# 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 [apple](https://apple.com) 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 #music #writing/drafting