The power of music is undeniable; people use it to unleash their emotions, escape from the stresses of the day, or to have fun. It is common to see a person streaming music while sitting on a bus, riding on the elevator, or even while at work.
If you are an avid music fan, there might come a time when you need something new and exciting. If you need extra help finding cool new music, we have curated some great music discovery tools you should check out.
1. MuzicSwipe
If you are growing tired of the same old artists and your old playlists and want to discover some fresh new talent, then MuzicSwipe is one of the very best resources you can find.
MuzicSwipe is an online music and content discovery platform geared towards aspiring artists and fans looking for exclusive new content that cannot be found anywhere else. The platform offers various features that are designed to offer maximum exposure to emerging music artists and connect them to a diverse community of fans all over the world.
The app is highly connected and works directly with independent artists from every skill level and genre. The platform ensures that every fan has a true-to-life live music experience and has access to exclusive content and events.
The platform was established by Eric Dalius, who is working to revolutionize the music discovery process. MuzicSwipe aims to form strong partnerships with various artists, record labels, and distributors, while working on expanding the pool of artists in its database.
The platform operates on an innovative process of uploading artists’ Clips. In order to market themselves, artists are prompted to create a 15-second music preview card called Clips. Any artist can upload up to 10 Clips. These Clips can then each be tagged with three different genres, which can help the artist connect with relevant music audiences around the world.
The platform is free and offers a truckload of new music that cannot be found anywhere else on the net.
2. YouTube
YouTube is one of the most efficient platforms for discovering new music, thanks to its global audience, a huge variety of content, and different behavior sets.
One of the most interesting types of music content you can find on YouTube is mixes. The platform features mixes in all genres imaginable, allowing music fans to discover very rare hidden gems. Fans can search the name of a specific genre, look for DJs, or browse channels that specialize in these mixes, like the Boiler Room for EDM/techno/House.
YouTube can also create mixes automatically by using the autoplay feature to read the first recommendation after listening to a track. You can also manually select tracks that are listed as recommendations after listening to music.
The platform also offers various specialized channels that feature a specific and highly specialized niche of music. Although some channels only focus on the technical aspect of music, they also offer references to popular artists or bands as examples of their explanation.
3. Spotify
If you are a music fan, then you likely have an account on Spotify. The music discovery platform has transformed the music landscape in less than two decades. The Swedish music streaming service has half a billion songs, which means it has plenty of songs for people of all tastes to discover and enjoy. In addition, it is a great place for budding music artists to promote themselves.
Spotify offers genre-based playlists and many of them are curated by your favorite artists. Users can also create wonderful playlists with other Spotify members. The service also collects music data and uses it to create a customized playlist that features similar genre music and tagged artists to help fans discover new music.
One of the most popular features of Spotify is “Discover Weekly.” If you are a Spotify user, you already know that Mondays means new music via the “Discover Weekly” playlist. The playlist is crafted using data from millions of playlists and blending them to give you a fresh new playlist every week.
4. Bandcamp
Bandcamp is one of the most popular platforms out there that is designed not just to purchase music from independent artists but also to discover great new music.
The platform has a wonderful tagging system designed for music exploration and discovery. It has its own “Discover” section, which allows users to select various search categories based on genres, formats, tags, etc. It also offers various curation possibilities as well, including the fan pages that showcase the latest purchases, leave notes on tracks, follow select artists, and create wish lists.
Users can also check out the artist recommendations added at the bottom of their profile page. You can also hand-select your own curators by following other users of the site.
Another great resource you can check out in Bandcamp is Buy Music Club, which is the place for creating and browsing lists of independent music that you can buy on the platform. Anyone can create a list but the platform curates and shares the favorite tracks on the homepage.
If you are getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of tags on the site, simply go to the homepage, which features great new music and albums to purchase.
5. Last.fm
Last.fm has a cult-following, as a platform, that aggregates top streaming music, recommendations, music news, and statistics related to your music choices. Users can plug it into their music discovery tool that is supported. The platform also offers an Android app and browser extensions to track your music listening on the web or on the go.
Last.fm is perfect for tracking versatile music preferences and introducing you to artists that you love. Simply create an account, connect it to your streaming services, and start listening to music.
