Discovering New Music

When I was young I was obsessive about listening to and discovering music. Sometime in my 30s the discovery part waned a little. I stopped listening to radio and was not actively seeking out music that I didn’t know at all – something I did a lot of when I was younger. My circle was a bit smaller as I was only getting recommendations from friends and following the works of musicians I already knew. Given that I had already established interest in a wide variety of music this circle was quite large but there was a certain laziness about my approach to listening for quite a while. It is only within the last few years that I have begun to be more active and curious about finding new music again. Services like Apple music have been key to this discovery as the curated playlists allow me to dig into a certain genre and easily link to the artists that I find most interesting. I may not have the time to listen that I did when I was 15 but at least now I am finding replacement portals for the radio of my youth.

Another recent discovery is NTS Live – free internet radio and I honestly am not quite sure what to do with it. It is unbelievably rich and diverse. They are broadcasting 2 live streams from the home page 24 hours a day – currently from London and Tokyo. Here is a snapshot of the schedule for today:

In addition they curate other shows and residencies such as this one featuring new music from Autechre which is being delivered in 4 2 hour broadcasts during the month of April. These 2 hour shows are then available to stream after the initial Live broadcast. What an amazing way to release new music! If you are interested in discovering new music I highly recommend tuning in to NTS and finding and following the DJs, hosts and shows that appeal to you.

Here is a wiki about NTS that gives a little background and info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTS_Radio
https://www.nts.live