I discovered a whole lot of new music this year.
There are a few things I can attribute it to. After my hard drive debacle I was in a real rut, and even when I was able to get 70% of my music back, I felt that everything in it had stopped existing. My previous project Jams had put my usual throwback mode under what felt like an electron microscope, and I overloaded on musical nostalgia. And most importantly, everyone on my twitter was talking about artists i didn’t know, so I had to get schooled.
So, in a sense, me losing all my music was actually a good thing – it helped me start fresh and with new determination. I was finding new music through the trifecta soundcloud + tumblr + twitter, as well as friend referrals via email or fb. Soon I realized that there were certain users/blogs/labels that I really trust with music, and they basically shaped a lot of my listening trends through the year.
This new method of music consumption was(and is) exciting, in that it all felt very organic and uncontrived. And with all the social networking available to artists/producers and its growing ubiquity, it’s incredibly easy to connect even further with someone you dig, really get into the rhyme and reason of their music and personality. Wildly different from just like six years ago. I’d never really been one to read album reviews either, but now even moreso – I’m better off just waiting for my feed to chime in on it. I’m finally understanding the power of the social network.
All that being said, as a sometimes dj I still can’t totally avoid pop/what’s hot in the clubs. And who am I to deny the infectious properties of the 2chainz birthday song?
For me, 2012 was the year in where my network dictated my listening trends in a very profound way. I’m hesitantly curious, scared, excited, to see what 2013 has in store.
(music journalism sidenote: interesting article here by maura j)
i think a lot of us and our peers had to expand our musical lexicons, even if it wasn’t due to hard drive debacles. you don’t want to be just someone getting old, stuck in the past without an open ear to what people are currently doing and the potential that can come from that. sure, there are going to be artists that you’ll feel do a song/cover dirty, but there is still musical talent out there that can open up your mind to a new sound and a new way to flip things. it’s not just a question of staying relevant, it’s also about deciding whether you want to become entrenched as a hater or not.
Every couple months, I visit this website to check out what’s new. I’m never disappointed.
Thanks for sharing your music.