Writer's Brain Presents: How To Find New Music That You Love Without Algorithms
My simple and impeccable method for discovering new music that always aligns with you is based on one thing: independent record labels.
Have you ever looked at my Instagram stories and wondered:
“Just how does Harry find all this spectacular, diverse, and pathbreaking new music? He must have some kind of superpower to sort through the abyssal depths of the internet and find these gems like a truffle pig finding those elusive shrooms that become Angelino's delectable truffle bags. Good thing I follow him because I never have to look for new tunes ever again.”
You haven’t wondered that? Well, that’s OK. Besides, I don’t actually have a superpower.
What I do have is a particular method of music discovery that never fails me, and it doesn’t involve any algorithms subsidized by major labels (the only time Spotify’s “Fans also like” function came through for me was when it delivered to my ears the irreplaceable and irresistible Gretel, f.k.a. Gretel Hänlyn).
The method is rather simple, and it’s based on independent record labels.
Independent record labels are the lifeblood of the music industry. Without them, all we would have to look forward to is AI-generated top 40 crap so the majors can earn profits to feed their corporate overlords.
On the other hand, independent record labels are basically anti-profitable, except for a very select few. I don’t have the numbers on this, but I would bet that the rate of indie labels making enough to support their employees full-time is smaller than the rate of artists making a living wage.
The world of music media is currently hurting right now with Pitchfork’s coagulation into GQ as the latest example (I’ve agreed with maybe two Pitchfork reviews in my whole life but it was an important force in the world of music).
However, in the world of indie labels, layoffs are paradoxical. To lay off people, the company in question has to at one point be successful enough to hire a certain amount of employees. Practically zero labels ever get to that point.
Indie labels are run by people who are willing to make shit money (if any at all), just to see great music receive a wider audience.
These people get turned on by holding a piece of vinyl that took months to print because Taylor Swift has commandeered all the pressing plants in the country to produce records her fans don’t actually play.
They are fiends for the live space, tracking local bands with even the slightest buzz just to see their faces light up when they offer them the kind of modest deal that makes sense in their humble business plan.
Frankly, they’re the ones with the real superpower for finding music. Not just because of the finding part, but because once they do find it, they, in turn, help other people find it as well.
This is why you can inherently trust that if one release on a label is to your liking, they will all be to your liking. They’re not putting out this music to make money. They are only doing it because they love it. It’s an act of service.
I owe so much to these selfless music maniacs. We all do, and we can pay them back with this simple method:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Writer's Brain to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.