How do people go about finding so much music in a year?

I actively look for it and I don’t rely on algorithms to show me what they think I’ll like

For many of us, it’s the same as it’s always been. There are plenty of outlets with real humans that cover music. There are substacks. There are podcasts. There are channels on YouTube. You can listen to artists talk about other artists. Go to record stores. Talk to your friends.  I use streaming, but I refuse to offload my music exploration to them. 

Radio Garden is a phone app that lets you listen to Radio stations around the WORLD. Maybe look up a list of lister powered stations with real independent DJs. Probe for the shows or s**** that get you going and then Shazam that shit when it’s Busting. Boom ya got that playlist

I've mentioned it here before, but Bandcamp is an invaluable source. Every month, the editors compile lists of "Best [punk, country, hip hop, electronic, experimental, jazz, latin] Releases of the Month." I listen to every sample song they recommend in these lists, then if I like a song, I'll pull up the full album and sample a few more songs, then decide if I want to commit and buy the album. I find a ton of great new music this way. In the past 12 months, I've added about 900 new songs to my library, about 80% of which comes from Bandcamp. It's a lot of time investment, but the results are worth it if you're interested in broadening your horizons and finding a ton of hidden gems.

Communities both in person and on the internet filled with people who share similar music tastes.

Every week, I spend about an hour with Spotify's Release Radar and listen to new things. And each time, I'll grab about a half-dozen tracks and throw them into a "year in review" playlist. I've done this every year since 2017. [My 2026 In Review playlist ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3x2gngSV3HyjaL1Z4GiCj3?si=9255eff89e014de3)is already 89 songs by 89 different artists, and plays for 5-1/2 hours. My [2019 In Review playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5GOLqLUmLIB34Xp8KdTUca?si=84ec55f18c054e7f) is 500 songs by 500 artists, and plays for over 30 hours. So yeah, it's not that hard.

It's really been hit on so far, but yeah...  - Subscribe to YouTube channels and podcasts that cover the type of music you like - Check out local bands at local venues - Make friends with similar musical interests that might introduce you to some new stuff That's honestly how I find most of what I listen to. Sometimes something comes up through YouTube Music algorithms, but mostly it's just putting in the effort to find it. Angine de Poitrine, for example. They'd likely still be completely unknown to me if (a) I didn't subscribe to KEXP's YouTube channel, (b) have a bunch of friends to "did you check this out", and (c) always have feed full of music-related content on YouTube (reactions, analysis, etc).

Spotify algorithm used to but it stopped being reliable. I went back to checking out my favourite artists favourite artists. I also use tidals daily discovery but I don’t find as many new artist there than Spotify.

Back when I was looking for new metal bands all the time I’d check metalsucks metalinjection, invisibleoranges, etc every other week or so for stuff that seemed interesting.

Rateyourmusic best of the year lists and I check it every couple weeks. Relying on corporate-owned outlets for music reviews is a losing battle because they are always trying to sell a narrative. 

I use RYM and filter by yearly charts/genres etc. I also go through lists from other users. Found some great stuff this way

You just gotta follow communities. My main sources past few years has been sputnik music and the metal for the masses sub and its crazy how much I even know of certain music trends that I've never even listened to

My best friend. We have a game we play where we send each other music we think the other person hasn't heard. This little f***** knows everything. I'll send him a band with 10 followers and he's like "Yeah, I've hung out and smoked with them after a show. " God bless you Deszi.

Friends Spotify and YouTube algorithms College radio Seeing bands open for bands I already like Just going out in Camden Town / Brick Lane and seeing bands I hadn't heard of before

If you’re actively looking for new material or to collate material, what’s wrong with basic web searching? If, on the other hand you’re just wondering how to find new music organically, going to shows, talking to friends, reading music publications (web, etc.) seems like a pretty typical approach 

i search through international and off-the-dial distros for music that seems interesting, i follow the record labels that i've bought stuff from in the past for their new releases, i am friends with people on social media who post big weekly round-ups of new releases and most of the time do the same myself. spotify is great for making mixes of older music that's hard to acquire physically but for recommendations, total shit. tldr: people who like and want new music look for it themselves instead of waiting for a string of code to tell them what's cool

I'm on 2-3 fb page (yeah i know FB bad) that share music daily and that's where i get my fix. I don't listen to spotify, it's either bandcamp or youtube. But it's all manually research in a way, once I like a band song i search for more info etc.

