I'm interested in hearing about YOUR process for checking out new music

i think the only thing i've ever bought because of pitchfork was that one controversial momus album and some kompakt compilation.

i investigated girls aloud because of stylus, which was a mistake.

metacritic isn't that helpful to me because i hate critical consensus, generally speaking.

More people should listen to Snook, btw.

Oof, that's a pathway to despair if ever there was one.

i was gonna say, yer doomed! glad someone else said it first.

Announced yesterday

Book announcement: Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll
http://alchemi.co.uk/archives/mus/book_announceme.html

People have access to vastly more music, video and other entertainment than ten years ago. In the case of music, record companies are releasing twice as many new albums per year. Not only that, but some are 'rescuing' old and deleted tracks for release in the digital marketplace.

So how do people find out about all this material? How do they judge what they might like? I'm writing a book that addresses these questions. The title is Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll: Who knows what's next in media and music in the new era of digital discovery and the download culture (the lengthy subtitle may change). It will be published next year by Nicholas Brealey Publishing, UK publishers of John Battelle's The Search and many other titles on digital enterprise and learning.

Here's a chapter outline, which comes with all the usual disclaimers about being subject to change.

1 What we like: introduction
An overview of behaviour in listening/viewing/playing, collecting, and discovering digital media. The three pillars of discovery, and the new services that illustrate different means of discovery.

2 New media (r)evolution
How the history, culture and technology of media and music are woven together. The long tail. The ergonomics of listening and viewing: the rise of personalisation and mobile players.

3 Talking 'bout the My generation: active audiences
The engaged audience (active, social, participative). Collecting and curating. How to fill the gaps in our knowledge about these behaviours, and the regulatory, technological and business factors that may affect them.

4 The vibe raters: social dynamics in audiences
The motivations for discovery. Profiling of groups of music listeners, and their different approaches to music discovery. 'Swarming' tendencies in ratings. The ecology of media discovery as on-demand sources proliferate.

5 Link, listen, learn: the logic of incidental discovery
Examples of online discovery. The nature of 'self-service' learning. The carriers of discovery, including buzz marketing, featuring the example of playlist sharing.

6 Discovery channels: reviewing methods of exploration and learning
Case studies and critiques of recommendation engines, search and on-demand techniques, aggregation and bundling, commentary and documentary.

7 Our tunes: tapping the power of the network
Editors or no editors? User-generated reference material and ratings of content. Linking the network to the off-line world, including physical objects and locations. A 'whole systems' view.

8 Discovery culture: future scenarios
Scenarios to illustrate possible futures, from the point of view of both listeners/viewers and industry professionals.

9 Whatever you say we like, that's what we don't: implications for different players
How do the use cases for different players dovetail? Can we identify cause and effect?

10 Who knows who's next: reflection and prognosis
Review of gains and losses. The barriers to progress. International perspectives. What issues are specific to music, and how does the picture for TV, video, games and other digital content compare.

The book will have its own blog, which I'll link to in the next few weeks.

If you know of any instances of discovery of music or other media, or if you're professionally involved in any discovery service and willing to be interviewed, please get in touch.

digital underground
craig morgan
johnny horton
sonny osbourne
ghostface/ne-yo
teddy pendergrass
r.kelly
patrice rushen
bossaliny/twisted black
soulfly
audioslave
kix
pink floyd
weezer
the members
vhs or beta
dj dusko justic
alanis morissette
hall & oates
anna nalick
sky & the family stone
color me badd
madonna
led zeppelin
the monkees
the four freshmen
harry james
johnny pearson
shades of soul
frank amsallem
terry evans
cecile
anuvida/nik tyndall
nancy dussault
casting crowns
intime ministries/c.w. cooper
los del rios
the 13th sign
nael/dion
elliot maysonet
kevin johansen
los panchos

I read here and I get promos off a few labels also.

I then get any other stuff my own manual searching has missed in record stores, I don't order everything for the shop I work in so sometimes stuff comes in I've missed or whatever.

I also hear most of my non-dance likes at work.

Eh, that looks like a pretty lame roster.

Haha, that's kind of what it's like to listen to Radio 1 in England. Sometimes Belle and Sebastian comes on, though.

I also subscribe to a few email newsletters:
Other Music
Aquarius Records
Listen Records (a great shop in Edmonton Alberta)
Volcanic Tongue

Check out Boomkat an awful lot.

Read the odd website/magazine, but they don't influence my purchases or downloads very often.

ILM seems like the best source there is for the germanic goodness.
pfork
stlus
dusted
norman records reviews!
friends (with large dollops of suspicion.. know their tastes far too well, but they occasionally hit right with some leftfield never would have gone near it myself suggestion).
other message boards, chat
stuff I know will be in line with my own preferences
email lists (earplug... I forget the other one)
hmm... record stores? I wish :(
a couple of stores have very handy new release e-mailouts. i check those every week.
hype machine, betterpropaganda, listening previews, very naughty blogs for checking out (more ruling out tbh!) flavour of the moment stuff
occasionally boredom will lead to a likely looking blog download (this actually clicks with something I'd buy almost as infrequently as music television) but it does get me sometimes, FLuxblog for that wonderful Monika Compilation last year (but I already had stuff on the label), some MTV for Dresden Dolls year before last...
Boomkat & other fine 'lectronic stores
I don't really slsk anymore at all, too. much. stuff. choice is overwhelming already without it.
Gabba is about the only blog I visit for no particular reason & look forward to doing so. I would like those dudes for personal shoppers.
Definitely could do with more "real world" sources :/ Bums me out that indie rock is manna all over again in the mid-00's.
Oh, and the one, the only the web2.0-part-man-part-RSS-Lan-brain-web-interface listmaniac DJ Martian!
"related artists" links (remember when I would use AMG for that one lol! the good times...)

