How to discover new music

Tired of your current playlists on your Spotify? Finding new music can seem like an overwhelming task, but there are many ways to dive into the world of music and expand your taste without feeling entirely lost. I’m going to take you through ideas on how to do this, and how I myself find new listens. Music has always made up a considerable part of my life, both through listening to and creating my own, so I am constantly looking to expand my knowledge of upcoming artists, as well as older music (can’t go wrong with the classics).

Ways in which to discover new artists is endless, but it’s good to know where to start. Streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes are the obvious ways to go, but how about hearing songs on an advert, on the radio or in a coffee shop? Sometimes you can find new music in the most unexpected ways.

Listen to music around you

A great way to expand your music palette, particularly if you are not interested in the charts, is to pay attention and listen to the world around you; this may sound cliché, but you’d be surprised how doing so can unveil sounds you may never had come across otherwise. The more you tune into this, the more you realise music is literally everywhere.

You can be sitting on the tube and hear a phenomenal song leaking out of someone’s headphones, or standing in a coffee shop waiting to be served when you hear a guitar riff playing in the background that sends a tingle up your spine. This exact thing happened to me and was how I discovered Matilda Mann’s enchanting cover of Bloom – always make sure to have Shazam ready, the perfect app for identifying songs playing in your surrounding environment. Alternatively, you can type lyrics into Google or Spotify – these platforms use lyric matching to bring up the song and artist you are digging for.

Another way to keep an ear (and eye) out for new sounds is by paying attention to promotions in publications. For example, Timeout London contains a section covering artists and upcoming gigs – take a note of these, especially ones you have not heard of, and consider dropping into concerts with a mate! This is a perfect way to expand your taste.

Remember to keep an openness to genres; try to attend gigs and listen to songs you wouldn’t normally. Don’t force yourself to listen to hours of heavy metal if it’s really not your thing, but if you hear a song with a good beat yet just can’t agree with the artist’s tonality, look up the song and determine which genre it falls under – this should highlight ‘other artists you may like’ (more on this later) within that genre; remember that music is so diverse, so just because you don’t like one specific artist does not mean you then do not like that genre – take some time to explore before dismissing it entirely!

There are many other music blogs and magazines which promote artists, such as the renowned NME, but also take a look at independent blogs who are more likely to recommend lesser-known artists as opposed to mainstream artists who have already hit success. Examples of these include Dummy and Line of Best Fit. It is particularly good to follow smaller artists as not only does it help them progress in their career, but you also get to experience intimate concerts and even meet and greets before their career possibly takes off. Everybody wins.

We cannot forget to mention radio, an equally excellent way in which to discover new music. Major national stations such as Radio 1, 6 Music and Capital FM are great places to start, but try giving more independent stations a go, such as NTS, Rinse.fm and n10.as. BBC Sounds also cover BBC Introducing, the perfect place to find lesser-known upcoming artists who are making their mark in the industry. Moving away from radio, YouTube channels such as Colors also promote newer artists to keep an eye on.

Streaming platforms

Another way to discover new artists is going down the more obvious route, making use of major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and SoundCloud. A good place to start is selecting an artist you are a big fan of, scrolling to the bottom of their page and finding a section labelled “Fans also like” or “You may also like” – this tends to include a collection of artists who either fall under the same genre or have similar style to the artist you’ve selected, and so you are more likely to enjoy their sound.

You can also find playlists put together by streaming platforms which are for particular genres – so again, select a genre you enjoy, and type this into the search bar – ready-made playlists put together by both the platform itself and other users will come up as suggestions, and you can dive into these to explore what you enjoy. Another highly recommended playlist to check out is the ‘Discover Weekly’ playlist by Spotify in the Streaming Platforms section, popular for its ability to make excellent suggestions to the user based on previous listens.

Delving further into artists

Once you discover artists you like, you can turn to platforms which give a better inside view on artist info from the industry than reading about them in a general blog. For example, Resident Advisor, Beatport and Bandcamp are all great places to find out more about particular releases and the artists behind them, as well as keeping you up to date with upcoming and past events.

Resident Advisor and Bandcamp tend to contain small summaries on the artist and why and how they started, which provides a personal insight into the individual behind the sound production, giving a better idea of whether their music will resonate with what you enjoy listening to. However, be aware that these particular platforms mentioned tend not to cover more mainstream artists, such as pop artists, but are generally aimed at smaller talents which fall under indie, alternative, electronic and dance.

Going to events

As mentioned, going to events where you don’t the artists playing is an amazing way to discover new tunes! I recently went to Proud and Loud at the Royal Albert Hall, a Pride event celebrating 50 years since the first Pride march in the UK. A few different musicians performed throughout the night – some I had never heard of. In particular I was captivated by the amazing Cat Burns’ performance! When I got home, I looked her up and began re-listening to songs played at the event, as well as some of her older stuff we hadn’t heard in order to get a taste of her individual style.

Going to events despite not knowing the artists can result in discovering people you never would have heard of otherwise. Plus, you get a raw experience of the artist themselves and what they are like as an individual when you see them in person – sometimes when you only hear an artist through a streaming platform but never see them perform live, it can be difficult to form a connection with their music and break that barrier between singer and listener like a live concert has the power to do.