wire to the ear

Here’s a little tip on how to find new music on the iTunes Music Store. The front page on iTunes has the popular stuff. However, I’m not really into Kanye West or Carrie Underwood. I used to go to the iTunes Music Store and look at the main pages of the genre I wanted to explore (like electronic) to see what’s new. Rarely would I find something I like. Sure, I can search an artist I already know but I already know about them so what’s the use?

I found a way to explore iTunes and find new music. First, search your favorite artist. Click on your favorite release by that artist. Now see the reviews below? Find someone who agrees with you. You see “Jackrabit99″ is saying very similar things to what you would say about this release. Click on his name. Now you get a list of all the records he reviewed. Already you see releases you may like and you see things he highly recommends so go and listen. This maybe all obvious but I found countless great songs this way.

Here’s an example. One of my favorite albums is “Geography” by Front 242. On the iTunes Music Store there is a review that says “Groundbreaking Industrial Classic” and the reviewer named Psinex gives the album 5 stars. I agree with Psinex 100%. I click his name and I see he’s only reviewed one other album “Joey Beltram” by Joey Beltram. Now of course I know Beltram’s music but this CD must have flown under my radar in the slew of techno releases continually coming out. The first thing that shot out at me was the real TR-909 in many of the songs. I’ve been working 99% in the box for the past 4 years and it was nice to hear the real thing blasting away. I want to buy this one.

Here’s a bonus tip. Make a playlist and name it something like “wishlist” or “buy me later”. You can drag songs from the iTunes Music Store into the playlist. Great no? I like to do this and listen to the audio samples over a few days just to be sure I want to buy them. God knows I why I wanted to buy Eric Prydz’s remake of “Call on Me”! If I would have waited 24 hours for sure I would have come to my senses!

photo credit: Lazy_Lightning and g-na

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