I only worked out how to "do" RSS (in Firefox) the other day :0

www.pandora.com

As far as I know it isn't affiliated with particular labels, etc., though it must be somehow limited.

recently last.fm has become a resource as well.

I almost feel like I should have a Mini-Me.

I spend roughly fifty to seventy five percent of my waking day listening to music, up from roughly thirty to fifty percent from only a few years ago.

I download and buy a fair amount of stuff. If I'm enjoying a particular artist, I seek out similar artists or artists they cite as influences (usually via allmusic or discogs- both of which I use on a near-daily basis- or sometimes I'll do google searches for interviews). ILM is probably the only place I go regularly to mine for recommendations. I occasionally check out sites featuring reviews- Metacritic and Stylus more than anyone else, but still not very often. I never visit Pitchfork except for when some other site links there. I'm on last.fm but it's hasn't been really useful for recommendations, not for me at least. I read books on genres that interest me (where available- this was good for learning about disco, not so good for more recent things) and download or buy whatever seems promising.

I have iTunes set up so unfamiliar stuff ends up on a smart playlist. I listen to this playlist on random (usually I don't even look to see who I'm listening to, it makes my reaction more sincere). Whatever catches my fancy goes on a 'likey' playlist (yeah, that's what I call it). I listen to this playlist and refine my opinions, and seek out more of whatever I like best.

Oh - for jazz http://jazzmatazz.home.att.net/ is quite helpful. Also checking out websites of certain labels. And going to the record store and looking in the new release sections.

You'd think my interest would have been piqued enough by now (and my geetar-only friends trying for years to make me pick up some Neil). I have v.few recommendations lately, it's been an odd year of deliberate purchase avoidment AND bummed-out in general-ness that hasn't found an adequate distraction yet (I'm thinking that Soul Jazz Tropicalia comp. will totally refresh me though... when I get round to buying it, the Optimo mix of that stuff is one of the best things I've heard all year). I have some Manu Chao (unexpected gift) to listen to first though...

I like to think of four or five somewhat obscure artists that I adore and plug them into slsk. the jerk that has the most by one of those artists usually has something else to be curious about. for me it would be, for example, tall dwarfs, or some homosexuals side project or syliphone records stuff. something not totally out there but appeals to a limited range of freaks. a friend of mine never looks for specific things on soulseek, he just plugs in beefheart, john carpenter, jerry goldsmith and two others and selects at random from users' shares.

I tried my hand at downloading everything from certain giant lists on ILM. Some are way more helpful than others. that glam/postpunk thread was a goldmine. doctors of madness! anthony more! but the interstellar psychedelic recordings of the 60's thread was mostly a bust.

i usually have phases where I get really into blues, or rocksteady, or early electronica or something and spend a couple of weeks or a month reading everything i can about the genre and picking up a mix of classics and promising obscurities. i used to use amazon listmania before I found ILM but the search function here is the way to go.

the best way to find out about music is still from other people though. as in actual human beings you know and see regularly. all my real favorites are never things i listen to in a vacuum but music i share with friends or music they share with me. it helps if your friends are big music nerds or people with music blogs.

Update, February 2007: the chapter outline below is now an updated version]
http://www.netblogsrocknroll.com/2006/05/book_announceme.html

Preface
What's changing in the way we discover entertainment — how it's changing — why it matters

1 The three strands of digital discovery
Examples of digital discovery in action — how they work and what they tell us — the impact of on-demand access and social networks

2 Who knows?
Professional media vs. amateur bloggers — competing and co-operating to guide discovery — reaching down the 'Long Tail'

3 Getting personal
Automatic matching of songs and films to your tastes — how changing listening and viewing habits affect what we like and want

4 The vibe-raters
Understanding the audience: the spectrum from obsessive to casual fans — how discovery habits and patterns differ between them — the dynamics of pioneers and followers

5 Fans as creators
The new opinion leaders: meet the bloggers — hobbyists who create resources for digital discovery — the communities that grow around them

6 Wise and foolish crowds
Following the leader and following the herd — using others' tastes as a guide for your own — how the hit parade is changing as a measure of what we like

7 Doing it ourselves
Picking up discovery clues — information pull and push — how new breeds of tools for searching, browsing and monitoring help us make discoveries

8 Buzz building
Getting the word out — viral and word-of-mouth carriers for your message — the ethics of blog marketing — innovative licensing to help spread recommendations

9 Accelerating digital discovery
The Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll recipe — what is Web 2.0 and how can it boost digital discovery methods? — how the power of the Net is extending to events and social spaces

10 Who's listening?
Future audiences — the home multimedia hobbyist — the teenage fan — festival networking — fan clubs as the ultimate archivists

11 Industry scenarios
Future industries — reinventing listings services — documentary production and tagging — cultivating discovery in social networks — profiling and promoting niche events

12 Designing for discovery when you don't know how: implications for different players
What the future scenarios mean for you — as a fan — as an intermediary — as a producer — as a creator or artist

13 Who knows who's next
Where is our culture heading in the era of digital discovery? — nail it all down vs. stir it up — who's in charge and what they can do