Thankfully there are people, websites and apps to help you navigate through this mess. Below you’ll find curated and user-generated methods of discovering really cool songs and artists everyday.
1. Songza
Songza (only available in US and Canada, but accessible worldwide via a VPN like Tunnelbear) is a music streaming service with an edge towards discovery. Songza has a Concierge feature where you tell it what kind of music you’re looking for (instrumental, indie, hits, etc.), and the web app will give you curated playlists. Just start playing and enjoy some really good music. Songza Daily is where you’ll find curated music collections everyday.
2. Noon Pacific
Noon Pacific comes with an iOS and Android app and a unique concept to music discovery. Every Monday morning, you get a mixtape with ten songs. This is something picked by music journalists, and like a true mixtape of the yesteryears, there’s a flow to it. And yes, you can view the previous mixtape collections as well (130+).
3. Whyd
Whyd is a website and iOS app where you can discover user-curated playlists and make your own. It’s a place where you can follow users and keep track of the songs they’re enjoying and recommending.
4. The Drop
The Drop is like SoundCloud but for Electronic Dance Music (EDM). The site is user-curated, and there are filters that help you trickle down to the music you’re probably going to like. The Drop also has a Reddit vibe going on where you can up vote songs. The more up votes a song gets, the better exposure it gets on the front page. Even if you don’t use the filters, the homepage of The Drop is a good place to find the hottest EDM music at any given moment.
5. 8tracks
8tracks calls itself an Internet radio but the best thing about the site are the user-generated playlists. Just go to the homepage, select a genre, then sub-genre and you’ll be presented with many playlists to choose from.
6. Pause
Music journalism is kind of on the decline. But if you want a little nugget of the world, check out the Pause app for iPhone and iPad. It’s a beautifully designed, curated collection of think pieces about the current landscape (and the past) of music. The great thing about the app is that you can play some music right inside the app that’s matched to the content you’re reading. It makes for an immersive experience.
7. Shuffler.fm
While we’re no longer reading music magazines like we used to decades ago, they’re still alive, mostly in the form of websites. And they are still called “tastemakers.” So if you value the opinion of professional music journalists but don’t really want to read them, Shuffler is another site for you. It will show you songs picked by journalists from the likes of Pitchfork and more.
8. Indie Shuffle
Indie Shuffle is an extensive music blog for discovering indie songs. The blog has a top list of songs that you can start playing there. You can also start a radio station or check out curated playlists.
9. Music Geeks
Music Geeks is a fun email subscription by Derek Shanahan where you get one interesting piece of music and one fun dance GIF delivered to your inbox every single day.
10. Soundwave
Soundwave is last.fm meets any chat app. Using Soundwave you can track all the songs you’re listening to across music streaming services. Then you can follow other users on the platform, see what they’re listening to and also create private chat rooms to talk about the music you’re interested in. How do you discover new music? Share with us in the comments below.
