I don’t know about you, but I love discovering new music. It’s one of my favourite things. I’ve never been one of those people who can listen to the same artists over and over again. I always need something new to listen to, just to keep things fresh and interesting.

Before the Internet, finding new music was a little more of a challenge. It wasn’t particularly difficult to find something new but we were restricted more by what was made available to us on radio and TV, generally speaking. Of course there were the underground zines which catered for the less mainstream side of things but for the majority of us, we had less freedom of choice and very much had to listen to what we were given.

Things have changed so much in the past few years and most definitely for the better.

It is so much easier to find new music, whether by unsigned artists or just those you haven’t heard before. There are vibrant online music communities full of unsigned talent and many discovery tools designed to introduce us to artists similar to those we already listen to.

There are times when I go online specifically to find new music and I can quite happily spend hours reading reviews on Absolute Punk or Pitchfork in the hope that I will discover my next favourite band.

I wanted to find out how others perceive the internet as a tool for music discovery and if there were any particular people or websites that influenced their decisions.

Jeremy Patrick is a fellow music lover I have come to know via Twitter. He always has a plethora of recommendations and blogs regularly about his discoveries. I wanted to find out who influences him and what his thoughts were on discovering music online.

Like myself, Jeremy is always on the lookout for new music. He is influenced greatly by some of the people he follows on Twitter, namely @valeriesee, @indiebeanie, @dharma69 and @michaelceldon. He makes a good point in saying that you don’t necessarily need to be a friend of someone or even know them to trust their opinion and that music can be such a uniting force:

I can’t explain why this is, but it’s somehow magical that people on the other side of the world can be united by music.

I also spoke with Anthony Reitzel who is a singer/songwriter based in Ohio. Again, I wanted to find out his opinions. Unlike Jeremy and myself, he doesn’t actively look for new music but does keep his eyes and ears open should he stumble across something new.

His influencers include Jeremy Patrick and Colette Weintraub of Rock Is A Girl’s Best Friend, who Jeremy also quotes as a major influence on the music he listens to.

Anthony says:

From the moment I read their blogs I knew that they both loved music. Colette treats music like spiritual experiences. She feels the music and her blogs are always so heartfelt in regard to the music. Jeremy pays so much attention to detail which is a testament to his love of music. His blog posts are always in depth. He always finds something positive to say about a band regardless of his stance on them. I trust their taste because of this.

We can gather from this that music blogs can be a great influence on musical discovery. There will generally have to be some commonality in musical tastes in order for the recommendations to be trusted but with the sheer volume of music blogs out there, there is bound to be at least one person with very similar taste to you!

So, how does this relate to independent artists?

I think for the reasons mentioned above, good relationships with music bloggers are important as they could introduce them to a wider audience, which really is what online promotion is all about. Cultivating these relationships organically is so important, so don’t expect a quick-fix – it has to be a two-way street after all!

If you are an independent artist, why not share your music and the music of others via Twitter, Facebook or even through a blog? You have to give to get anything back, so start now! The Internet works best when we share our knowledge, tastes and experiences with others, whether that is via social media, blogging or any other means.

Now that we have the Internet, we should embrace it, perhaps even more so than we have already. There is so much out there to be discovered. Get out there and find it!