How to Keep Up with Music Releases
As a broadcaster, it's likely that you're constantly on the hunt for music to add to your rotation. Whether you're looking for new releases or new-to-you catalog tracks, adding fresh music to your library is an ongoing process. What's the best way to stay up-to-date with music releases? And, how can you find new-to-you catalog tracks? We've broken down some of the best resources below.
Social Media
Hear about new music releases from the source, the artist, by following them on social media. Aside from artists, you might consider following labels, music bloggers, music news outlets, and critics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. There are also a variety of Facebook groups centered around music discovery and recommendations that you can join. As for YouTube, in addition to subscribing to your favorite artists, you might find it beneficial to subscribe to channels that bring in artists when they are promoting new music, or channels that are dedicated to music reviews. YouTube will suggest similar videos to you as well, so it's likely you'll discover more music along the way. Reddit can assist you with new music discovery too, as there are subreddits around genres, artists, and even music discovery broadly.
Streaming Services
Streaming services, such as Apple Music and Spotify, are a great resource when it comes to following new music releases because so many artists rely on them to distribute their music. Most new music comes out on Fridays and streaming services then list some of those new releases outright as well as add them to various playlists to assist with discovery. Additionally, streaming services curate personalized playlists for you with new releases and other tracks that they think you'll like.
Outside of these opportunities for music discovery, artist profiles on streaming services highlight new releases, indicate the artist's top tracks, and list all of their music, making it easy to keep up with your favorite artists as well as artists you've just discovered.
Streaming services also offer up tons of different playlists that you can view and listen to. And, you can even search for playlists based on keywords or check out playlists curated by your friends, artists, or celebrities. So, the music discovery potential on these platforms is virtually endless.
Note that while streaming services are a good resource to find new music, you cannot use music from digital streaming services, such as Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, YouTube, or Amazon Music, on your station due to their terms of service. You must purchase a copy, either physical or digital, of the audio material that you intend to use. For more information on acquiring content for your Live365 station, see this article.
Digital Distribution Platforms
Digital distribution platforms typically offer up some more independent and under-the-radar releases, so keeping up with those platforms as well will give you even more variety to choose from. Some platforms to check out include SoundCloud, Bandcamp, NoiseTrade, Jamendo, Beatport, Bleep, and HDtracks.
Music News Outlets
Often times, new music releases will be announced ahead of time and/or day of on music news outlets. Aside from the mainstream news sources, there are many smaller outlets that are more catered toward a specific genre, so you're bound to find an outlet that is relevant to you. It's also worth noting that keeping an eye on music news can be helpful when it comes to staying up-to-date with music trends.
Music Blogs & Websites
There are tons of people out there that are passionate about music discovery that have created a blog or website dedicated to just that. In some instances, artists send their releases to bloggers for them to write a review and in other cases, bloggers go ahead and write reviews for music they've naturally come across. The best way to go about following a music blog is to do some research into the various music blogs out there and find the ones that match with your station programming the most. Then, you can keep up with those blogs and even follow them on social media to get the latest updates.
As for websites, there are some that simply compile the new releases of the week (Spotify New Music, New Music Friday), some that offer up reviews as well (Rate Your Music, AllMusic, Album of The Year, Metacritic), and some that are specifically dedicated to independent releases or releases that are more under-the-radar (Hype Machine). If you ever use Spotify, you might even consider using something like MuzeRoom that connects with your Spotify account to provide you with more personalized recommendations outside of what Spotify already offers.
Charts
Charts can be helpful when you want to stay tuned in to what's new and currently popular. There are charts on streaming services, and Billboard and the U.K.'s Official Charts largely serve as the main authorities when it comes to music charts.
Chart History
In order to find new-to-you catalog tracks, you might consider checking out the "Chart History" for any given artist on Billboard or the U.K.'s Official Charts. Artist pages on Wikipedia also typically include chart information as well as the artist's discography.
For information on where you can actually get content for your station, see this article.
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