I’ve been meaning to stop my Spotify sub because saving more money how ever small it may be. But I kind of like the discovery part of it.
Been using YouTube (Music) again for music listening honestly because it does have YouTube only artists and songs (not in an official partnership or similar, just that that’s where people only upload there to share kind of thing), as well as live versions and in general the tons of covers, remixes and such.
Truth be told I like what YTM algorithm gives me recently.
Having said that, I am open to hear suggestions that further divorces from big tech.
I don’t mind for anime/movies/shows as I rely on word of mouth in the various chat groups I’m already in. Maybe I should extend to music focused groups too?
Gigs. Either just buying tickets to random local venues. Our go see your favourite artists live, but make sure you get there early enough to see the openers.
I’ve discovered so many amazing bands because they opened for bands I already knew I liked.
If you can’t physically get to gigs then you can even just look up who your favourite artists are touring with, that will give you a pretty good sense of them being similar.
It’s always a treat when the support band is better than the one you came for
I wish the bigger international bands i listen to would come to my country often. But then it would cost a lot.
But I get you though. I am friends with a weekend band that also has friends with other more “serious” underground bands. Been going to more and more gigs and helping out and actually discovered more songs and bands like this.
I like to listen to internet radio. There are plenty of stations for different genres.
If you’re on Linux, shortwave even allows you to immediately save a local recording if you like a track.
Any suggestions?
I’ll be on Linux Soon™️ so I’ll check that out when I cross the bridge.
No need to wait for Linux to listen to internet radio. With individual song metadata. Soma.fm. Bagel Radio for guitary stuff. 9128.live for amazing Ambient mixes.
There’s also NTS.live, Lyl Radio, Dublab etc… but they don’t always show per-track metadata.
Or right here on Fediverse. Just search for Music communities. I already found a few new artists here.
I recommend Radio Paradise! It’s an independent online radio stream with a great, eclectic selection and no ads, except the occasional reminder that they are donation financed. It’s honestly one if not the best radio stream there is.
Jumping on to also recommend Chirp, the Chicago Independent Radio Project. Live volunteer DJs, no ads.
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Nice. M3U saved
Thanks, will check it out!
Most local libraries have CDs. The library is about as far as you can get from big tech because they are made to serve you instead of make a profit.
For discovery— do you have a community radio station. There’s one near me that cycles through different genres and DJs. And just talk to people. Make it a conversation starter when ever you meet someone.
Really should step into a library again. Last I went to one is during college 10 or more years ago lol.
Good suggestion on local community radio. I’ll have to see if there’s one in my country/state.
I went to one for the first time in 8 years a couple of weeks ago. Next time I go I’ll be enjoying the little café they have and joining in on their creative writing course!
I didn’t realise how many little events and classes happen in my local library, and most of them are either completely free or cost next to nothing.
NPR tiny desk concert
Internet radio (especially soma.fm) and reading blogs (Hearing Things, Ether Diver).
Another vote for internet radio. Adding Bagel Radio for guitary stuff. Oh and 9128.live for amazing Ambient mixes.
There are communities dedicated to music on Lemmy, though it won’t be personalized recommendations, you can still find pretty cool artists. I also share music with friends : you share them one music you like, they send back a music of their own. At some points, a friend of mine organized a Discord server to create 5-songs playlists on a theme each week, which we listened to and vote for our favorite each week. It was a very cool way of discovering new bands !
Cancelling Spotify will not only save you money, it will help to save music. They’re shafting smaller artists, paying peanuts to the rest, and flooding the platform with AI slop so they don’t have to pay as much to real artists. Fuck Spotify.
Bandcamp and Soundcloud are what I mainly use.
Bandcamp and SoundCloud does sound better for smaller artists as I understand. Alas I still listen to big artists.
Edit: I do still let in newsletters from an artist on bandcamp, Jim Guthrie. I think he did the OST for FTL game. Should check him again. And go from there for discovering new artists on bandcamp
Depending on the music you are seeking really. DJ or electronic influenced SoundCloud and Mixcloud have free options. If Hype Machine is still active it aggregates new music blogs across all genres.
An article from a browser search may hold some other options you find suitable:
I enjoy a few if it comes my way but it’s not really my wheelhouse. Thanks for the suggestion!
In Australia (and around the world if you are streaming online) triple j is the absolute best for new music. It’s a public run radio station directly aimed at young people in Australia but some of us old farts still live listening to new music.
Triple J is great if all you want to hear is the newest terrible pretentious Australian indie band, but terrible for anything else.
KEXP is great and listener funded radio. In Canada we have CKUA in Alberta that is independent and listener funded as well.
University radio is also a great place to find new artists.
Some of the live performances on KEXP have been fantastic, too
Recently, most of the music I’ve found has been something the Youtube algorithm has decided I need to listen to. Most recently it’s been the Andrew Sisters and before that it was SailNorth.
Other than that, ListenBrainz does a pretty good job of suggesting new music to listen to.
What’s the difference between musicbrainz and listenbrainz?
MusicBrainz is an open source database of music. ListenBrainz is an open source service that captures your listening habits, if you’ve configured your music player (or Spotify) to use the service. It’s similar in nature to last.fm’s scrobbling.
ListenBrainz has a feature where once a week it will build a pair of playlists for you. One is stuff it is pretty sure you will like (based off of what tracks you have favorited) and the other is more… experimental. Stuff it’s not so sure you’ll like but is similar to things you have listened to and liked in the past.
Following a curated list of people on Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
Listening to mixes and hearing something I like then tracking down what it is.
You could also check things like the beatport or juno charts to see what other people are buying in specific genres, just don’t buy your music from them.
Listen to radio?
Does normal YouTube count? If not then I find people talking about new music there. Sometimes they also have a podcast format.
Definitely counts for me. I’m deep up to my eyes into vtubers and that’s why I use YouTube for theor originals and covers. Some of the indie ones can’t/ won’t put their originals on Spotify or other major music platform and just YouTube.
