Pausing just long enough to take the shiny new white buds out of her ear, Kobie says: “Hang on, where will I ever hear new music again? I’m not listening to traditional radio anymore!”.

She returns the white earbud, continuing her growing infatuation with the new little iPod Nano. My well crafted and informative explanation falls on rapidly-growing-deaf ears, so now I’m unleashing it on you:

• Podcasts provide an excellent source of new music, even more so for independant and new artists. Shows like C.C. Chapmans Accident Hash or U-turn Cafe, even Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code, provide a platform for hearing new music - and it’s all exciting. Even more so, everybody can be a DJ, resulting in thousands of well produced music podcasts catering for different genres, from Psychobilly to Soul.
• Movies are a more traditional medium that might grow increasingly important to the music industry. My CD collection contains several soundtracks, some with obscure songs that I admire more than most mainstream hits. How many times did we hear theme songs on the radio? It’s an old trick, and it might become more important.
• Social networks like MySpace, Friendster, YouTube and others is a festering ground for musicians. “If your band doesn’t have a MySpace page, I’m not listening” is heard more and more among the young (and buying) population. Not only do new or established artists market themselves: most of the promotion is done by word of mouth through the users of these sites.
• Games have become vehicles for introducing new music, or even embedding established artists in the society. I enjoyed the soundtrack on SSX3 so much that I used to play the music with the TV off as if it were a real radio station. The first time I heard mxpx, The Ceasars, N.E.R.D. and Snowpatrol was as background music in SSX3.
• Online music stores like iTunes Music Store promotes new music constantly on their home page. In fact, I didn’t even realise Tom Petty and Leonard Cohen (with U2!) had new albums out until I saw the iTMS a couple of minutes ago. Unfortunately, we can’t access these services in South Africa.
• Old school music stores can be smart and get in on the act. When Kobie and I have a romantic evening out, it invariably involves spending as many hours in the music store as in the book store. We listen to old favourites, but mostly look for new CDs and DVDs. Smart music stores have caught on - like other leisurre activities it is now becoming another entertaining experience to browse and shop for music.
• Music videos also sell music, as the rest of my fellow MTV generation can attest. How many times have I seen a new music video while nervously anticipating an audition, or in a restaurant’s bar, or waiting at the doctor’s? IT might not engender a warm, fuzzy connection, but the point is that a connection is established: I noticed the song.
• Live shows is a staple of any student’s social diet. I know some who refuse to listen to anything they don’t hear live first. Apart from soundtrack, I also own a host of CD’s bought at live shows, most with signatures on the covers.
• iPods and other digital media players themselves encourage the exploration of new music. I’ve had to listen to other people’s iPods in several cases (sometimes more reluctantly). Now when we visit friends Kobie can take her iPod along, plug it into the hi-fi and we can enjoy her playlist. Her memory for songs is atrocious, but now at least she has the artist, song and album information instantly available, as well as cover artwork! The game has changed from “I don’t know what it’s called, but have you heard that other song on the radio?” to “I don’t know what it’s called, but here’s all the details”.

As a matter of fact, as I look at this list, it seems there are even more and more different ways of soaking up new music. Gone are the days of being limited to radio or weekly hit parade TV shows. The question now for music junkies is:

How do want your hit?

I know I’ve missed some avenues for discovering new music. Feel free to comment and add your own if you wish.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 31st, 2006 at 3:07 @088 and is filed under iTunes, podcasts, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.