:notes: /music discovery/

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:pushpin: Written by Dan / FMHY.net :date: Last updated: 5.4.25 :speech_balloon: danxyz7 on Discord


Table of Contents:


Music Journalism

Music Journalism is often overlooked by people wanting to find new music, but we forget that each publication has their target audiences.

  • If you're a fan of bands coming from the underground into the mainstream, NME or The Fader was a good choice
  • If you're a fan of hip-hop, XXL or The Source was your go-to.
  • If you liked heavy metal or punk music, Kerrang was what you liked
  • Fans of electronic music had Mixmag or Resident Advisor
  • The most mainstream stuff was covered by either Rolling Stone or Billboard
  • If you were a basement dwelling nerd who breathes music and had everything on vinyl, and only listened to FLAC, you had The Wire.

Outside of magazines, you have online publications such as Pitchfork. Pitchfork gets a bad rap with their constant budget cuts and layoffs but they honestly paved the way for modern music journalism. They still have a solid team of editors.

Their Best New Music section is a great place to find new records, with a good amount of variety within their recommendations. Their Best New Reissues section is great too.

Hearing Things was started by various ex-Pitchfork employees and they're trying to replicate the early days of Pitchfork.

The Wire and The Quietus are two sites which I frequent regularly since they have curated a very unique niche in the music industry, mainly covering underground music and the more experimental side.

The Wire

The Wire managed to cover a lot of popular acts, way before their stardom and basically when the mainstream wasn't paying too much attention to them.

MF DOOM featured on their cover before the release of MM.. FOOD? Lil B featured on the cover, as well as Moor Mother before she went on an incredible run of albums.

The Wire is on the cutting edge of music, and if you're on the hunt for new music that's well outside of the mainstream, they are by far the best for discovery.

The Quietus

The Quietus lean towards the experimental side of music. They are one of the best sources to get recommendations for the bleeding edge of music.

Their Album of the Week section is great. Every week, the site awards a new album of the week. To accompany it, there is usually a great writeup of the album.

Bandcamp Daily

Bandcamp specialize in highlighting the more obscure side of music. They have their Features, Album of the Day as well as their Lists which is a treasure trove of new music. If you want to get a sense of what the artist is writing about, you can also listen to that on there and even buy the album if you wanted to.

Influencers

For many people, influencers are the best way to discover new music. They prefer watching a video review by someone who knows their stuff over reading a lengthy 500-page article on Pitchfork.

Anthony Fantano gets a lot of hate, but the New York Times once wrote that he is the only music critic that really matters. His reviews aren't always accurate, but he covers a wide array of different genres. From the mainstream to the alternative to indie.

Many younger people see Fantano as their introduction to more complex music. He has had a significant impact over the years. He helped make Death Grips well-known, recognized Charli XCX when she evolved from hyperpop to a more experimental sound, and even helped Young Fathers land a record deal thanks to his favourable reviews.


I have always enjoyed Deep Cuts. They have been influential in shaping my music taste. This guide exists because of them and this video.

They venture into genres you probably have never heard of.

They barely upload anymore, unfortunately because he has an actual job instead of living on YouTube money so hopefully they come back soon.

Their Spotify profile, with all of their playlists is here.


I also enjoy Derrick Gee.

He has interviews with prominent artists, highlights on lesser known scenes or commentary on the state of art and music.

He considers himself as a curator, and he doesn't really like the term influencer.

Unfortunately, for every Fantano or Derrick Gee, there are about ten DJ Akademiks types who aren't interested in music for its own sake, but rather for the drama and recognition it can bring. That's why it's important to be selective about what you listen to, instead of just following what the algorithm suggests.


Forums and Social Media

With mass adoption of the internet in the early 2000s, forums and social media played a big role in spreading diverse music tastes. People were no longer limited to discovering new songs from radio stations or MTV; they could see what other music lovers were enjoying. This shift likely explains why Pitchfork became so important during the early days of music blogs online as the music they highlighted resonated with the interests and feelings of people online.

You could be talking with anons from 4chan, trawling around MySpace or Soulseek for underground music, it was truly a time where you could be free from the influences of record labels.

These days, it’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. If you’ve noticed how social media and forums have changed over the years, they mostly serve as advertising platforms for companies. However, there are still some safe places out there if you know where to find them.

