they’re released. Want to be in the loop in the music scene before your favorite artist launches their song on YouTube? Soundcloud is where it’s at. You can also listen in to the latest on radio, sports, news, audiobooks and lots more. You may choose to sign up and have an account of your own – it’s a great platform if you’re a budding musician and want to get a way to put your music out there and gain followers, or even if you’re interesting in having a podcast of your own. People are able to comment at any point of the track playing, which is great if you’re trying out something new and want feedback on where you can improve better.

5. Grooveshark

– This is a free music streaming website that gets in touch with your music choices and constantly updates your preferences as you use the website. Similar to Soundcloud, you can listen to all types of genres, discover new artists and also get in touch with it’s music ‘community’, where you can see the songs that some people are ‘obsessed with’ as well as what else they’re listening to. Give it a go!

6. YouTube

– No list of how to find new music is complete without mentioning the site we all frequent daily! Maximize on the fact that it is an amazing resource. Subscribe to your favorite artists, listen to what they put on their playlists and look out for videos and other artists that they recommend. Sometimes it just takes constant clicking on the right-hand column while you’re listening to your favorite music to end up listening to incredible songs you never even knew were around. Look for YouTube users who make a point to discuss new music in their videos and stay updated with YouTube’s top lists of what’s currently hot on the music scene – and you definitely won’t miss a beat.

Music discovery that doesn’t involve a screen:

Photo credit here

1. Music Festivals

Sometimes it seems like music festival posters and posts on social media only exist to make you feel sad. No, you have to admit to yourself, I don’t have enough money to go to every music festival this summer, and then you sigh and wallow for a day or two feeling sorry for yourself. However, that being said, you can still benefit from music festival posters! Naturally, a lot of the bands playing at certain festivals go together well (think food and wine pairings), so find a festival with some bands you’re crazy about and then look up all the new names on them, right down to the ones in the teeny tiny print at the bottom of the poster. You never know who you might discover. 

2. Friends

Fine, fine, we know this seems obvious. But still, you’d be surprised how many underground hits and rising stars your friends are hiding from you! Seriously, one more person in love with The Wooden Sky won’t make them mainstream, I promise. Start a Facebook thread or group with a few friends who’ve been endowed by the Muses with great musical taste and throw around links to different tracks – the possibilities for discovery are endless!

Good luck and happy hunting!