MH FEATURED POLL #33: How do you explore music?

[CAT5 9075]

Multiple choice poll! MH POLL OF THE WEEK #32: How do you explore music?   


We all approach music discovery from different angles, so what's yours? Have you ever even considered the way you explore music or has it always been just second nature to you? If any of the poll options click with you, go ahead and check them. If not feel free to explain your approach!





To submit a poll for the MH POLL OF THE WEEK, P.M. either @CAT5 or @beni with your poll question, choices, and state whether it's multiple choice or not.

[doombox 4421]

I have a few avenues for exploring. First is recommendations from my friends. That's the easiest, hehe. Then I spiderweb out from bands I already like. Who do they endorse? Who do they play shows with? Who do they have featuring on their albums? A lot of bands have their own little cliques with other bands and usually share a lot of the same fans so sometimes their fans are who lead me to other good similar bands. And when all else fails I check out recommendations from music publications/blogs I tend to share musical tastes with. 

[Kira_Uchiha 92]

Hmmm I got different ways of discovering music, but it's mostly through a lot of research through google. I look for artists similar related to the ones I like, through splits(discovered Sithu Aye this way, I recommend this artist to everyone *_*), through different blogs(like deathcoreessence) and Bandcamp. I go through the most popular releases first, then I look for specific genres. When I find a band I like, I buy their stuff and see what other bands they recommend themselves. I also tend to check many reviews for random albums, that's how I discovered "While She Sleeps" and "The Royal".

On of course, there's MH :'3

When I go to the general and vk sections, I download everything new I see and try them out, and that's how I discovered "Amber Gris".

Soooo it's not really structured, I just go to various websites, download whatever I can find and check recommendations from my favorite artists

[blackdoll 907]

youtube!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yakihiko 1480]

I try to get recommendations from friends and BNT's list.

Also, if a member from a band I like have friends in others bands, I usually check it.

But right now, I'm enjoying a small circle of bands.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I usually stick to a few select scenes and try to be up-to-date, depending on my preference at the given moment. I find myself being less and less open to various new artists as time goes by though, or they have to be of a really specific sound to satisfy me (strangely enough, there's plenty of stuff I enjoy going back and discovering previously overlooked artists from past musical 'eras' where I already like other artists from).

[indigo 389]

I don't know what to answer... I just try to find music that appeals to me regardless of genre but I have a few scenes that I prefer and sometimes I have phases when I focus to one particular scene. Sometimes I also like to explore artists that influenced my favorite artists or try online friends' recommendations. I think MH, and especially BNT is a nice way to find some new stuff, although I have not yet found that many artists I like through BNT  ;_; I also use blogs, music websites, youtube, jps, google etc.

[Ito 2438]

I go spelunking!

 

lmao

 

 

 

In all honesty, I don't explore nearly as much as I used to. Jake and I pretty much started MH so that we could keep exploring new shit constantly, but over the years as my collection continues to grow and my free time becomes less and less, I tend to do a hell of a lot less exploration. Pair that with the fact that with the fact that I've turned in to a grumpy old man my tastes have gotten pickier and the number of successful explorations has gown down. I will usually go every month or two and click a bunch of random links in the download forum and listen to the ones with previews and see what sounds good (with really high standards), but other than that I usually stick to the bands I know or rely on suggestions.

[saishuu 3220]

I've become more and more of a lazy explorer over the years. I used to spend days just searching for new music up until a few years ago, but now that urge only comes up sometimes over the course of a year, mostly because I used to spend a long time downloading tons of new stuff and never heard 1/4 of it and just settled with the fact that I don't have the time and will to just go listening to everything that I can find. I no longer stick to a single scene (like I did with visual kei when I was younger), so I can't really go deep into something and just go trying out new stuff that easily too, if that makes sense. These days, I mainly stick with MH, YouTube, Last.fm (similar artists, etc) and friends recommendations or random music that pops up on my Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr timeline.

 

I still do wish I had an easier time discovering new music. I can never let go of that feeling that I'm always missing out on some great stuff. lol

[Chi 2624]

>I dabble in a few different scenes and try to keep up with them.

>I listen to any and everything I can get my hands on regardless of genre!

 

sometimes i look at the newest releases and just listen to bands that have interesting names/covers regardless of being folk, pop, metal, etc.

i use last.fm's similar artists/tags to discover similar artists if i don't know a scene that well.

 

of course i keep up with VK, ~non-vk~ bands and some western acts i like

[Champ213 1858]

I had very little time to explore new music in recent months, but somehow new music still finds me. Whether it's at a party (because I go to cool parties, of course ), while randomly browsing Youtube, seeing something on TV, etc. Before that I liked to just randomly download stuff and see if I like it. 

