The Music Is Out There. You Just Have to Know Where to Look.
The other day I was on YouTube and stumbled upon a video of teenagers from the 80s or 90s talking about their favourite bands and songs. What struck me was how into their music they were. It wasn’t just your average pop stars on the charts at the time. These teenagers were actually digging in stores, following bands and artists, and creating music cultures and communities that we hardly see now.
Is it because we’re force fed music through an algorithm? Does the music have to go through a marketing promotional funnel where listening feels more like a company selling something to me rather than inviting me into their creative world?
I’ve been watching a lot of the World Cup and at every pause in the game, whether that be a hydration break, a scored goal, or halftime, the music on show was more often than not viral tracks from social media.
We’re all hearing the same things, and unfortunately unless you’re more active in your music search, nothing will change.
I want to change that.
Back in the day, finding music was pretty simple. Some people read reviews in the newspaper or their favourite mag (shout out to Kerrang!, that was my fav when I was a wee boy), caught something on the radio, maybe a glimpse of a music video on TV, or just headed to the store and grabbed a CD, cassette or record of their favourite album.
Here are a few ways you can expand your music discovery and start listening to new things:
1. Algorithm-Based Platforms: Your Starting Point, Not Your Destination
Now I know we’re trying to move away from algorithms, but to be honest, you should still use them to find music. They’re convenient, they’re (supposed to) learn your taste, and they (sometimes) give you recommendations based on what you actually like. However, you do need to make sure the algorithm is dialled in and niched, otherwise you’ll get the same results every single time.
Use these platforms as a launchpad. When something catches your ear, don’t just save it. Dig into the artist, explore their back catalogue, and then take that curiosity somewhere with less algorithmic interference.
Tip: Search artist names directly, explore their “fans also like” sections manually, and build your own playlists rather than relying on generated ones.
2. Social and Video Discovery: Real-Time Culture vs. Intentional Research
TikTok and Instagram control where music goes viral. Unlike in the past where DJs tested music on radio or the dancefloor, artists are now using these platforms for the exact same thing. The catch is the same as streaming though: you’re still fighting the platform’s push toward what it thinks you want. Passive scrolling on TikTok or Instagram is unfortunately exactly what those platforms are designed to make you do.
YouTube is different. As the second largest search engine in the world after Google, YouTube rewards intention. People actively research on YouTube rather than just consuming feeds (although this is also changing with YouTube Shorts). You can find official artist channels, full music videos, entire radio shows, and DJ mixes from channels like My Analog Journal, a beautifully curated channel blending jazz, soul, and electronic music, with vinyl sets exploring sounds from all over the world. You’re discovering through research, not recommendations.
Tip: Search genre + “mix”, “radio show”, or “DJ set” to uncover hours of curated content the algorithm would never surface on its own.
3. Human-Curated Spaces: Someone With Actual Taste
This is where things get more fun. When a human curates music, there’s intention behind every choice and selection. No engagement metrics. No paid placement. Just taste.
Radio, particularly community stations like SIBLING RADIO, NTS Radio, and The Lot Radio, offers exactly that. Someone passionate and in love with music enough to curate a journey of sound.
Music publications like Pitchfork, Complex, and Pigeons and Planes do the same in written form. Following music critics and tastemakers like Anthony Fontano gives you access to informed, opinionated perspectives on what’s worth your time. Whether you agree or disagree with their opinions is entirely up to you.
I personally don’t agree with Pitchfork for the most part, but I love what’s coming out of Pigeons and Planes.
Tip: Instagram is a great place to find publications or radio stations. You’re probably already following a few.
4. Niche Tools and Direct Artist Spaces: Take Control of Your Search
This is where your music discovery goes from good to genuinely obsessive. And these are the tools most “how to find new music” guides won’t tell you about.
Bandcamp lets you explore artists’ entire catalogues, buy direct, and often message the creators themselves. It’s one of the few platforms where your money actually reaches the artist. However, with Songtradr’s acquisition of Bandcamp and their implementation of AI, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bandcamp starts moving in a more algorithm-forward direction compared to what it originally stood for.
Subvert.fm is the answer to that. It’s a collectively owned music marketplace, governed on a one-member, one-vote basis by a global community of independent artists, record labels, workers, and supporters. Artists keep 100% of what they earn. You can check out my artist page there if you want.
Discogs is extraordinary for deep-divers. Browse by label, genre, year, or pressing. It’s a marketplace and a database, and a music history lesson rolled into one. Start with an artist you love and fall down the rabbit hole of who influenced them and who they influenced. If you were ever obsessed with Wikipedia back in the day, this will definitely be your vibe.
Radiooooo is one of the most unique music discovery tools on the internet. Select a country and a decade on an interactive world map and hear what people were listening to there and then. Want 1970s Nigerian funk? 1960s French pop? 1980s Japanese city pop? It’s all there. This is actually how I build my radio shows.
Radio Garden works similarly to Radiooooo, but instead of archived music you’ll be listening to live radio from anywhere in the world, in real time. It was originally launched by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision and built to connect people around the world through music. Today it operates as a highly accessible public archive and map, turning the vast world of radio into an easily navigable visual landscape. We’ve just submitted SIBLING RADIO to the platform so we’ll be discoverable on there too.
Lazy Records pulls random tracks from specific genres on YouTube, perfect for when you want discovery with zero effort. There are loads of tools like this out there, but this is the one I use.
5. Live Music and Record Stores: Real Discovery in the Real World
This is where the two most human forms of music discovery come together, and they belong in the same section because they share something none of the other methods can offer: you’re physically there.
Nothing beats discovering music in person at a gig. Whether it’s a fifty-person show in a small venue, a festival afternoon stage, or a headline arena gig, live music does something different in your body and brain that can’t be replicated anywhere else. I always walk out of shows feeling inspired and ready to make music, let alone discover new things.
The idea for SIBLING RADIO was actually born at We Out Here festival in 2024.
Go see that support artist. Go to the small stage at the festival. Some of my favourite discoveries came from not knowing what I was getting myself into. Not only would you be discovering someone new, you could be one of the first to do so, and for the artist performing, that means the world to them.
And don’t sleep on record shops. Independent stores, especially ones focused on specific genres, are some of the best places to go. There’s a reason those teenagers in the 80s and 90s video were so deep into their music: they were finding it somewhere physical, somewhere with curation and community baked in, and being intentional about it all.
Sites like Discogs can help you find what’s out there, but nothing beats flipping through records in a shop and pulling something out purely because the cover looked cool.
Go to a gig. Go to a record shop. Because the music you discover there might be something you never would have found any other way.
The Bottom Line
Music discovery is personal. Your path will look different from everyone else’s, and that’s the whole point. Figure out what works for you and go for it. You never know what you’ll find.
