5 ways to discover new music

Being a music fan can be a bit overwhelming these days. The internet has given us access to the entire history of recorded music. It also gives undiscovered bands and artists the power to record and release their own music, bypassing the record label gatekeepers who used to play such an important role in deciding the music we heard. That's obviously great for artists, but the sheer wealth of new music out there can be tricky to navigate. How does a discerning music fan sort the melodic wheat from the unlistenable chaff?

With the help of 6 Music tastemaker Mary Anne Hobbs, we take a look at all the different ways you can find incredible new music today.

Since the dawn of digital, the ways we consume radio have changed, but our love for the medium is stronger than ever. The launch of digital stations championing new music like 6 Music and 1Xtra, the rise of personal technology and smart phones and the growth of on-demand listening mean it’s easier than ever before to find the new music you want, when you want.

But with more radio stations than ever before available on our phones, tablets, TVs and computers, to listen to live or after-broadcast, the amount of new music available at our fingertips is immense and often a bit hard to navigate. So curation plays a vital role.

From John Peel to Mary Anne, we’ve always counted on our favourite DJs to uncover the best new music and share it with us.

Along with Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq and Tom Ravenscroft, Mary Anne is one of the knowledgeable influencers who carefully hand-pick a playlist of the best new music for 6 Music Recommends every week.

“The best part is sharing new music with my audience at BBC 6 Music,” says Mary Anne. “They are so knowledgeable, they are passionate and ambitious listeners, and to see the love reflected back from all over the world for artists I have championed recently - Nils Frahm, Kamasi Washington, Holly Herndon, Colin Stetson and Kojey Radical - has been mind-blowing. It’s what I live for.”

At this year's Great Escape, the Brighton festival which champions the best in emerging new music, 6 Music Recommends will present a gig featuring five new acts on Thursday 18 May. Mary Anne is just as excited as any of us about the line-up....

“I love Aldous Harding, she is one of the most beguiling and magical singer songwriters of her generation,” she says. “I saw her play to 20 people in Manchester at her first UK show a couple of years ago, and her performance still haunts me.”

While we might once have sat for hours trying out the latest releases in a record shop listening booth, or making our way through a mixtape made by a friend, most of us nowadays find a lot of our new music online. Blogs and social media are a popular source for recommendations, but it’s streaming services which have truly revolutionised the way we consume music.

When file-sharing and streaming site Napster launched in 1999, it quickly became the fastest growing company of all time – despite being totally illegal.

A legitimised, made-over version of Napster followed, but it was Spotify, which first appeared in 2008, that became the first brand to create a successful legal streaming service.

Music lovers now have a plethora of streaming services to choose from, including Apple Music, Google Play and, of course Tidal. But YouTube is by far the most popular streaming channel, with 30 per cent of us using it as our main method of music consumption according to a recent report compiled by Media Insight Consulting.

Streaming is now the preferred method of find music for 16 to 34 year olds, says the same report, with an older generation still slightly more loyal to CDs. 67 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds say they like streaming services which introduce them to new music, with only 11 per cent of those over 55 saying the same.

There are now thousands of sites which use algorithms to throw up new recommendations based on your listening history.

But sites and shows featuring the personal picks of trusted curators, just like 6 Music Recommends itself, are still where it’s at for Mary Anne.

“Music only makes sense and has any real resonance when it connects emotionally with another human being,” she says.

So it's no surprise that even sites like Deezer, Spotify and Apple Music employ real, music-loving professionals to create many of their suggested playlists.

“For me, the most exciting times I had discovering new music pre-internet, were at the club nights I loved,” says Mary Anne. “DMZ and FWD in London, Low End Theory in Los Angeles and Dub War in New York.”

Club nights such as Benji B’s Deviation, in which the Radio 1 DJ presents the best in forwards-looking electronic music, are still one of the greatest ways to hear fresh new music in an exciting setting. But in the days before the web they had an extra special dimension.

“Getting a booking at one of these clubs was a rite-of-passage for any young producer/DJ, and they’d create new tunes especially to play for the very first time in their sets. The only way you could hear this music was to be physically present on the night.”

Record labels can come to define an era, from Factory Records in the glory days of Manchester’s Hacienda to the Boy Better Know in today’s grime-glorious times.

Times and technology have changed, but your favourite record labels are still a great place to start when it comes to exploring new music you might just adore.

“There are many boutique labels I love” says Mary Anne. “Erased Tapes, Warp, Kranky, Hyperdub, Leaf, Triangle…the list is endless. These labels are headed up by people just as passionate as me, and I’m always fascinated to hear the artists they have chosen to support.”

So can Mary Anne recommend the very best way to discover new music?

“My methods are entirely open,” she says. “I still search for music in every way. Online at Soundcloud and Bandcamp, through recommendations and tips, at gigs and club nights. I’ll even ask people what’s playing in a bar or a shop if I love it and don’t know it.”

• Listen to the 6 Music Recommends Playlist