Others are perfectly content with their weekly Spotify Discover playlist.
Consider this comprehensive lists of acclaimed songs and albums.
Pitchforkcollects the top 100 or 200 albums of every decadethe1960s,1970s,1980s,1990s,2000s, and2010s.
Pitchfork digs a little deeper than Rolling Stone, with a little less concern for an albums mass appeal.
The Slog culture blogloves to tell you what Pitchfork missed.
If youre noticing that most of these best-of lists focus on male artists, youre not wrong.
Check outNPRs list of the 150 greatest albums made by womenfor a crash course in what youve probably missed.
AllMusic doesnt rank its listings, instead breaking out alphabetical lists by genre.
But so will sites dedicated entirely to that one genre, which will choose deeper, more distinctive cuts.
(Ive previously worked throughQ Magazines 40 cosmic rock albumsandRolling Stones 50 greatest prog rock albums.)
If you find a site whose taste matches yours, great!
I dont really read it or care what they say too much.
Needledropkeeps a runningloved listof its favorite new songs.
Each month,Bandcampnames the best new music on the platform, in varying genres.
E.g.,Julys best of jazzorthe best recent reissues.
(via Maria Sherman, senior writer at Jezebel.)
Find an artist you enjoy, then check out the tracks theyve liked.
Tag surfing works great here as well.
Just tell it an artist you like and it builds a new station.
For less obvious results, plug in a band that youve only recently fallen in love with.
Tools likeGnoosicandMusicroamerwork like tiny versions of Pandora or Spotify Discover, suggesting new music based on what you enter.
But you’ve got the option to fix that with services likeMuzeRoom,muspy, andSwarm.fm.
If your workplace has a chat app, start a channel for sharing music.
Thats where I got all the recommendations from my GMG colleagues.
If youre still using Facebook, join some music-based groups, or follow the pages of specific artists.
Music recommendation communities can be intimidating, but Facebook has a way of making it all feel accessible.
Apple Music, as everyone knows, sucks at algorithmic music recommendation.
But its staff-curated playlists are intricate and reliable.
There are even playlists of the best covers of certain artists.
(You will find a beautiful, if less haunting,cover by Pink Flames.)
Gaming site Polygon even made a parody,lofi chill beats X hip hop study X waluigi.
The 7clouds accountruns 7 live streamsof good background music.
/r/vintageobscurais the source for that summer mix; all entries are obscure tracks from 1900 to 1989.
Most entries link to YouTube, home of all rarities.
Youll find more mixes and genre filters in the right rail.
Most of the concerts are 15-20 minutes,the correct length for a music set.
You probably already bump into covers when youre looking for music.
Each episode ofSong Exploderbreaks down one songs inspiration, composition, and production.
Thats where I first heardIbeyiandMitski.
Its also a good place to rediscover older acts in a new phase of their careers.
The podcastReverberation Radiois just a weekly playlist.
Most songs not on Spotify though, saysBeth Griffenhagen.
Tumblr has tons of individual music blogs.
The good onesthe ones with really obscure shitcan be tough to find.
But search Tumblr for band names and dig around til you find a blog that matches your taste.
You could start atnaquelescaminhos, recommended by Jezebel staff writer Ashley Reese.
Youll hear some rarities and deep cuts as the artists take a stab at impress and surprise you.
Heresa sampler from Bandcamp.
See who your favorite artists are talking about.
I first heard a lot of my favorite songs through my favorite TV shows.
Some shows (likeGIRLS,Atlanta,The Magicians,Divorce,andMad Men) just constantly played bangers.
And dont forget video game soundtracks; sister site Kotakufell in love with Far Cry 5s in-game cult radio.
The Grand Theft Auto series has always been a home for rarities by good bands.
More instrumental soundtracks can makegreat work/study music.
Were fans of thesoundtrack to 2d platformer Celeste, which combines piano, synth, and drums.
Look, Ive not only googled the music from Apple ads, Ive done it at least five times.
Apple has a good ad agency!
They pick the songs because theyre catchy!
And some of the best have nothing to do with algorithms.
Watch the social feed on the Spotify right rail, saysDrew Olanoff.
And dig through your friends public playlists.
Start withthese musical toy boxes.
Listen to thethousand-song Spotify playlist of music from The Best Show, says Twittersjitka.
This weekly comedy show plays a wide variety of new and old songs.
Search for Spotify Sessions, exclusive recordings from big artists.
Apple Music also features exclusives on its browse tab.
The world
Did you know music exists outside your setup?
The staff would probablyloveto tell you all about it.
Like, you might get dragged into a music lecture.
But really, just ask them.
Because everywhere else, where the staff didnt pick the music, youll have to askSoundhoundor Siri.
And usually that will work, but you wont hear about all the other related shit.
You wont connect with a real human being, maaan.
You wanna connect?
When it is safe to do so again, show up at local music venues.