☯ Rate Your Music

Rate Your Music has pretty good tastemakers for new and old music. I like to browse through their homepage, just to see what others are rating highly. It's worth going through their New Music section if you're like to see whatever is coming out.

🛸 Reddit

Subreddits focusing on different genres you are interested in is also good.

My favourites include:
Ambient: r/ambientmusic
Grime: r/grime
Hip Hop: r/hiphopheads

4chan

Don't bother. Some of it's users have some decent recommendations, but they are few and far inbetween. Use at your own risk.
Their essentials charts have been highly regarded in previous years, but they have significantly dropped off in quality.

That's about it for forums and social media. It's getting increasingly harder to find forums and meeting places for niches and things have been colonized by social media but if you have anywhere you like to frequent for new music, let me know.


Radio

NTS Radio is a radio station that was established in 2011 and is perhaps the greatest source of curated music on the entire internet.
Artists and musicians are frequently invited to create their own mixes from a wide variety of genres.

They have two shows on their site. NTS Guide To.. and NTS In Focus.

NTS Guide To..

  • Deep dives into a band or musician's body of work

NTS In Focus

  • Deep dives into a genre, scene or record label

Sara A is a collector and DJ from New York that showcases lesser known punk sounds from the 70's and 80's.
Fortuna Records showcases psychedelic rock, Indian folk and middle eastern grooves.
Theo Parrish hasn't frequented NTS in a while, but his mixes are HOURS long showcasing soul, house, disco and funk.
Jamal Khadar does an introspective on country music, and looks at what it's influences are.

Literally ANY mix by an artist you're a fan of is great too. You get a good idea of what has influenced them over time.

The Black Midi (RIP) Variety Hour showcased what influenced them too. Pop, jazz, crooning and art rock.

These mixes are similar to what Amoeba Records does with their channel but instead of them talking about the records that influenced them, you can actually hear what they've been listening to.


SomaFM is a unique online radio station that offers multiple channels and is funded completely by donations from its listeners, created by Rusty Hodge in 2000. It's channels are largely ad-free, apart from asking for a donation every few hours to keep the station running.

I've found so much good music from these channels. With my favourites being Drone Zone, and Groove Salad.

Below are it's channels:

Channel Genre/Theme Year Added
Drone Zone Drone 2000
Groove Salad Downtempo/Chillout 2000
Secret Agent Lounge/Jazz with a 1960s spy theme 2000
Indie Pop Rocks! Indie Pop/Indie Rock 2002
cliqhop idm Intelligent Dance Music 2002
Beat Blender House/Downtempo/Chillout 2002
Boot Liquor Americana 2003
Tag's Trip Classic Trance/Progressive Trance 2004
Xmas in Frisko Eclectic Christmas-themed music (Seasonal) 2005
Space Station Soma Ambient Space Music 2006
Illinois Street Lounge Lounge Music 2006
Doomed Industrial/Dark Ambient 2006
Sonic Universe Avant-garde Jazz 2008
Lush Female-driven Vocal Downtempo 2008
Digitalis Self-produced Indie Rock and Electronic Music 2008
Suburbs of Goa Desi/Arabic-influenced Worldbeat 2008
Underground 80s Early 80s British Synthpop and New Wave 2008
Christmas Lounge Christmas-themed Lounge Music 2008
Mission Control Ambient Music mixed with NASA Mission Broadcasts 2009
PopTron Electropop/Dance-rock 2009
Covers Cover Songs 2009
Black Rock FM Burning Man Festival Broadcast 2010
South by Soma Music by artists from the SXSW Festival 2012
SF 10–33 Ambient Music with San Francisco Public Safety Radio 2012
Dub Step Beyond Dubstep and Bass-driven Electronic Music 2012
Folk Forward Indie Folk, Alternative Folk 2012
Christmas Rocks! Christmas-themed Indie/Alternative Rock 2012
DEF CON Radio Music from DEF CON's Chill Room 2013
Iceland Airwaves Music by artists from the Iceland Airwaves Festival 2013
Deep Space One Deep Ambient Electronic and Space Music 2013
Seven Inch Soul Classic Soul Music 2014
Left Coast 70s Mellow Album-oriented Rock from the 1970s 2015
Fluid Instrumental Hip Hop/Future Soul/Liquid Trap 2015
ThistleRadio Celtic Music 2015
Metal Detector Heavy Metal 2015
Jolly Ol' Soul Christmas-themed Soul Music 2015
SomaFM Live Live Music Broadcasts 2015
Groove Salad Classic Early 2000s Downtempo/Chillout 2019
Department Store Xmas Christmas-themed Beautiful Music 2019
Heavyweight Reggae Reggae, Dub, Ska, and Rocksteady 2020
Vaporwaves Vaporwave 2020
n5MD Radio Music from the n5MD Label 2020
Synphaera Modern Electronic Ambient and Space Music 2021
The In-Sound 1960s & 1970s Euro-Pop 2023
Tiki Time Exotica 2023
Bossa Beyond Bossa Nova & Samba 2023
Chillits Recordings from Chillits Performances 2024

