There are a lot of different ways to keep track of music news and discover new music. It seems like every day there is a new website or app that makes it even easier. I wanted to share a few different tools I use to stay plugged in. There are more podcasts, blogs and apps than I can list that are helpful but these are my favorites.
The Songkick Concert app uses the music stored on your iPhone or in your iTunes on your computer to know what bands you listen to and suggests other bands you might be interested in seeing live based on that information, just like Pandora but for concerts. The app then sends you push notifications or emails to let you know when those bands are playing in your area. It also allows you to buy tickets to the show directly through the app and will give you directions to the venue.
Rdio is a web and mobile based on-demand music service that costs $10 a month for iPhone use and is free on your computer. Rdio allows you to listen to as much music as you want without using up the internal storage on your iPhone. Rdio also has a built in social network that allows you to follow others and see what they are listening to. Every Tuesday, Rdio is updated with the new music released that week and can be viewed under the “New Releases” tab. This is my favorite feature. It lets me hear new music right away without paying full price for an album I might not like and it helps me to find a lot of music I didn’t know about yet.
Rdio also has “Collection” tab where you can save your favorite music. This tab works two ways. You can either “Add to Collection” which simply saves a shortcut to the music you like or you can actually sync the music with your iPhone so that it’s still available for listening to even if you don’t have an internet connection.
If this sounds like Spotify, that’s because it’s very similar. I was working on writing a comparison of the two but then I saw this side by side Tech Crunch already did that can be seen here. For now, I still prefer Rdio because you don’t have to download software and I just think it’s easier to use. You decide.
Hypem.com (the Hype Machine) tracks what music is popular with bloggers and puts it all in one place making it easy to find and listen to. This is probably my favorite website because I have found more good music here than anywhere else. You can use the search bar to find and stream songs by your favorite bands or you can click the “Popular” tab and see what other people are writing about and listening to. If you choose to create a profile you can build a list of your favorite songs by clicking the heart icon next to each song title.
A really fun way that I have been learning about new music lately is Turntable.fm. I have already written a bit about Turntable and if you are interested you can read about it here.
If there is something you use to stay in the loop about music that you think is helpful then please share! I would love to learn about it.
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