And well, for japanese music, there's MH.

[peffy 3568]

When I first got into Japanese music, I found a download site and downloaded basically everything on their first few pages. Maybe ~100-200 CDs or so. Then deleted whatever I didn't like. Then I found some English websites that gave recommendations based on the stuff I liked, and it expanded from there.

 

.. Later on, I would join Last.fm (RIP), where I got some mileage out of the "similar artists" stuff. Somehow this led to me getting into VK. 

 

.. Later on, I would create my lyric site. This (and my video games) has kept me so busy that I don't have time/willingness to check out new artists. If I get into new bands now, it is because A) somebody requested the lyrics and forced me to listen to it, or B ) the band has members from a disbanded band that I liked.

[violetchain 912]

Recently, I find new artists through a mix of music blogs and scanning through the Twitter accounts of news sites or artists I like.

 

I like a lot of variety in my music, so I try not to stick to one scene or artist too closely.

 

I also listen to music mainly on shuffle, so I'm always randomly coming across things I forgot I downloaded years ago.

[Deathtopi4 428]

I used to do a lot of exploring through Last.fm, but even before it went down the toilet their recommendations for me started getting lame...

These days I usually like to spend a few months in "explore mode" where I'll try just about anything I come across that catches my interest. Then I take a few months to just calm down and enjoy what I have, and then I go back to exploring, and on and on.

[togz 2004]

I feel like when I was in to just Visual Kei, I'd learn everything about the scene. Even bands I didn't listen to just to have the knowledge and connections to other bands. But now that I don't listen to it as much, I sort of just take my musical opportunities as they come. Sometimes it's a recommendation, something I stumble on by accident, or sometimes I feel like I want to listen to more bands similar to what I'm listening to in that moment. For that I use last.fm (outside of VK since I feel like the actual music recommendations on bands pages don't match well most of the time.) I certainly don't download and research nearly as much as i used to as i don't have the time. 

 

So in conclusion, I stick to what I know unless something interesting finds it's way to me.

[Guest lynchisizer]

I don't explore as much as I used to do back then...

[Ikna 1225]

Old lastfm was my main database of bands I should look into. I was clever enough to bookmark most bandprofiles, since the artists with 0 listens have been erased now. I also stalked many user libraries to see if they would listen to something interesting (also it helped with tagging shit I downloaded ages ago). Not sure if I continue the site since the update ruined the exploration experience.

 

Others than that I go through playlists and mixes on youtube or 8tracks. Bandcamp also has become a site I regulary use. I also have a few music dl blogs I still follow (mostly post-punk stuff. All VK blogs are dead and VisualScandal only copypaste what's uploaded here). I think it's pretty easy for me though, as I rarely follow any new bands (except in the goth genre. But there are many of them on bandcamp, whcih you can follow). I sometimes check music news sites, but most of the time I am digging after old stuff.

[Vitne Eveille 65]

I haven't explored that much I guess since high school and college.  In high school, I searched for any punk, pop punk, or ska band that resonated with me. In college, it was hair metal. Now, It's more here and there, and maybe recommendations from people, or overseeing something on MH or another forum or YouTube.

[Atreides 454]

I am constantly in search of fresh beats.  It fluctuates on what I actually listen to, but normally when I explore I think to myself 'Hmm what's the genre gonna be today/this week/this month'.. and I go from there.  I like to dig deep down the rabbit hole, and I love learning about the history of the bands, who they were associated with, inspired by, etc.  Basically some kind of savant.  (Which isn't exactly some self praise)

[SethItari 24]

Should be a poll answer: "Youtube Recommendations OP".

 

Seriously though,  I am not even sure how I discover music. There are these chains of music discovery you can follow. Find radio stations of a genre you like, playlists on youtube, etc. It honestly feels more like if I stick to the music I like, the music I like will just keep coming.

[desparejo86 160]

Why would I need to discover new music when I have every Luna Sea album??

[Hakari 282]

I mostly stick to what I know, I dab into nostalgia as much as possible.... Youtube of course can send me on a journey at time

[platy 3018]

On one hand I stick to jrock/OSTs quite religiously

on the other hand, I'll sometimes type 'ethiopian music' on youtube  and spend hours on the playlist I find.

[Kyotarou 35]

Mostly through youtube and recommandations of friends. I'm also kinda caught in some scenes so that counts as exploring too. 

[d4rkie 5]

TSUTAYA, ClosetChild, disc union - are my go to places to get my new music fix. Also borrowing the music the people around me like and resonated with me somehow