Your profile at Last.fm keeps a record of everything you play. After you have listened to some music for a specific amount of time, the platform will have accumulated enough data to create a curated list of recommendations for you.
The app recommends emerging artists, reoffers songs you have previously heard, and posts news about concerts and events of artists.
Other Music Discovery Tools You Can Use
Aside from these specially-designed tools, there are so many other tools where you can find your next favorite artist and song. You can take a look at some of these resources to find hidden gems.
Music Publications
Although many people believe that print media has gone out of fashion, the big music publications still garner a lot of fans like the Rolling Stone magazine, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Fader, and the like. Although music publications have changed a lot over the years, there will always be music fans who are willing to provide great journalism.
Here are some great new resources which can help you find cool music:
Gold Flake Paint: This music blog offers in-depth insight into your favorite kind of music. The journal features independent music with a focus on singer-songwriter, psych, folk, and garage, while covering many other versatile aspects as well.
Bandcamp Daily: Bandcamp’s blog offers some of the most well-thought-out and diverse music journalism in the industry. It is a perfect blog for any music nerd.
Aquarium Drunkard: The publication features daily sessions, podcasts, interviews, reviews, and features. The Aquarium Drunkard offers a blend of contemporary music with psych, avant-garde, garage, funk, jazz, and beyond.
The Grey Estates: This blog is focused on indie rock and highlights the demographic diversity in this genre of music. Music lovers can find things like punk, post-rock, garage rock, bedroom pop, singer-songwriter, and more.
The Alternative: The Alternative is the publication that provides reviews, interviews, premiers, and so much more on various genres of alternative music.
Internet Radio
One of the most favorite types of music discovery resources is community radio. This channel features a passionate DJ who knows everything there is to know about musical niches and dedicates several hours to it each week.
Some of the most popular types of stations on internet radio include KOOP in Austin, TX, WMNF in Tampa Bay, FL, and WFMU in NYC.
Aside from community radio, you can also find great new music on public radio as well as college radio, so don’t be quick to overlook this channel for discovering music.
Music Podcasts
Music podcasts are a great way to find out about cool new music, artists, and albums. There are a lot of great podcasts out there that feature both old and new music. You can take a look at these excellent resources and you are sure to find wonderful gems here.
Record/Sample Labels
A great way to keep on top of all things music is to subscribe to the newsletters of your favorite music record labels. Make sure you also start following them on social media as well. This will help you keep up with all the latest releases produced by your favorite record labels and sample labels.
Films and TV
The art of pairing moving images with music has revolutionized over the century and now big record labels are collaborating with moviemakers to bring the best of both worlds to audiences. As such, films and shows have become an excellent way to discover top-class music from A-list artists.
While watching your favorite film or show, it pays to give close attention to music and Shazam any songs that you love.
Record Stores
Online record stores like Discogs, Bleep, and Bookmat are great resources for finding music. However, there is something to be said for visiting a physical record store. Nothing beats the feeling of walking down the aisles filled with albums to discover great new music you didn’t even know existed.
Although nothing can beat the experience of browsing through a catalog in a physical record store, you can also visit the websites of these stores to find out what music they have. In addition, you can sign up for the newsletter to find out about the exciting stuff that is happening.
Final Words
The list that we have given above is far from exhaustive. There are dozens of music discovery tools, both old and new, that have a huge fan following and can be a great place to discover cool new music.
However, if you do not want to do any extra research on looking for the best new music discovery tools, our best bet is to try MuzicSwipe which offers unbelievably versatile music from all niches.
What’s more, it is easy to discover new music in the genre you prefer, thanks to its extensive tagging system as well as its 15-second Clip feature, which allow users to listen to what they are in for before buying the music from their selected independent artist.
Come join our community of music lovers today at MuzicSwipe and discover cool new music that is not available anywhere else.
Eric Dalius is The Executive Chairman of MuzicSwipe, a music and content discovery platform designed to maximize artist discovery and optimize fan relationships. Eric is also known for his weekly podcast “FULLSPEED,” where he converses with influential entrepreneurs from a range of industries. Additionally, he supports education through the “Eric Dalius Foundation,” which grants four scholarships to US students. Stay connected with Eric on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube, Instagram, and Entrepreneur.com.