Why Record Labels have Niches

If you look at record labels like Sony, Universal or Warner, you will find that they're a jack of all trades but a master of none.
Independent labels, or at least smaller branches of big labels are led by a curator.

If you're a fan of J Cole in the hip hop genre, it's worth checking out his label Dreamville.
Kendrick Lamar has Top Dawg Entertainment, Playboi Carti fans have his label Opium.

Factory Records was based in Manchester, UK in the late 70's and they brought Joy Division (and later New Order) to the world.

Kranky is a titan of the ambient genre, with Stars of the Lid, Grouper, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Labradford and Tim Hecker in their stable.

Brainfeeder have Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Haitus Kaiyote and Dorian Concept.

Warp have Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Danny Brown, Death Grips, Nightmares on Wax, Oneohtrix Point Never and Squarepusher.

Ninja Tune have A Winged Victory for The Sullen, The Cinematic Orchestra, Floating Points and Kamasi Washington.

Never Trust The Algorithm

Finding tastemakers and curators that you can trust is really important.

It doesn't have to be Anthony Fantano, Derrick Gee, Sara A or Kranky Records, but you should rely on other sources other than algorithms to influence your music tastes.

Why don't you mention YouTube or Spotify?

Their curated playlists are a red flag, and I don't recommend listening to anything Spotify gives you.

Liz Pelly recently released a book entitled Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of a Perfect Playlist.
It focuses on the negative effects Spotify has had on the music industry, particularly for artists, as well as some concerning practices by the company.

Below is a summary of her book.

Anthony Fantano has also interviewed Liz Pelly here.

  1. Corporate Greed and Lack of Morality:
    Spotify is being criticized for taking advantage of artists and diminishing the worth of music. Pelly argues that Spotify's way of doing business puts profits first, aiming to attract passive listeners instead of encouraging people to discover new music or support the artists themselves.
  2. Royalties and Streaming Model:
    Spotify’s payment system is unfair because artists get paid based on how their streams compare to others in each country, instead of how many streams they have on their own. This results in a situation where only a handful of top artists make a lot of money, while smaller artists find it hard to get paid fairly.
  3. Homogenization of Music:
    Spotify's playlists driven by algorithms tend to prefer "beige" and easy-listening music that fades into the background. This has led to the emergence of a genre called "Spotifycore." This genre is characterized by its vague, calming sound and lack of strong emotions, making it suitable for background listening rather than active enjoyment. This trend negatively impacts creativity and diversity in the music industry.
  4. Spotify4Artists and Pressure on Musicians:
    Spotify offers tools like Spotify4Artists that motivate musicians to adjust their music to match the preferences of the algorithm. This trend encourages a more formulaic approach to music. As a result, artists often feel compelled to create songs that fit the platform’s playlist-focused model, sometimes compromising their artistic vision in pursuit of more streams.
  5. Fake Artists and Stock Music:
    Spotify is facing criticism for including what some call "perfect fit content" (PFC) in its playlists - these are generic, unoriginal songs created by session musicians or produced by stock music companies. Often, these tracks are hidden behind fake artist names and fictional biographies, which reduces the music's authenticity and quality.
  6. Future of Music and AI:
    Pelly also looks into how Spotify is trying out AI-generated music, like the Soundscape project, which would create endless, personalized background music without any input from users. This hints at Spotify’s idea of a future where listening to music is even more automatic and driven by algorithms.

