Thank you for writing on the
subject of new music exposure. To me, and obviously others, it's integral to
the creative process. My thinking and personal realization is the polar
opposite of yours. I have found on line
radio stations and zines to be the best sources for discovering "new"
music - course a definition of new is going to vary according to what one is
seeking.
I have found exposure to new
music seems to happen more often than not through programming presented by an enthusiast
(radio dj) rather than some engineered algorithm (Pandora, Google). In fact I would contend that the dominant
online listening venues actually stifle the opportunity to hear something truly
different since the algorithms' are design to feed us music base upon our
selective habits.
I've tried many times to get Pandora to play
music based upon a particular mood, for instance, with no success. As a friend
once said “all these online music machines have their top 40 - only it's their
idea of your top 40..."
What do we get from some
"radio Station" with a human making each selection? Well if it's a
true music lover of the new we get their enthusiastic choices. Their playing
music which has some meaning, value if you will, to them. Since I'm looking for "new"
exposure I like programming that's all over the map. You aren't going to find
that on Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, etc. I
mean how does some technocrat program that into an algorithm? Sometimes a lot of what I hear I don't care
for on these human controlled “stationsâ€. . But isn't that what should be
expected in the pursuit of the "new"?
Miles Davis when asked about
his approach to music said he was just a synthesizer. That is he was simply
combining various elements of today's & the past music genres. In order to do that one has to be willing to
be exposed to different kinds of sound.
Here are just two quickly chosen
examples which can't be matched in any way by the present engineered on-line programming:
Radio: the BBC Radio 3 -
Late Junction ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tp52)
And for a zine: The Quietus ( http://thequietus.com/)
Thanks again for writing
this and advocating for the "new" however one defines it.