Music

Music is, as clichéd as it sounds, one of the biggest parts of my life. Listen to it pretty much all day everyday and always have to find that perfect sound for every moment or mood.

With this in mind, finding a new band or artist that I really like is very rewarding. Something to keep you on your toes and makes you tap your foot straight away. Here's a quick breakdown of how I find new music. This may not be the best or most convenient way, but it works for me!

1. Pick an artist that you really like
2. Head on over to www.lastfm.com and do a search for the artist using the 'Music Search' function
3. Hopefully the artist will be there - I don't think I've ever had the issue of them not!
4. Click on the artist profile, and about 3/4 of the way down on the left there will be a 'Similar Artists' tab
5. This ranks similar artists ranging from 'Super Similarity' down to 'Lower Similarity'; pick one from the pile
6. Open up Spotify now, Lastfm's music player ain't great for trying to listen to a specific artist
7. Find the artist in Spotify and give them a listen - there is also the 'Similar Artists' in Spotfiy, although I don't find it anywhere near as extensive or accurate as Lastfm.
8. Once you've properly vetted them, download, simple as!

Once again there may be better/different ways to discover music, drop a comment how you do it!

Phil here, thought I'd put a little addition into Ally's post on how I discover music online. Two of my favourite ways are to listen to Rob Da Bank on Radio 1, get his set list and search the bands on youtube. I find his shows have such a great mix of music I love that there's always something new and interesting to discover.

My second way is to find a band I enjoy, use Wikipedia to define the genre and list similar artists on it's pages, then simply head to youtube or spotify to check them out. Like what I hear, straight to download - easy as.