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Magazines and the Internetprimarily Jazztimes, Cadence, and the Internet site Jazzmatazz.
Radio and then television used to be formidable sources for exposure to new music, but the Internet has taken over for many people. How do <I>you</I> discover good music?
Music discovery for me is a combination of friends, magazines, the internet, etc. I tend to check out artists whose names pop up over and over again. That is as true for old artists as new; afterall, if someone has a solid fan base decades after their career ended, it is usually a good sign.
I largely buy albums from artists I already know. All Music Guide and other, similar music databases have become a primary source of information on new artists for me. I look up artists I like and then see who the databases list as being similar. I also try some artists based on their labels (Chesky is almost always good) and I try some based on magazine reviews. I almost never try a new artist based on radio or TV airplay anymore.
I serach for new recordings by specific artist in the store. I then order the recording if iI choose to wait via the net. I purchase a lot of music at live concerts. Recommendations by friends has been the most satisfying music selections aside from live performances. The media seems to have commercial underpinnings in their music reviews - rarely do our choice in performers coincide. Radio used to be a great source, but variabilty has declined steadily since the golden days of early FM in the 70s. Everything is now some formula and the formula seems to be pretty ho-hum. Not to menetion that the music companies have opted for mediocrity as their formula which limits what is available for radio.
There's so much new, good music out there that all the listed sources must be used. And, sometimes you just have to take a flyer on something. We found Manu Chao that way, trilingual modern rock, recorded in Tijuana by a Portuguese guy. It's creative and fun.
Internet, almost entirely. I can hear some of the music before I buy and I can check for reviews or free downloads from the label websites. Magazine reviews are also helpful. The problem with radio is the pre-programmed playlists. How many times do you need to hear the same classic rock tune on the radio each week? It's a bit like turning on the TV to watch reruns that you've seen a hundred times before.
There isn't too much out there that I would consider good music. Some of it could be acceptable if Producers/Engineeres would stop the compression that is either for Kids or people that are hearing impaired. Compression must die!! We've already had this issue about 2 weeks ago. To answer the question, good music or at least the music I consider good ,just finds it way to me.
Listening to stations on live365.com creates major problems for my CD budget. I hear lots of amazing new music with the title and artist right there in front of me. It's impossible not to click on another site or search and order my own copy. Sometimes it's a challenge to track down the CD. Artist sites are the only source for some of the material. I still visit record stores, but about 90% less often than I used to. Half.com is like browsing lots of record stores, all at once.
My chief musical interests are classical and jazz, and it is extremely difficult to find new things on the radio. I am very likely to buy new music when I read a review. Also, Gramophone and BBC Magazine include CD samplers with their mags, which is a great way to hear excerpts of new stuff. The Internet and live performances are the next most likely candidates.
If it wasn't for sites like Audio Asylum, specifically their music forums, I might never find anything of note! I take suggestions and then go to other sites like Amazon that have sound clips and sample the music. It's pretty easy from there to make the purchase call or not. Radio is so limited in my areaeither stuck in the '6070s or strictly metal/nu-metal. Jazz and classical? I don't have time to listen to radio to find something. I find somebody on line, reviewer or not, who I can trust and go with what they like.
Believe it or not, I still trust some magazines, or rather some people who happen to write for magazines. Of course, I don't mind reading about an interesting new album and then listening to a sample of it, downloaded from the internet. It usually confirms my trust to the reviewer's taste, good or not.