Discovering New Music using Online Tools

In this article, I’d like to share a few resources that I use to find new music and artists to listen to; whether it’s similar to my current tastes, or completely different to what I’m into! So read on to find out about some tools that you (hopefully) don’t know exist, to find some music that you otherwise wouldn’t have listened to.

There are six different tools that I’d like to share are:

1. MusicMap

2. EveryNoise

3. MusicRoamer

4. Radiooooooo

5. Bandcamp

6. Festival Line-Ups

Maybe you have heard of a couple of these, possibly you haven’t heard of any; whether you’re familiar with none or all, allow me to show you how I make the most of these resources to discover new music!

MusicMap

What is it for?

On the MusicMap website, they state their aim to be “To provide the ultimate genealogy of popular music genres, including their relations and history.”

So basically, if you want to know about a certain genre of popular music, whether you’re looking for examples or genres that came before it, this website can show you in a beautifully laid out, interactive map.

How does it work?

All you have to do is just go on the website, and have a look around the map. You can click on specific genres/sub-genres to learn more about their origin and content. There are plenty more options on the site to search for something you might be into!

What I have used it for and how:

I have used it to research specific genres, while also using it as a tool to find new music. You can see music that is linked with music you like to find new avenues for appreciation.

Where to find it:

https://musicmap.info/

EveryNoise

What is it for?

According to the website, EveryNoise is “an ongoing attempt at an algorithmically-generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 5,351 genre-shaped distinctions by Spotify as of 2021-04-12.” Basically every genre/sub-genre of music on one webpage.

How does it work?

I hope you don’t mind scrolling, this website is very long. Literally just scroll wherever on the page and click on one of the genre names and it will play an example of that music for you, there are some real gems to find on here!

What I have used it for and how:

I use this as purely a tool for finding new music to listen to, as it is really cool how it places the genres in terms of “down is more organic, up is more mechanical and electric; left is denser and more atmospheric, right is spikier and bouncier.” I can guarantee you will find something on here that you’ve never heard of but will very much like.

Where to find it:

https://everynoise.com/engenremap.html

MusicRoamer

What is it for?

Helps you find new music and artists to listen to, based on who you like currently.

How does it work?

Type in and search for an artist you like, on the screen will appear related/similar artists to the one you have searched for. You can click on these and find more related artists, or you can listen to previews of their songs. It kind of allows you to do window-shopping for music.

What I have used it for and how:

Again, this is solely for finding new music that is similar to the tastes you already have. It can open up avenues for listening that you wouldn’t have necessarily thought of. It can also be quite fun to keep searching for related artists and see how far you can get from your original artist, or even attempt to get to another artist from the one you start from, as if it were a game.

Where to find it:

https://musicroamer.com/

Radiooooooo

What is it for?

Finding old music that is new to you, presented to you through context of an online radio/radio station.

How does it work?

There’s so much you can do. Pick a decade, pick a country, then at the top pick your criteria and listen away! There are so many more features you can get access to, if you become a member or paid member.

What I have used it for and how:

This resource is really good for finding new music that is outside of your normal listening sphere. It is such an awesome window to research geographical and chronological convergence in music. I tended to pick moments in time where I knew I already had an interest in the music in that period, but then I would pick a random location across the globe; which is what led me to discovering the infinite good vibes of Ghanaian Disco music!

Where to find it:

https://radiooooo.com/

Bandcamp

What is it for?

As it states on their website, they “aim to create the best possible service for artists and labels to share and earn money from their music, and for fans to discover and enjoy it.”

How does it work?

For this you basically just need an idea of what you’re searching for. This isn’t exactly a tool as such, but there is so much content on there that can help guide you to discover music that you may like, just search around!

What I have used it for and how:

I use this when looking for more contemporary artists, especially in conjunction with festivals, as I would look at the line-ups and if there are bands that I want to research then I would use Bandcamp to find out more about them.

Where to find it:

https://bandcamp.com/

Festival Line-Ups

What is it for?

Seeing live music, but in this context, it can give you new artists to listen to.

How does it work?

Just find artists on the line-up that sound interesting to you, then use these others resources to find out more about them and to see if you like their music. You can also look at the stages that artists you already like are performing on and use that as a guide.

What I have used it for and how:

I use this method to find music, whether it’s similar or completely different to what I like. It’s how I got into House music, for example. I would just go through line-ups and pick out people I may have heard of, or just people who sounded cool, then I would go and listen to them.

Where to find it:

The website or social media of whatever festival you have in mind!

Hopefully you learned something new from this article, or at the very least enjoyed being introduced to these tools, I know when I saw Radiooooooo.com for the first time I thought to myself ‘this is such a crazy but awesome idea’ and I couldn’t get off of it for hours.

Until next time!

Jae Maclaughlin

TheNo.1Spot