Where to Find New Music in 2014

With so many music distribution options out there these days, it can all get overwhelming. There’s just so much music in the world—how do you find the best songs for your summer 2014 playlist?

We feel your pain. So today, we’ll share with you all the resources we use to find new music. There are five types of places you’ll want to look.

1. Blogs

Music blogs are always a great place to start. Find a few that’re curated by people who share your taste, and who update regularly, and bookmark those blogs. You can come back to them anytime and find new music waiting. Some of our favorites include Goldflakepaint, Disco Naïveté, Pop Justice, and, for the remix-lovers out there, This Song is Sick.

2. Music discovery sites

Yes, there are entire websites dedicated to helping you score the latest tunes. Some of these sites simply aggregate all the songs that’ve been blowing up in the blogosphere on any particular day, but there are others that use algorithms to suggest new songs based on your taste. A good example of the former is Hypemachine. A solid algorithm-based site is Music Roamer.

3. Forums/Social Media

We like getting music recommendations from our friends on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and SoundCloud. But maybe your friends listen exclusively to obscure K-Pop, or something, so you need to look outside your immediate social circle. Try 4Chan’s music page, which is surprisingly comprehensive, or find playlist threads on popular forums like this one: Metafilter’s Summer 2014 playlist.

4. Free mixtapes

Several sites offer free downloadable mixtapes from popular and emerging artists alike. This is an excellent way to hear entire album-length releases at once, if that’s your thing. Two of the most-used sites are Hot New Hip Hop and Live Mixtapes.

5. Radio stations

Remember the radio? It’s still a valuable way to discover tracks you haven’t yet heard, although sure, subscribing to some kind of satellite radio service will really increase the variety of music you’ll hear.

Once you’ve sated your appetite for exciting new music, it’ll be time to look at music distribution from the other end—get your own music out there! When you’re ready, SongCast can help.