I like to listen to music while I do most things. The problem is that I don't always like listening to the same songs over and over (that eliminates most radio). I also don't think I'm the only one who has this problem either (I know, going out on a limb making that declaration. Whew.). So how do you find new music that you'll like? I've found a couple of ways that work for me but first a little background.
In the past I've purchased a lot of CD's. I still purchase the occasional CD but not so much anymore. I no longer crave the latest fad artist like I did in college. Maybe I've actually matured (everyone who knows me just fell on the floor laughing). So I've gone through the normal routine of trying out the online distribution services to find one I like. iTunes is ok but I hate the DRM (and iTunes itself but that's just me). I've never tried Rhapsody because I don't like the idea that all of my music goes away as soon as I stop paying the monthly fee. I ended up settlig with eMusic.
I actually started with eMusic way back in the day when it was unlimited downloads of DRM free MP3 files for your monthly fee. Granted, the catalog was a little limited but I still managed to find plenty of music that I could enjoy. When they changed to a set number of tracks each month I quit. At the time my habit was to only download full albums (I still only do that) and I would grab them in spurts. One week I would grab 5-6 and then nothing for weeks as I digested the new stuff. The unlimited downloads worked great for this mode but the limited downloads that didn't carry over didn't work so well. Some months I wouldn't use any downloads and others i was way short of what I wanted. So I left for a coupleof years. Now I'm back with eMusic and have managed to adjust to the new model. The expanded catalog helps too. I've found a lot of stuff I like. How to find it though?
I find most of my music one of 4 ways: from friends, from recomendations on eMusic, from the radio when I drive into work, and from Live Plasma. I won't explain the from friends since that should be self explanatory.
The recomendations from eMusic takes on several forms. None are perfect but they've all yielded new music for me. When you search for an artist on eMusic along the right side of the screen they have a couple of sections to note if you are looking for something new. My favorite is the Similar Artisits section. This has found me several new artists and is about what you would expect. They also have Influences, Followers, and Formal Connections. I'm really not sure how these get populated but they work pretty well. They also have a section called Member Lists. These are lists of albums that eMusic members have put together and shared that contain the album you are currently viewing. This is your standard hit or miss fare but is worth a couple of minutes to look through. eMusic also has what they call the eMusic dozen. These are lists of albums put together by one of the editors for a specific genre. I've been disappointed with most of these. I guess my music tastes don't run similar to music critics. Which is odd because you can browse artists and albums on the site and certain albums have earned an Editors Pick designation. I've been pretty happy browsing a genre and looking through the editors picks to find new albums I like. Weird.
I'm not ahuge fan of the radio since so much of it is repeating the same few songs over and over but I like one local station and listen to it in the car. I've heard some songs I like and have even found some of them on eMusic. This is an ok source for new music.
My favorite way to find new music is by using the Live Plasma (formerly Music Plasma) web site. This is one of the few Flash based sites I actually like. Enter an artist name and it will draw a map with the selected artist in the center and simial artists around it. The larger the circle the more popular the artist. It will also load the albums(with covers) and list them in the dialog. It's hard to describe. Go play with it. I'm not as impressed with the new movie version as the music but it is newer so maybe it'll get better over time.