I really love music! Who doesn’t!? Although i’m an all-round music lover and i really love the music genres: soul, funk, hip-hop and jazz. I listen to the electronic genres like deep-house, house music and electronica a lot. Even though it isn’t listed here, it really is one of my best stress relievers.

Actually i don’t really think in these genres when i try to find new music to listen to. Since music is so borderless and limitless i mostly listen to specific artists. And all those artists seem to do a sort of genre crossing lately.

Music connects people from all nations and cultures.

This is what’s so beautiful in music. It doesn’t show signs of racism, it connects people in every single way. On the dancefloors in clubs, when listening to love songs when people are in love with somebody. And in the studios worldwide when people collaborate and make music together.

Because i listen to music a lot. I’m going to share with you my 5 tips for finding new music to listen to. The problem with music is that all the big record companies like Universal, Sony, Polydor and Warner, just to name a few. Always want to be in the spotlight with their artists.

#1 You have to look beyond the popular charts.

The have big marketing budgets to invest in advertising and all sorts of marketing. Which they can use to put their artists constantly in the spotlights and in the charts. So when you as a music lover look at the biggest and most popular charts to find music. You will only find the bigger names from various genres, because they pay to be there and they pay to be played a lot on the big radio stations worldwide.

Don’t get me wrong! All these now successful artist once where small and started with a lot of passion. They might still even have the same passion as they had in the early days of their careers. But the difference is that they aren’t in control anymore. The big record labels decide which way their sound needs to go to reach more people and make more money.

Where do you find non-commercial music?

So where do you find those artists with still that not commercial sound. Those artists that really live for the music and dare to cross genre borders and produce music that can be new but still sound like it’s from 60’s 70’s or 80’s?

Artist that play at smaller venues around the world. Where you can listen to them on professional audio systems in crystal clear quality without standing back in the room. That intimate setting where you can hear and feel the passion of the artist that he or she puts in the music.

#2 Like minded people with a good taste in music.

The trick to find new music like that to listen to, is to find like minded people that do something with music. For example radio hosts, podcasters, DJ’s, vloggers and or bloggers that have the same passion and love for music as i have. And run one of these media platforms where they curate music.

I listen to various type of content. I like to listen to curated playlists on Spotify. This is definitely my favorite music streaming service, and believe i tried them all. Tidal, Deezer and Napster aren’t working for me.

#3 Curated music by DJ’s, Podcasters and bloggers.

This curated playlists on Spotify is a good way to find new music and inspiration for new artists that you didn’t knew about yet. One of my favorite DJ’s who happens to be a radio-host, podcaster and sometimes reviews music on his Youtube channel is Kono Vidovic. He runs a music lifestyle website and podcast. Called Dirty Disco. Don’t let the name fool you since he isn’t that dirty and it isn’t only about Disco music. It goes way beyond that.

In his weekly radio show which is also uploaded as a podcast, he curates new electronic music that comes directly from the music scene. Frequently he plays forthcoming promo releases, recently released music. And drops his weekly essentials in a fat 2 hour DJ mix.

The beauty of this is that he curates music that isn’t marketed for the masses, but these are real passionate artists that sometimes can’t even live from making music but keep making music because of the love.

#4 My favorite music blog and podcast.

Listening to Kono with Dirty Disco on it’s own is already a real treat and brings me musical listening pleasure for two hours every week. The inspiration that he gives me and many other people for listening to these artists. Let’s me discover many more good releases by these producers. Check out his website right here and listen for yourself. www.dirtydiscoradio.com

Listening to Dirty Disco is definitely one of the 5 tips for finding new music to listen to. Like i mentioned earlier, listening to curated playlists on Spotify is a good way to discover new music. But watching Youtube vloggers that review music EP’s and albums are also a good way to learn about new music.

#5 Youtube album reviews.

The only downside with Youtube album reviews is that the curator can actually play the music he or she talks about. This is clearly because of copyrights. Even though that you can’t actually hear the album or track that is being reviewed, there are more benefits.

For starters, the reviewer always mentions a link to buy or stream the album, so that you can listen to it. He gives very detailed information about the tracks and the used genres in the tracks. You will also learn a lot about the performing artists. Where they come from, with who they collaborated in other music songs. And much more useful information that gives music a face and better feeling.

So now that you know how to look beyond what is constantly presented to you through a lot of marketing. And can use my 5 tips for finding new music, I’m curious about your favorite artists. Let’s share the love for music and help each other finding more great music to listen to.