STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

i have 2 friends who are music junkies... they always find obscure bands before they hit it big (and by then they have proclaimed them "over" and are off to the next thing)

they email me with names/albums and then i pull them off their websites...

I've just always been really, really into music.  I think it comes from being surrounded by musicians..my brother has always been in a band is a music junkie - same w/my BF and several other friends of mine.  I always get turned onto new music from my brother, his wife, my BF, friends...I also pay attention to what the bands I like listen to.  I read a lot of music magazines..Rolling Stone, Spin, and local Chicago music mags (my brother & sister in law) write for a few diff. ones.  Also, my bf and I go to Tower Records a lot and just scan cd's and buy new stuff.

one of my favorite websites is www.artofthemix.com - people submit mixes and you can search by artist or by song or whatever. i will search for songs i like and usually if someone put that on a mix, i'll probably like the rest of the songs they put on there.

i also like browsing the iTunes celebrity playlists for new songs/groups.

and i always buy movie soundtracks, even for movies that i haven't seen. i've discovered some of my favorite groups by hearing some random song of theirs on a movie soundtrack.

Usually I hear about new music through my bf or on the radio. We have a really good station that features new and local artists. Other than that, when I find a group I like I look it up on cdnow.com and they have that "people who bought this album also liked" section that has reccomendations based upon the album you look up.

When I was younger I used to listen to alternative/indie radio stations a lot and read magazines like Spin but as the years go by I find myself less and less interested in the music they feature (I'm turning into such a crank!)

Like shopchicago33 I know a lot of musicians so I either find out about new bands through word of mouth or by going to their shows and checking out the other acts. Same goes for seeing bands I like play live - sometimes I'll like the other bands on the bill. I also look through the listings for lots of local clubs and even if I can't make it to a show I'll go on the internet and listen to bands that either have intriguing names or are touring with bands I'm into.

Since a lot of bands I like are on small indie labels I often go to the label websites and check out the other music they put out.

I also visit a bunch of the sites already listed - stereogum, Pitckfork is good but take their reviews with a grain of salt as Maddie mentioned - I also sometimes browse a bunch of NYC hipster music blogs even though the authors drive me insane. The biggest one to check out might be Ultragrrrl. She used to write a column for Spin (I'm pretty sure she left within the past year) and she is a popular dj and knows lots of bands and often puts soundclips up. She links to tons of other music heavy blogs so it's a good place to start.