New Music:

[The Curmudgeon]

There's nothing quite like getting into a new band; you hear a song at first and it totally blows you away, so much so that you begin to read up on them and listen to a few more songs and before you know it you're a "fan".

So how does it happen for you? The obvious answer (at least, a few years ago) would have been the radio, but with the saturation of music channels (unlike MTV who, you know, don't actually play MUSIC anymore) you can pretty much bet you'll see a new song's video ten times a day.

This would have been my answer a few months ago, in that I never listen to radio - ever. I don't even have one tuned in. But recently I've been discovering new music all by myself on the internet; Myspace, free (legal) downloads, Ilike - all that sort of stuff. Or I've read about new bands in NME and checked them out online.

And you know what? It's worked. I've discovered a handful of superb new bands that I'm really into at the moment that I would probably never have heard of through normal ways; Mates of State, the New Pornographers, Machine Go Boom, Bishop Allen, Does It Offend You Yeah? (who I'm going to see live in March) and a few others, all through the beauty of the net.

So how do YOU do it?

[Benjamin Haines]

Same, the internet is my gate to discovering music I've never heard before.

The only time I ever listened to the radio was in my car, but I've not had to do that ever since I got an adapter to plug my iPod into the car stereo. I also haven't watched very much television at all since moving to college. I've had a TV since I came here last fall, but I didn't actually buy a cable to hook up to the wall until just a couple weeks ago, and that was just so I can watch the shows I help shoot for the campus TV station and see how disastrous they turn out. I never bother with music channels, and I'm also just not a magazine reader.

But I do hear a lot of music for the first time through live venues, as a lot of local bands tend to come here to perform on campus on the weekends.

[trashcanman]

It used to be live shows and word of mouth, but now it is frm all over the place. I've discovered some new stuff from friends, word of mouth, the internet, and even through video games. Most of these bands aren't really "new", mind you, but they are to me and remain unknown to many others. Really, I listen to more classic stuff than cutting edge these days. To much room for error with up-and-comers.

[patsypending]

I listen to Radio 1 in the morning and Radio 2 in the evening, that way I get a balance of new and old stuff.

[Isis]

Mine is a mixture....

I have Radio 1 on as soon as I wake up, then the radio will be on in the kitchen all day, no matter if im in or out - I leave it on for the dog When Im cooking depending on who is on Radio 1 (Zane Lowe gets on my tits, he likes the sound of his own voice too much, but occassionaly i will tolerate him), I will sometimes switch between Kerrang and Planet Rock as well.....

When I am online I tend to have Kerrang on the TV, but I also watch MTV2, Q and NME channel....

As for internet - well thanks to TC I watched Glasvegas on Later with Jools last weekend and they were right up my street, I had never heard of them before.....

Most of my friends are really into their music so we will recommend stuff to each other.....and we go to a lot of gigs and Festivals (although I have been limited to gigs in recent years because of being on crutches - camping wasnt on the "able to do list" back then!!).....