Six strategies for collecting new music
I listen to a lot of music, and sometimes am asked how to find new music:
- it takes time: an hour a week, on average
- I've honed some strategies that work
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Strategies:
- Touring Buddies
- Find concerts that an artist is playing and look at who else is playing with them
- Find music festivals they are playing and look at who else is playing
- Festivals can be really broad, so stick to artists who share a stage or venue if your short of time
- Supporting Cast
- listen for a different voice or instrumentalist that’s guest starring on a track - track down who that is
- look for "featuring" in your music app
- 10% of the time, they're a totally random person or the artist's brother or sister with no other music
- ex: swept away by avett brothers is their sister
- 9 times out of 10, they are an artist with some interesting music
- ex: Found Esme Patterson when she sang on “Dearly Departed” with Shakey Graves
- Follow the Playlist
- look at what playlists they are on in Spotify
- look for interestingly named playlists, not just auto-generated genre playlists
- example: Not Your Mother’s Christian Music, Hymns for Hipsters, etc
- Background Check
- When you find a new artist you like, do a quick Wikipedia search to find out who they are.
- ex: Burlap to Cashmere -> Steven D - oh! Found some interesting solo music!
- ex: Fiction Family -> Watkins Family Hour
- Related Artists
- Most music apps have a “related artists” feature
- sometimes, but rarely, can help you find new artists
- Befriend a Collector
- you can't be around me and not hear new music
- I love to talk about music and the new artists I've been listening to
- just ask!
- ex: josh russell showed me Noah Gundersen
Six strategies for collecting new music
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Six strategies for collecting new music