Allmusic.com - Where to Find New Music
March 14th, 2006
Nothing beats the feeling you get when you find a new band that you love. You know, when you get really excited about a new guitar player or group that you just want to listen to them all of the time. Usually you find new bands through reading magazines, talking with friends, or just by chance. Some of my favorite music was found just by chance, including Led Zeppelin and Zakk Wylde. Other bands like Dark Tranquillity, Himsa, and Children of Bodom were referred to me through friends. It’s all music that I couldn’t imagine living without.
But what happens when you are in a slum, all of the music you have is old and the thrill is gone. You are looking for something new, but similar to what you are interested in now, but don’t know how to find it. I hope I can shed some light on some great resources for finding new bands.
Allmusic.com is one of my favorite music databases. It has been around for quite some time and has some really great features for finding new music. Some of the features to look out for are:
- Similar artists - Other artists that have a similar sound
- Influenced by - Artists who have influenced ther sound
- Followers - Artists who have been influenced by their sound
- Genre - Other artists in the same genre
- Styles - Other artists who have a similar playing style
If we do a search for Zakk Wylde at allmusic.com we are going to find someone different under each of the above categories. A similar group to Zakk Wylde is Pantera. Randy Rhoads influenced Zakk Wylde. Under the genre Southern Rock we find other bands like The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The genre section provides top albums and songs within that genre as well. Finally by choosing the broader “Rock” link under genre we get a list of all the styles encompassed under rock. However, a downside to allmusic is that it has restricted areas for registered members. If you want to gain full access to the site you will have to register. Regardless, the site still provides a lot of leads for people looking for new music.
Now I know, Pantera, Allman Brothers, and Lynyrd Skynyrd are all common bands, chances are the majority of people probably have heard them. Well, that’s not completely true. Depending on what kind of a music background you come from, you may not have broken into classic rock. Even at that, Allman brothers are not one of the hugest bands. I just picked those ones because they were common. Looking at Zakk Wylde on allmusic shows lots of artists I have never listened to. Judas Priest, Motorhead, Saigon Kick, Skid Row, Danzig, and Tracii Guns to name a few I have never heard.
Now maybe you find someone that sounds interesting. From Zakk Wylde maybe you are referred to Pantera. How do you know what Pantera album to listen to first? You could go for the newest, or the oldest, or you could read the reviews right on allmusic. If you click on the discography tab it will show you that Vulgar Display of Power is Pantera’s most popular album. It even goes beyond that and indicates the most popular songs on that album with a check mark.
The great part is that even if Pantera is a band that you already know, you can look up the similar artists undethem and find others that weren’t listed under Zakk.
Final Notes
Allmusic is an edited database. Therefore although anyone can submit information, an editor reviews it all before it is published on the site. This post here only began to scratch the surface of what is available at allmusic. It is one of my favorite sites and anyone who doesn’t know about it should at least give it a quick look.
tagged music and music database
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