I just started using Pandora, and while it’s not quite perfect, it’s pretty darn cool nonetheless. I’ve already got a list of five or six new bands to check out, from three different “stations.”
The main problem with Pandora, IMO, is due to a fundamental problem with the “music genome project.” Pandora sorts songs based on musical attributes, including general style, genre, instruments involved, arrangement, use of solos etc., but doesn’t account for lyrical content, nor sorts by artist in any perceivable way (except when initially setting up a station). It therefore has a tough time with artists whose music spans multiple genres between songs, like They Might Be Giants. My ska-based station might pick up TMBG’s “Boss of Me” or “Doctor Worm,” but it will completely ignore songs like “Dead” or “Ana Ng,” both of which feature TMBG’s inimitable vocals and penchant for bizarre lyrics, but which are very different from the previous tracks from a musical standpoint. I can only imagine what someone stumbling across TMBG for the first time on Pandora must think.
That said, Pandora still works extremely well as a self-selecting radio station. They have a truly enormous catalogue of songs available, including a lot of really obscure stuff. Half an hour fiddling with a given station, and I can usually leave it running for hours, getting a steady stream of interesting new bands the whole time.
Pardon me folks for continuing the hijack for a bit longer. I was talking to my husband about this, and he told me he uses Mozilla on his home computer and Firefox on his laptop. After some talk and questions, mainly wanting to make sure I wouldn’t be screwing anything up if I were to try it just for the hell of it, I downloaded and installed Mozilla. It didn’t do a couple of things I wanted to do, so I downloaded and installed Firefox. I’ve been using it for a few hours and kinda like it. He installed a plug-in that takes away all the MySpace ads, and my CPU usage hasn’t spiked once. Yet. It used to spike and stay there until I found the offending page and closed it.
I’m a web page slut, meaning that I can often have 20-30-40 pages open at the same time, switching back and forth. When one page is making my CPU spike and slows down everything else, it’s a pain to find that one page that’s causing the problem. This helps. On the same topic, I like the tabs option, because then I can have one browser open for MySpace, and have 25 tabs open in that, and then open another separate browser for other things. So far it’s pretty cool. The only thing it didn’t import from my IE was my “Links” folder (the pages I go to so often that they’re buttons on the Toolbar itself, with SDMB being the first one) so I have to put all those back in manually. Easy enough.
So I just wanted to eat some crow and let you know that I’m not as stupid today as I was yesterday. I tried, I liked, you were right. MySpace just got a whole lot better for me. Thanks.
I don’t get into new music very often. (Probably good for my bank account.) But I have discovered my last two favorite albums through the Magic of Technology[sup]TM[/sup].
The Flaming Lips. A friend and co-worker had Yoshimi Battles the Giant Pink Robots on her iTunes, and shared with the network. I listened to the album obsessively, every minute that we were both at work, for about two weeks solid, then I figured I should probably just buy it.
Devil Makes Three. Heard Plank on radioparadise.com (which I listen to a lot) and decided to take the leap and buy the album. I had a little buyer’s regret, but it grew on me. Upbeat acoustic-guitar-driven ditties about depression and alcoholism . . . they seem to have a strange hold on me.
I’ve goofed around with Last.fm, but haven’t discovered anything particularly exciting.
I’m not sure why most people, generally sometime between 30 and 40, just seem to decide that they’ve heard enough new music, and start listening to stations that only play old stuff if they listen to the radio at all. It surprised the hell out of me when it started happening to my friends. I’m 52 now, but I still need regular infusions of interesting new music, and I expect I always will.
I like Pandora, but also a good broadcast radio station helps if you can find one. Right now, my main source of new music is WRNR in Annapolis, MD (sorry, no streaming audio), which is where I’ve first heard artists/bands like the White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, and Willie Nile. And when I was down in SW VA a decade ago, I was lucky to be in range of WABN-AM in Abingdon, which played an eclectic mix of teenybopper pop (Britney, etc.) and light alternative (Semisonic, Third Eye Blind, Bosstones).
A couple reasons. The biggest one is probably that you just don’t have time to go out and find new music.
Also, as you get older, your life is less defined by the music you listen to. That mix tape you made in high school has a whole lot more significance than that mix tape you made at age 28.
Another good way to find new music is to go to local shows, if there are any around in the genres you like. This works best in my area for rock/alternative/metal/funk/goth/punk. And some country.
Launchcast is my preferred music source. I like the fact that I can salt it with a list of songs/artists that I like and it expands on that and plays new stuff for me along the same lines.
Many of the high-tech approaches people have mentioned are helpful (and I use some of them myself), but I can’t be the only one who looks for new music by going out and listening to it in person, can I?
When I’m in the mood for something new, I head for a venue that tends to feature music I like. My musical tastes are a bit off the beaten path, so that often means folk music festivals and ren faires, but there are other clubs and open performances for those with different tastes. The last dozen or so CDs I bought came directly from the hands of the performer–it’s easy enough to make CDs now that almost any artist can press one. If you like the style, but not the particular performance, try to find out who the group is influenced by and check them out. In rennie circles, at least, quite a few artists include links to similar groups on their websites.
Thanks for all the suggestions. No, I didn’t fall in a well.
This is actually something I’ve wondered about my whole life. I mean, how did that kid in Louisville, Ky find out about REM in 1983? I was too busy rediscovering “classic rock” to bother with “new” music. I’ve found bands that I like via NPR, I’ve noticed ads for concerts for bands I might like I can’t go to see cause it’s a school/work night and all the babysitters are busy. like Clothahump, my preferred method these days is Yahoo’s Launchcast radio. It’s pretty good and has opened my eyes to some bands I would never have heard of before. I’ll bookmark the suggestions, forget about them and just stick with Launchcast I guess.
