Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Music Search

It is a common question asked by bloggers about how I find and discover all this music that I feature on my blog. A lot of it has to do with mix cds my bestie gives me or songs my high school dance teacher played, but my main source is New Music Tuesdays on itunes. It is a little weekly ritual of mine to go open up the itunes store every Tuesday morning. Depending on the week and how much cool stuff comes out determines how much time is spent doing this (it could be up to an hour - whoops!). If you want to start discovering new music, follow these steps:
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1. Go though all the pages of the "New and Noteworthy" (usually like 4) and listen to artists you have heard of, whose name sounds interesting, or who has cool album art (I am a sucker for packaging). Sometimes you just need to listen to one song to know you don't like them.
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2. Look though the "What's Hot", "Indies" and "What Were Listening" to categories too.
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3. Always get the free singles every week - they have had some great ones like Lily Allen, The Fray, Amy Winehouse, etc. By the time these people got popular on the radio, I had already owned and loved the song. A lot of these singles are under the radar and are about to make it big. Just delete it if you don't like it - its free after all. Even download the latino single too, because even though I cant understand it, they still sometimes sound cool!
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4. The "Genius" (just for you) application is great too - look and preview through some of that. Also check out "My Alerts" to see if any of the artists you have purchased from out out any new music.
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5. Basically even if you never heard of the band and they look interesting, still check them out. You will most probs be pleasantly surprised.
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6. And since I can't spend 100.00 a week on itunes, I write down names of artists in a notebook (its now like 15 pages) to go back and look up when you want some good music. OR... you can create a playlist on your itunes called"wish list" or "to buy" and drag and add the songs you discovered at the store but cant buy yet or are still pondering to buy. It will stay forever in your playlist until you are ready to purchase the song. It keeps my wish list MUCH more organized!!
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7. Before you pay $10 for an album on itunes or the new $1.29 price for a single song, look it up at the amazon MP3 store. Cd's there have the same quality but are usually a few dollars cheaper and all their songs are .99. Those mp3 also automatically start downloading into your itunes library - its soooo easy!
Hope some of these tips help - HAPPY HUNTING!!

13 comments:

la petite fashionista said...

your music playlists are always the best! (i always download quite a few after you post them) so glad to know your secrets! i love pandora.com for finding new songs :)

Anonymous said...

thanks for the tips

did you know there are a few public radiostations that give away songs for free every day in the form of a podcast. look for 89.3 the current, my local favorite, and a cool one out of seattle- kEXP

Sara said...

I love how you create a musical wishlist within your itunes account, how clever!
I've learned a new trick!

Also, at Starbucks ( at leat me local Starbucks here in Florida) you can also get itunes "pick of the week" cards every Tuesday! This week it was Zee Avi, which I actually looked up because of your post! So, that's TWO FREE songs from itunes EVERY WEEK! Yipee!

Gigi said...

that post was quite useful!
I lso recomend to simply watch Live from abey road or Vh1 you can find really good stuff there!
pretty image where is ti from?
love your blog!
www.holidayinhere.blogspot.com

Cancha-diction said...

the television channel current has great upcoming artists as well!

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

I love Rilo Kiley. I'm so out of the musical loop it is amazing when I find bands I like. :)

shooting stars said...

new music tuesdays are like christmas! they're the best! :p

Lindsay said...

Thanks for all the tips! I too, am a free music Tuesday lover. Be sure to also add the Free on iTunes App on Facebook. I just downloaded an entire 10 song Warped Tour playlist for free. Also, www.purevolume.com has a TON of free music posted by indie artists on the rise. I've actually discoverd a few of my most favorite new artists there, like Civalias :)

-Lindsay

erika sorocco said...

I'm kind of in love with these tips. Fabulous! :)

Amelia said...

Great tips! I wish I had the patience for hunting. I usually just listen to old favorites or coerce my friends into making mix CDs for me.

Frock Around the Clock said...

Good tips! I seem to be a bit stuck in the past with regards to music - people like Elton John always end up in the cd player in my car! :) x

by averie said...

dear ms. modern marie,

one. i love this blog! i've been reading it for almost over two years! two. i've just started blogging on my own and i was just wondering how you get the word out there to let other bloggers know you're here?

thanks, averie

Unknown said...

great tips! spotify and lastfm are also very useful. lastfm gives you suggestions that you can check from spotify.. oh, i just love modern technology.