applecinnabun

finding obscure older stuff takes a lot of active effort, you have to know what you like and spend time digging through stuff you probably wont enjoy all of. its a time investment that i think people are less willing to make these days? especially when streaming services and social media actively push back against you. even on dedicated discussion pages it is pretty rough not having the same already known stuff repeated back to you, like most music subreddits absolutely suck lmao. imo most of my social media experience looking for stuff has been pretty bad too. i used to ask for recs on here but nobody would ever say a word so i gave up >.> and most of the genre tags im interested in are very empty. isnt ideal

as someone who needs to hear a new album every week or i'll literally crumble into dust and get swept away into the wind, theres a few good ways to find stuff ive picked up on. i used to follow Audiotree quite enthusiastically, not everything that turned up was to my tastes, but its how i learned about bands like Bent Knee and Three Trapped Tigers, and honestly some of the live performances they've captured on there are fantastic. this version of Sycamore makes me want to cry (compliment) and it just still completely flattens me even though its years old familiar to me now. i also like to follow events even though i know i cant make it to them. post. is on another continent to me so i cant make it, but seeing as some of my all time favourite artists are headlining it i go out of my way to check out the lesser known names because if they're even a little similar i'll probably like them! and of course there's the ones i actually go to like portals, atg, etc, which always have loads of unknown locals to promote, but i know thats not accessible to everyone :3

applecinnabun @applecinnabun3/13/2024, 7:16 PM

these are definitely good ways to catch up on great music you missed out on when it came out! but they don't help people find the stuff that literally no one discovered the first time around, you know?

like, human bloom isn't going to be on audiotree, for example, and honestly at five bandcamp purchases they're bigger in terms of fanbase than some of the other musicians my heart breaks for. i feel like the only way you'd hear about them is if i told you, or you happened to be searching the jazz page on bandcamp and decide "hmm i wonder what's on page 4838" at random, and then happen to click on them there. idk how to fix that! that shouldn't be anyone's best bet of being discovered!

Sami Katz!@Samikatz3/13/2024, 7:25 PM

right, i think i get you. i really dunno. it's difficult. you could have people go through and curate things but a) thats labour and effort for people that might not have a payoff and thats not super sustainable and b) its really hard for something subjective like art to always be given a fair shake by people. i know i couldnt do it cause theres lots of stuff i just dont have the cultural understanding for to appreciate. and c) theyre still never gonna get everything released. i guess its finding the right people to throw your stuff into? and just not shutting up about it?

MoxieCat @MoxieCat3/13/2024, 7:30 PM

Oh thank god! I feel the same way, but I was worried it's because I'm a musician/artist who's been struggling to get noticed for several years. 😅

I definitely think people could do more to find older releases, but when Everyone's under so much stress already, I can't imagine most people wanting to spend more energy on finding music.

On that note... I think I'm gonna start posting music recommendations.
I care a lot about music, and I think I could spare some time and energy to try and promote other artists more! I don't have a huge audience, but every little bit counts.

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