Pay for a music service and listen to everything possible.

I don't use Spotify anymore but I can honestly say, its a great tool to discover music. Find a random new song you like, go to the artist that made it and find their radio station and do the same thing over and over again and before you know it, you will have a plethora of newfound artists to listen to..

Google Music / Artist I enjoy / Radio function. Creates random playlists with similar music and artists. When I hear something I vibe to I just ad to my likes playlist, and then repeat the same process with new artist. I've found this incredible useful in finding new music that I enjoy.

I trade music with people via collabs. Their (friends, family, coworkers) contributions have enriched my collection and opened up an avenue to connect on a deeper level with them. Here's a couple samples. This one is a general collab I've had going with my best friend : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4t8NynuzeiLN0L6KVDPmWy?si=ujssv-L0QdqqPQrycMGJVA&pi=9RLE8ZNaS0unK Here's one focused on music that features cowbell with two of my friends : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7goH86FyGUBn3jChbMP7jc?si=UOh4SIVwQuSqi_Scf74BUg&pi=l5lFTXUGS5WZS

it all organization like anything. streaming makes it much easier, but there are plenty of online resources to look thru. someone mentioned record stores, you dont even have to go to a record store in person, many have online recommendations and you can listen on your couch. its just a matter of time really

I have about 3 dozen websites saved in my "music" folder. Internet only stations, radio stations, various streamers, Radio Garden, etc. Algorithms will never be your friend. Am a HUGE fan of community / public radio - yeah, radio - which is a solid way to discover new music. If you don't want to spend time doing a deep dive, at least check out Radio Garden.

I just listen to college radio a lot

I get it all from Spotify’s weekly release radar updates.

I've always kept close watch of music festivals where my favorite artists play to see which other artists are there so I can check out their music too. Don't need to go, just checkout out the lineup. This practice alone has lead to an avalanche of new music discovery similar or adjacent to my liking without an algorithm telling me what I like.

I love soundcloud, i found so much interesting new music there. If not on the algorithms then even people in the comments recommending.

Deezer does an exceptional job at recommending things that I will like. I also share music with friends and family.

I found a bunch of stuff on YT music by plugging in a couple things I liked and then just letting it go.

Spotify, SoundCloud and Listnook

I’ve always been partial to the Epileptic Gibbon Podcast Music Show. Eppy is a brit with eclectic music tastes.

Streaming.

Sites like best ever [albums.com](http://albums.com) is really good. Some argue about albums being too high or too low, but bands like The War on Drugs or Sun Kil Moon's Benji i discovered through that site. The book i read a few months ago Such Great Heights about the indie rock explosion really did a good job depicting the evolution of how fans consumed/discovered new music, from like myspace pages way back in the day to zines, to how hip hop influenced indie culture, etc. It was a great book.

I listen to the radio and make a note of good and new stuff , band's concerts etc . Also subscribed to a couple of record shops mailing lists which always have some things I know and things I've not yet discovered.

Find it independent artist I like. Look into their record label and listen to the other artist on that label. Find other labels that same first artist release records on and then do the same.

Spotify or YouTube Music: song you like? There is a “Go to Radio” option and it plays music that is generally that genre of music. That’s how I found a lot of new music over the years

I'm on a couple mailing lists and follow some album reviewers but the biggest thing for me has been following record labels on bandcamp. I get new about new releases and new bands that have been signed.

