Share your digital crate digging tips

A picture of three play buttons from Soundcloud, Spotify, Beatport and Bandcamp

Let's level up our music discovery game. How do you find new music? 🤓

I stumbled upon this article on digital crate digging the other day

https://djtechtools.com/2023/02/24/how-i-dig-a-djs-guide-to-digital-crate-digging/

and it got me thinking – how do you all discover new music these days?

The article did a great job of digging into the pros and cons of each service, but I'm curious about your personal methods and favorite sources for finding hidden gems.

Do you have any go-to websites, apps, or techniques that help you stay ahead of the music game? Share your wisdom down below. Looking for ways to keep my playlists fresh!

P.S. By commenting on this post, you'll automatically get an X1 badge. Collect all three badges and you'll be entered into a raffle to win the new X1 MK3. See more details here.

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Kaiwan_NI

I'll go first. I strictly use Soundcloud to discover new stuff, and Bandcamp to buy them.

My method is quite straightforward – I follow loads of labels, promoters, and artists I like (I think I'm following close to 1,000). And I pretty much depend on their track postings and reposts. Each week, I meticulously go through my feed, listening to every track, and adding the ones I fancy to my collection.

I steer clear of their Recommendations cause I prefer not to let algorithms influence my preferences.

That means Spotify is a no-no.

Anyone here also relying on Soundcloud's feed? Not sure if it's just me, but I noticed they don't show EVERYTHING on their feed anymore. It seems like they started to prioritize accounts with a high follower count - or perhaps the ones you interact with the most - which is a bummer.

PK The DJ

For me these days it's usually just discovering a track (old or new) after hearing a DJ on Twitch play it, or happening across something in a playlist I've grabbed to use as a theme when I stream.

I've got past the point where I'm spending hours going through new releases, looking for stuff. There's so little now that appeals to me, I don't consider it worth the effort. If I hear something then great, but I'm not actively seeking stuff.

I rarely buy stuff now either. Not just because it's scarce, but due to how convenient the streaming services are, I usually just put discoveries into a folder.

Thales de Paula

I particularly follow my sound niche directly on soundcloud and when new music comes out I ask for or buy the rights from whoever made it available.

thus favoring all the djs in the style I like.

Itchygash

I find it difficult to find anything that I'll part cash with, as a lot of today's music and sounds (been there, done that).

However when hearing dj set's of whoever on whatever platform I'm checking by out , I generally go from there and if it hits that part of the Brain that needs a second/third/ listen then It's straight on to bandcamp, as from my knowledge the artist gets a good chunk of my money which I think is the best way of supporting good tracks/artist's and not just going for the top ten chart of whatever site...I want to encourage and from what I see but company's paying artists pennies for streams just seems wrong support art not big cats...

Thats just my opinion but any other sites where artists get what there owed I'm happy to have a look at.

Peace

lord-carlos

I find a track I like on bandcamp, then see who else bought it and dig through their collection. You end up with 50 open tabs :D

And now there is a nifty tool that does that: https://bc-explorer.app/

I like this way a lot. You find some real gold in there because of all the different users bandcamp has.

PK The DJ

Might be an idea for people to also post artist/title info on music they found recently...

Marcelo Pacholak

I follow the styles I identify with on Soundcloud and even Spotify, if I'm interested I look on Beatport and Bandcamp to buy the songs.

sjenkin

Following artists and labels on Beatport and SoundCloud and weekly spending time listening to purely newly released material.

I also love going back and listening to old essential mixes looking sounds that were way ahead of their time.

The 45min commute to my normy job everyday means I get a good chunk of listening time in!

c0nsul

I play and listen to a wide variety of music with an emphasis on weird and experimental stuff. Not only electronic but also jazz, punk, industrial, ... I´m not always looking for the latest or next big hits but also for older niche releases. So I don’t rely on single/exclusive sources.

I use Shazam/Soundhound when I hear something interesting around. I listen to music friends tell me about and read music blogs. I like following with the algorithms/recommendations of the major streaming services, watching live performances on Youtube, randomly clicking through everynoise.com or obsessively digging on secondhandsongs.com . And I will definitely check out @lord-carlos tip on: https:/bc-explorer.app/

I collect all my findings in notes and about twice a month I review all the stuff. If a release really catches me in the review session, I buy it on bandcamp, iTunesStore or where ever it is sold.

Percivale

I prefer to use songs in wave/mp3 playback that I am familiar and do a mash-up from there instead (not the whole song but the hook/chorus bit). Kind of trying to make the samples feel like I've made them and being unique to my use case. You can also play the mash-up samples over the original song to do a cover.

misterben

Bandcamp is the way if you want to support less known artists.

Spotify and the other streaming platforms are handy if you're lazy and have mainstream tastes for those ready made play lists or automatic radio's based on an artist.

red_nick

Has anyone worked out a bluetooth button or something to Shazam/Soundhound search songs?

David Lane

Shazam the radio (mainly House FM), and soundcloud.

V01d

follow labels that release my favorite styles on several platttforms and listen to new releases. sometimes i find great stuff while listen to the song-radio in spotify when i discovered a track that really catches me.

JamusJae

I spend time listening to other ecstatic dance teachers mixes on mix cloud and then Shazam tracks I like. I am fairly niche in my taste and it is rare that I find a new release that does it for me. I am happy if a find 3/4 tracks a month that realy sings for me. I buy on band camp and iTunes.

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