The amount of recorded music that exists in the world is
mind-boggling. Even with the limited scope of contemporary rock,
pop, country and hip-hop, sorting through all of it would take a
lifetime, three quarters of which would be wasted on awful
material.
With the increased accessibility of music thanks to new
technology, the real problem is finding what’s worth your
time. Nearly every media source has something different to say and
its own opinions to broadcast.
Television is an easy place to look, but it’s usually not
the best. Channels such as MTV and VH1 have been “about the
music” for several decades now, but in recent years the only
thing that qualifies MTV as “Music Television” is its
use of melodramatic pop songs during particularly emotional scenes
of “Laguna Beach.” Fuse and mtvU have more to offer,
because they actually show music videos, and, every so often, a
decent indie artist like Band of Horses or Madvillain will sneak
into the lineup. Occasionally, a band like Death Cab for Cutie or
Sufjan Stevens will sneak onto “The O.C.”, but despite
the occasional indie handout, most of what you get on television is
mainstream, songs that the networks know will make them money.
A better bet is to hit the music section of your local magazine
stand. Music magazines offer a much broader range of artists to
discover, but there is also the problem of which magazine to choose
and the obvious inability to hear what the bands sound like through
its pages. Rolling Stone covers a fair amount of mainstream
releases but ignores all but the most conventional or buzz-worthy
indie records. Filter focuses on the conventional, melody-based
spectrum of indie music. Urb is all about hip-hop, but rarely pays
attention to its more experimental facets. Arthur covers artists no
other publication does, but also gives the spotlight to bands that
don’t necessarily deserve it. If you can find a magazine with
a musical preference identical to your own, you’re golden;
but, if you’re like me, part of the joy is discovering new
styles.
What is, in my opinion, the best place to find new music is the
Internet. However, it can also be the most daunting. In addition to
the bigger music criticism Web sites like Pitchfork and All Music
Guide, there are thousands of music blogs, some of which are
updated multiple times a day. The offer of free song downloads from
these Web sites is easily their best feature, but the decision to
choose 10 blogs out of 10,000 to visit frequently is a difficult
choice indeed.
Because there are so many bloggers out there, all advertising
their own favorite groups and styles, the average browser has an
endless amount of music (most of which is worth listening to) right
at his or her fingertips. All that’s really necessary to get
the most from these blogs is to spend 10 minutes clicking from blog
to blog and downloading every song you see. From there, make a
playlist of the songs and put them on while you’re doing
homework, reading, hanging out with friends, or you just want to
relax. You’re bound to come across two or three artists you
really like and want to pursue, and the music you don’t like
didn’t cost you a thing.
This way, there is no longer any middleman between you and the
music; you find your own favorite groups from a random portion of
what the Internet has to offer and, when you’re sick of what
you have, you can do it all again.
Duhamel wrote this to console himself over his hard drive
going up in flames. E-mail him at dduhamel@media.ucla.edu.