While the book had been released in January 2025, rumours spread beforehand about the damage it could cause to Spotify's stock price.
CEO Daniel Ek sold 420,000 shares of Spotify stock in late 2023 and early 2024, and earned $199.7 million.


Every Noise vs. Spotify Playlists

What is Every Noise?

Every Noise at Once is a unique map of thousands of music genres created by Glenn McDonald, a former data scientist at Spotify - but not for making playlists. It sorts music by how it sounds, rather than how popular it is in an algorithm.

Imagine a huge sound map where genres are placed based on how similar they are acoustically. You can dive into very specific genres, explore small music scenes, and go down interesting musical paths from around the world.

McDonald lost access to the Spotify data in 2024 so, it no longer updates in real-time. But it's still a great resource for finding new music to listen to, as there are thousands of genres. You can do this manually here.

What Do Intro, Playlist, Pulse, and Edge Mean?

Every Noise gives you 4 main options when you click on a genre. Here's what each one actually does (and why it's different from Spotify’s usual experience):


1. Intro ▶️

“What does this genre basically sound like?”

  • Starting point for understanding what a genre is like
  • Automatically generated to give a quick, raw taste of the sound.

Purpose:

Great for: First impressions, exploring unknown scenes, fast scanning.


2. Playlist 🎵

“Give me a full playlist of this genre.”

  • A dynamically built Spotify playlist for that genre.
  • Not hand-curated.
  • Purely based on how the Spotify data clusters the sound together - not popularity or trendiness.

Purpose:

Great for: Deep dives, soundtracking your day with one specific scene.


3. Pulse ❤️

“What’s CURRENTLY active in this genre?”

  • Showed recent songs being listened to by fans of that genre.
  • Used to pull from real-time Spotify user behaviour.
  • Think of it like the heartbeat of the scene.

Purpose:

Great for: Finding what’s hot inside a micro-genre community right now.


4. Edge ⚡

“Show me the weirdest/most distinctive tracks at the edges of this genre.”

  • Songs that stretch or challenge the definition of the genre.
  • Usually outliers, experiments, or hybrids.
  • Not the mainstream — the fringe.

Purpose:

Great for: Discovering boundary-pushing stuff or seeing where the genre bleeds into others.


Summary Table (for 2024 data)

Feature What It Does Best For
Intro An introduction to the genre Good starting point
Playlist Full Spotify playlist from the genre cluster Deep diving
Pulse Trending songs in the scene What was current & hot
Edge Weird, rare, experimental songs near the genre Finding outliers

How it Differs From Spotify Playlists

Every Noise Spotify Playlists
Genre-mapped by sound similarity Curated by engagement data & branding
Shows niche, regional, and underground genres Focuses on broad, generic mood playlists
No concern for marketability Optimized for low-skip, passive listening
Built for exploration Built for retention
Leads to subculture Leads to sameness

The Core Difference: Map vs Filter

Spotify Playlists is Containment & Comfort

  • Flatten genre
  • Reduce friction
  • Maximize playtime
  • Designed for background listening

Every Noise is Chaos & Discovery

  • Expand genre
  • Increase friction
  • Maximize curiosity
  • Designed for active exploration

Why This Matters

Spotify playlists often collapse genre into vague, mood-driven categories like:

  • chill
  • focus
  • feel good
  • throwback

This makes music easier to consume but strips away regional, cultural, and stylistic uniqueness.

Meanwhile, Every Noise explodes genre into hyper-local, ultra-specific scenes like:

  • Deep Discofox
  • German Cloud Rap
  • Brazilian Death Metal
  • Vapor Twitch
  • Scottish Jazz

Genres you’d never see in an official Spotify playlist because they aren’t built for mass consumption.


Every Noise shows you how weird, messy, and beautiful music culture really is.
Spotify Playlists show you how smooth, safe, and marketable music can become.


With AI becoming more accessible, we shouldn't give the algorithm the means to influence our tastes, as music streaming corporations are capitalists and they generally want to make the most money. The most important part of discovery is the human touch.

You can see the royalties given by these companies in a guide that I have also written here.

If you feel that there are errors (or you just want to give general feedback), please feel free to reach out. 💬Discord: danxyz7

Edit Report
Pub: 01 Apr 2025 14:27 UTC
Edit: 05 Apr 2025 18:43 UTC
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