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If radio stations could send text info about the songs they play, then they would sell more music. Hear a song, see its title, artist, album title. and recording company on the radio's display. That would result in more sales. Oh yeah, they tried something like that back in the '80s, it was called MTV.

I seem to be finding the newest additions to my collection at the audio store. Either the dealer uses a new selection as a demo or one of the customers is listening to something I like. Radio is second place. Unfortunately, there's not enough new music out there worth having though.

I have been collecting out of print recordings from e-bay but I still do not order new music on the web. I still prefer to browse in brick and mortar stores.

My 18-year-old-daughter. I don't know how she does it, but she's waaay ahead of the record stores and even record companies! Keeps me current, and a lot of it is great stuff.

It is a combination of all these options. The biggest change for me is not finding music through the old primary source of music radio. It is probably because I live in the sticks, but I now do not have direct access to a decent progressive radio station. If I hear new music on the radio now it is from bits and pieces or the odd review on public radio.

DirecTV music channels make it easy by listing the CD title, artist, and song. DirecTV channel 103 offers free live (pre-recorded) concerts. I have purchased both CD and DVD recordings offered by these performances. I also check Acoustic Sounds' website for new or newly re-mastered releases.

Stereophile equipment reviews are a great guide to discovering new (to me) music.

If it were not for XPN being within 'air shot' of my greater Philthadelpia local, I would have had to say magazines and or the internet, as they too influence my buying choices.

Now that radio has been ruined by the big corporations, I can't find new music to buy, and rarely buy any. MG

I have two things going for me. First of all, I have National Public Radio with programs like The Global Village playing good, non-mainstream music. Second, a lot of my friends ae musicians, and musicians never stop searching for cool musical ideas.

I like to at hear samples and read reviews of the music. I also check out the consumer reviews at Amazon.com and then make my decision whether or not to buy it. It is also a way to find out about new bands that I might never encounter.

I chose other because it's a combination of college/non-commercial radio, internet, live performances, and friends. There's great new stuff out there, you just have to dig for it.

I'm fortunate to live in the Washington DC market area where I have both public and commercial FM stations that play a wealth of quality music. Although I miss the broadcasts of live music that once frequented the airwaves, I still purchase new and reissued releases after hearing them played on the radio. But that's only half the story. I also subscribe to periodicals like the BBC Music Magazine, Classic CD and Jazziz which provide me with an opportunity to audition new artists and material that I'd probably never hear otherwise.

News groups! One way to access them is using Outlook Express. There are thousands of them. Even Stereophile staffers participate. It's the unfiltered voice of the people (or something like that).

MP3s serve only one useful purpose they let you get a taste of the music your interested in buying. Now think of what could happen, in slumping record sales if the major labels would actually produce more of something that is worth buying.

It really depends on the genre. For the type of rock music I like it's a combination of the internet and Progression magazine. For jazz and classical I get my information mostly from audiophile magazines.

Usually from friends and occasionally from FM or MTV, but rarely. I hear a lot of good music at live dance performances. The popular stuff is hip-hop or rap and that is wearing very thin. They do a lot of covers of older songs and the kids love it because they don't know their artist is ripping off an old song. It's new to them, just usually not done as well. God help us if they take away our local classical station. As for the Internet, MP3 downloads suck. Plus going online to look for music is like walking into a university library without the Dewey Decimal system. You can search and download and waste your time trying to find the version of the song you want. How much is your time worth?

I would say I get most of my new music exposure from friends, but the internet is running a close second that is how I am finding out more and more often what an artist is like.

I download, and if I like it, I buy it. If I don't, I delete it. I'm a criminal to some—an Aqualung-like character who is a leech on the world. To hell with the RIAA. Nothing in this world will stop me downloading music.

It's simple really! Stereophile for HiFi and Magnet magazine for music.

I've just returned from a weekend of great music performed by ten separate bands appearing at the Nearfest festival in Trenton. I found out about this festival (and the bands performing there) on the internet. In this age of carbon copy groups and narrow demographics it was a distinct pleasure to be able to sit down and hear ten bands that sounded quite different from each other. And I supported those bands I liked by purchasing one of their CDs. Dave M

Reading and borrowing. Radio is for the most part a wasteland and TV is geared mostly for our mentally challenged young. Actually at this stage in my life, finding interesting new artists is a challenge. But we try.

Magazines and newspapers (including online), but these days finding new music is like solving a Sherlock Holmes mystery. If I go to concerts, talk to friends, listen to noncommercial radio, and use the in-store listening stations, then I may find some new artists that I like.

One of the best ways to discover new music today is through one of the controversal P2P networks. I prefer DC++.

Interestingly, print sources have always (as in, since the early '70s) been my primary source for info about new recordings. In truth, there's virtually no new music of interest to me. To borrow from a remark made by Pierre Boulez a few years ago (in a somewhat different context), what's out there now is basically just a recycling of old gestures (in bad digital sound). In a real sense, music recording is to blame for this, since we now have an archive of past performances—why bother with retreads when you can have the real thing? Why choose Phish over the Grateful Dead, Ryan Adams over Bob Dylan, or Dave Matthews over anyone with a guitar and microphone who was recording prior to 1980? I have bought a few new things, based mostly on past experience: Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses (unjustly neglected, IMO). KH is one of the very few real talents to come out of the late '80s—far more interesting than, say, the Uncle Tupelo boys or lame newcomers like Ryan Adams> I also like Giant Sand and Calexico (thanks to your article from a few years back), Lucinda Williams (over-rated), and Bob Dylan. I've bought vinyl when available, and indeed, as I rebuild my LP collection, I find I buy and listen to a lot more music than I had in a long time; it's just not new music. Although some of what I buy are things I've had in the past (or have on CD), many are titles I never quite got around to getting back when they were current. I've pretty much stopped buying CDs altogether.

second place: internet third place: in the store

Barnes and Noble now has a system in many of its stores where you can preview almost any CD, old or new, in the store at their listening stations. Instantly. This is how to sell music. It's about time. I don't take $17 gambles on new music anymore. Too many burns.

I listen primarily to classical music, and I used to purchase new releases after hearing them on the radio. Because there is no classical radio station in Detroit, I only rarely get to hear classical music on the air, from the occasional public radio station or from across the border in Canada. I primarily buy after hearing live performances, and frequently CDs are available for sale at many of the chamber music concerts in the area. My secondary source is from friends' recommendations.

Through Gramophone and BBC Music. I just discovered Peter Sculthorpe, the most famous Australian composer. The Chandos CD I bought with his string music is outstanding.

I watch for musicians I know and appreciate working with others. Then listen to a sampling of the CD before buying.