Other than just hitting random on your dubiously ethical streaming service of choice, what are ways you discover new music? There’s just so much of it out there. A lot of it is even good?
As for myself I must surreptitiously promote @youan’s Friday Jukebox streams on Twitch. As someone whose taste in music is so eclectic that the word eclectic doesn’t even cover it, there’s always something playing there that I want to hear more of.
internet radio! like NTS
tbh, i actually listen to the youtube mixes. I find a new song there I like every now and again!
My tried and true method is to go to the thrift store and pick out some $1 cds with cool/interesting/weird artwork. You’ll find some bangers.
I have some some friend groups where we have playlists in which we share artists with each other. On one of my podcasts my cohost and I also have a little segment where we recommend albums to each other every month. I also discover a lot through the music scene. I’m not as active anymore but I’d discover bands by playing with them or just having my bandmates play different stuff in the van on tour.
Soulseek mostly
I have been on rateyourmusic for eighteen years now and it has been my main discovery tool for most of that time. Its genre/descriptor tagging systems let you get real granular with it, like I can decide I want to find something ethereal and noisy with historical themes and a female vocalist and bam, there it is. It’s so good dude.
2am browsing of Bandcamp is most of my discovery. And occasionally randomly bumping into some youtube video that sounds neat with a linked bandcamp account, which then goes on the wishlist.
It does help that most of my taste has switched from metal to most electronic stuff so that’s usually easier to find that way. Though I’ve also found some random punk bands so, I guess it can go anyway.
I discover new music by buying new video games. 
80-90% of what I listen to are video game soundtracks or fan arrangements.
For the rest, I usually discover music either through friends mentioning them, general curiosity after hearing about some artist, or from hearing a cover somewhere (like a reality talent show) and wondering where the original came from.
There’s a lot of popular music out there that I’m completely clueless about. I had never (knowingly) heard Taylor Swift music until early this year when I finally decided to educate myself and turn on a playlist (it’s fine; most of her work is not really my thing).
THIS. I peruse YouTube Music way too often, on the prowl for new video game music that I never would have learned about by using any other app like Spotify or something.
In usually stumble upon new tunes, either by chance, by destiny or just by looking up a genre tag on bandcamp. Sometimes youtube has also a nice surprise in store, but I’m wary of AI music. If i listen to something only to realize it’s AI, I feel betrayed and angry.
Through playing way too many rhythm games
Sometimes recommendations between friends
Very rarely Spotify algorithm not for long anymore as I’m planning to cancel before the next payment
I like to either let youtube reccomend me stuff (not a great success rate but i’ve found some bangers that way)
Or I will get on Orpheus and crawl around the related artists web (doing this back in the what.cd days is how I found the vast majority of what I still listen to)
Mostly I just talk with people who know music, kind of like how you need to know someone to get into a big series?
Here’s one a friend linked for ex: https://youtu.be/MTIDZGqjlls
Vg music has it all. So so much good music out there. Happy that, finally, people talk about video game music almost as casually as “normal” music.
AND in contrast to normal music, with Vg music you get the OG track AND hundreds of remasters, remixes, rearrangement, mashups, compilations, filtered (lofi, glitch, scratched)
It. Is. Glorious!
I don’t really discover new music, I just fall into it, but I also have a small circle of music I listen to. As a younger person, I’d look at the liner notes on CDs and see when a bands name would come up multiple times across different bands and then I’d assume they were safe to check out.
I also have a problem that I need to enjoy a bands entire catalog before I can “love” them, and when something goes bad, I drop the whole band.
It’s a problem.
May i present the most chaotic solution of all time to finding new music?
A friend showed me this recently and i just begun exploring, but its a blast
Just pick a genre, then it shows its main artists. But it has so many genres. Personally i think the visual clutter of so much options is it’s own charm
Recommendations from friends and then picking and choosing from the list at the bottom of Stereogum’s album of the week. Sometimes that album, too. I maintain a monster playlist all year where I throw in new releases as I come across them, then turn it on where I left off when I want to hear something new.
Uhhhh I think this just changed my life I cannot believe this is real
Mix a things really. Radio shaped a lot of what I had growing up, a friend I adore had a wall of CDs as tall as me, she just buys whatever has a cover that looks even a little interesting. And for a wildcard, conventions. I picked up a pair of really sick experimental CDs at Anthrocon this past year specifically for her. That crowd had more than just CDs though - one guy was selling vinyls and cassettes even. Not that you’d know because that particular guy was in the age gated section since that was, shall we say not the primary merchandise he offered.
Another friend is into making experimental music and I like sticking the tracks they make into my playlists sometimes. Unreleased tracks go brr. And if I’m truly dry on tracks, I’ve got friends I think at this point in every timezone by now and pestering for some word of mouth recommends will always get me something new, language not mattering to me in the least ouo