Your method for discovering great music.

2 things I do…

1. I check out the bargain bins at the local record shops, I take my chances if the cover looks interesting…I’ll do a quick Google search while there and see if any videos or mp3’s come up that I can hear a quick sample and if I think I’ll dig it, I’ll buy it… worse comes to worse, I’ll sell it back or trade it in on my next visit. You’d be surprised what you’ll find.

2. I’ve started to listen to artists I wrote off on when I was younger being I felt I was too cool to listen to such artists… Man did I miss out on such good music and live concerts that I’d kill to see, nope but I was too cool. … I really don’t listen to the stuff I thought was cool back then unless it comes up on a random mix… I mean seriously how many times can you listen to Stairway to Heaven or Money, good stuff just burnt out / overplayed and just doesn’t scratch the itch anymore.

Also you have to decide are you listening to the music or how your speakers / system sounds because that’s a whole other issue.

I now have gotten into Blues, Jazz, Big Band, Smooth Jazz, Reggae,as well as the artists I passed up on in the past and especially Live Recordings, brings a whole new dynamic especially if recorded well.

I love to find new artists and groups.  Streaming is the best way I have found.  I have used the premium services of Tital, Spotify, Apple Music, and Qobuz.  The best for finding new artists IMO is Spotify, unfortunately they have not moved into high resolution.  I settled for Qobuz, but as stated above, they suck for finding new artists via any AI applications, it is not easy to share songs nor playlists, but they sure do have the high res thing down!!!  I’m going to subscribe to Spotify as well as Qobuz, just to be able to access Spotify’s “other artists you might like” feature. Plus thanks to this thread I’m going to investigate Radio Paradise.

Streaming is one tool I use to discover or trial run so to speak new music. When I hear something I like, I seek a hard copy of it, be it an LP, CD, or Cassette....other than that, I buy on impulse and take a gamble on a purchase from either eBay or discogs...I'm a sucker for a nice looking album cover, especially cheese cake, which I have many.

I agree with the OP that streaming solutions work best for more casual fans.  The software is trying to figure out what you like and give you similar content.  Great if you're fine walking in place, but if you're searching, it's best to seize the initiative.

The last couple of years have been hard for those of us that rely on a steady diet of live music to bring us new artists, and the chance to watch them mature.  I've been forced to use the Web more - and there is a lot out there!  Here's afew suggestions:

Jazz seems to have done a great job transitioning to pandemic living.  Check out the Jazz at the Lincoln Center website.  They stream a fair number of concerts from Dizzy's, Swing U provides an inexhaustible amount of educational material.  If you like jazz at all, you MUST at least check out a few of the Closer Listening sessions - the amount of jazz knowledge the host has is jaw-dropping amazing (also a frequent teacher at Swing U).  It's free (but please contribute - the cause is music!) and if you enjoy a curated exposure to music, you'll be signing up for Swing U.

SFJazz offers a $50/year digital membership that gives you a livestream concert every Friday at 7:30pm PDT (re-broadcast at 11am Saturday).  Maybe the best deal on the entire World Wide Web.  The price/concert is so low that you may find yourself drooling on the donate button/!

I gotta go, but if you like or want to explore bluegrass, check out Bluegrass Situation and Wintergrass (their annual festival is at the end of February and they're livestreaming everyday from the largest of the venues).  Some of the big bluegrass festivals livestreamed last year, like Rockygrass & Telluride.

I love smooth jazz and have a subscription to jazzradio.com, which also has very specific subtypes.  My favorite subtype is the 'smooth uptempo', to which I listen a LOT.

I learned almost all the new artists and songs by listening to that station.

I am sure there are LOTS of radio stations alike for other genres of music.