Hey folks!
One of my life goals for 2025 was going back to single purpose devices and avoiding algorithm-based media consumption. No smartphones, no AIs, no Spotify.
I’m quite happy with my offline music library, even if it took a while to organize. I use MusicBee (it FINALLY runs perfectly via Wine, if you install some dependencies in your prefix) to listen, find artwork, find lyrics, create playlists and so on and I sync them to my Innioasis, a little iPod Classic clone that supports modern features like USB-C charging.
But here’s the thing… how are people finding new music nowadays? I’d assume TikTok and automatic suggestions from your music streaming services, but are there alternatives?
TikTok would probably work for me if I didn’t stop using social media, but I did. Apple Music’s algorithm sucked tremendously when I used it in the past - it always recommended me Ed Sheeran, an artist I strongly dislike and not anywhere near adjacent to my taste in music (and tapping ‘Not Interested’ a million times never worked) and Spotify’s worked well for a while, but then it started getting extremely repetitive and pushy, “Shuffle” became essentially “Your 10 most recently listened to songs, repeated often, and sometimes we sprinkle two suggestions you already didn’t like but we think you should like actually”
I just go on youtube music (don’t need an account) and search “songs like x”. That will get you a bunch of algo and user created playlists. Then I listen to them and take note of the ones I like.
Well for example I saw this on mastodon recently: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/jwz-mixtape-253/
I do use the algorithmic recommendations but yeah it can get a little recursive without new input.
Just yesterday I found Enter Scepter because NPR was playing their runners up for the Tiny Desk Contest. I look at Brooklyn Vegan for stuff I’ve never heard of and listen to the Dorm Room radio show on WMNF, new stuff comes up on that show a lot. WMNF radio in general, I’ve found plenty of artists listening to community radio. Pitchfork sometimes will post something I check out and like, and the Rolling Stone half year and best of year list also sometimes have artists I check out and like.
I find more good quality music on community radio stations compared to the algorithmic recommendations from Apple Music. I wonder if this is because the community radio host is just playing music that they genuinely like as opposed to whoever pays the most to be on a discovery playlist.
I listen to Triple R: https://www.rrr.org.au/ There might be some good community stations in your area though
Community/College Radio is such an under utilised source IMO. No pay to play artists. Often a focus on local artists. Gigs and events focussed on the community. It’s the best. Do you have radio station recommendations?
Thanks heaps.
I just annually pick a eurovision artist and listen their old stuff.
I’ve subbed Pitchfork’s album reviews RSS. They tend to namedrop influences and contemporaries and that’s what’s keeping this 46 year old picking up 2025 albums (bit proud of the fact) :D
Bandcamp, then I go to my favorite genres, and then look at the new stuff.
Go to raves in virtual reality, follow music curators on youtube, follow artists on Soundcloud who repost new music
Go back in time for new music. No matter what you’ve listened to so far it is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a shitload ton more out there for you to find. I know what you meant but the old stuff you haven’t heard is still new to you.
Bandcamp has given me some good recs if you go to the bottom of the page of an album you like it will have some suggestions.
I like qobuz as my streaming service. It has terrible algorithms but well written human articles about genres, bands, labels with links to important albums.
I also like browsing the record store and picking up an album based on cover. I think you can 100% judge an album by it’s cover.
Noobs, no one mentioned the most important website for audiophiles: albumoftheyear.org
Wikipedia has an unusually high hit rate for me. I start reading about a band, a genre, or something music-related, then before I know it, the wiki rabbit hole of blue links has introduced me to 50 other bands. Some of my favourite bands were found this way. If you’re averse to using anything web-based at all, maybe you could get your hands on a music encyclopaedia from the library or something. If you’re into a specific genre, you can probably narrow down the scope with a book just about that genre.
I have never, not once in my entire life, been recommended an artist by an algorithm that I ended up liking. Not on Spotify, not on Last.fm, not on Bandcamp, it just doesn’t happen for me 🤷
Go see bands live, look up who is opening for bands you like and check out their music, talk to people who go to those shows and see what they like.
look up who is opening for bands you like and check out their music
This one is HUGE. I’ve been to two shows now where I ended up liking the openers more than the main act.
I switched to Tidal because of the issues you had. I’ve been loads happier with the artist radios, and their “New Arrivals” playlist tailors to listening habits really well. The daily mixes can be hit or miss with serving new stuff, but overall I’ve been happy with the results. On top of that their audio streaming quality is excellent, especially if you have good audio equipment or care about that sort of thing.
College radio. It can be a little more “work” because the format changes with the deejay. Their shows usually last a couple hours and come on once a week. You can’t just tune in and expect to hear a certain genre. It’s worth it though. If you have a station near you, they sometimes let anyone deejay even if they’re not a student. I live in NE Ohio, the stations I’ve grown up with are WCSB 89.3, WRUW 91.1, WOBC 91.5, WJCU 88.7, WBWC 88.3. Also they are noncommercial so that’s a bonus. You can listen through their websites and they sometimes archive shows. I’ve found them on the TuneIn app but the app plays commercials.
There’s also a decent amount of college and independent stations (not IHeartRadio, etc owned) that broadcast online, so location isn’t an issue.
I know OP is trying to go for single purpose devices, but RadioDroid on F-Droid is great for listening to internet radio and has a built in station list.