College stations still help

Podcasts, blogs, venues, forums, there are countless easy ways to find new music in any given genre

I find music through friends, random algorithm choices in Tidal and some good places like: [Colors](https://youtube.com/@colorsxstudios?si=oWA2jIKizKXtcCwD) [AOTY](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/) Reviews from critics [KEXP](https://youtube.com/@kexp?si=H2gySe4TqQvqjwsn) [Amoeba](https://youtube.com/@amoeba?si=FsDkRMdrBFJh3hmB) Music recommendations from artists themselves! [NPR](https://youtube.com/@nprmusic?si=WELCQpM91ZmidVEA) good old radio but on YouTube for those of us that are not locals! Having installed in your phone something like Shazam because if you are outside and listen to something you like you can add it to your playlist. OST: seeing a movie or series and really like the music? Search for it. That's how I found Ennio Morricone, Yoko Kano and why I purchased the twin peaks ost vinyl (my precious!) hahaha Also never underestimate the power of going to c**** concerts/ music festivals and listening to all the bands.

>How do people find so much to say “music has been good this year”, or for a specific genre “this years metal music has been good”? they don't people just talk to sound cool most of what people say online is complete bullshit it's all thirst posturing and a sad desperation for significance when you're not really good at anything, you make up for it by talking big

I go to many festivals and concerts. When the line up is out, I create playlists of the bands playing. So I often find new bands I like and listen to their recent album. 

RateYourMusic. Every day.

ProgArchives. Damn you, ProgArchives... so much of my money and my time spent because of your constantly tempting recommendations!

I use albumoftheyear a lot and to a lesser extent rateyourmusic, it's generally pretty easy to see what albums are getting any kind of buzz by actual people which can help you see what may be worth looking into. Even if you don't want to pay attention to what is popular on the site it's still a great resource to see just what has come out this [decade](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/decade/2020s/releases/), [year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/2026/releases/), [month](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/2026/releases/march-03/), and even [week](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/week/2026/13/releases/). Of course it does also show just how much stuff is being released which is a massive amount, some people might say you should make up your own mind and not just listen to what other people are listening to but honestly there's so much stuff that it's functionally impossible to not do some kind of curation such as prioritizing what is getting lots of reviews and pretty high scores. Tbh though AI has made me so pessimistic about new music that I haven't really payed much attention to new stuff this year, I've listened to loads of 2000s and 2010s and to a lesser extent 2020s music but really haven't listened to a ton of 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, not compared to the last 26 years at least so I've mostly been filling out my knowledge of old stuff this year so far.

Most people aren't listening to everything. They are using specialized workflows to monitor hand-picked sources. My setup monitors specific curators and artists and puts their new releases into a review queue. A freshness filter limits the search to tracks from the last 7 or 14 days to keep things current. It basically handles the digging for you so you can just focus on the final curation.

There is a site called Blalock's indie rock playlist [https://birp.fm/playlist/](https://birp.fm/playlist/) that showcases new indie bands

If you listen to several new albums a year and most of them are good you could say it's a good year for music no?

I just scroll down The Needledrop's youtube reviews and read the album titles, don't even watch the videos just look up the album and start listening.

This might get me some downvotes but…Anthony Fantano lol. I rarely see eye to eye with him on music but he reviews enough variety that some of it still piques my interest I don’t stream anymore but I keep my Tidal app active and write down all the releases that sound interesting and YouTube it once and then buy/download Wikipedia has a list of albums by year that I also refer to

https://www.listnook.com/r/DnB/s/qOg1ssBvaB Look at this post and see how much time goes into assembling the playlist every week. I get the best music from sub genre sublistnooks, sometimes a spotify related artists will pop up. I also follow labels on YouTube. I've found a lot of music on instagram. Sometimes a band goes viral for one video, and people make memes with music attached. It's not always the current year track though. I discovered Depeche Mode in 2024. My local radio has interesting music too, mostly shazamable. I should mention I spend several hours a day listening to music and sometimes I skip intros. As a frame of reference, my spotify collection of liked tracks is around 1100, each a song I like enough to be willing to pay for it, but haven't collected it yet, since 2014. I think I buy an album a month on average. I watch TV, movies, and play games, so I collect tracks from there too.

Spotify algorithm

If you asked me this question by 2003, I'd have an answer. But since music quality basically died during the same decade, I feel the question is moot. I think kids these days bang their head against a keyboard, uploads those abominations to Spotify, and dance to that trash using tiktok.