For those who pirate songs, how do you discover new music?

I know the question is rather awkward at first and I am possibly overlooking something, but I would like to know something I really don’t understand.

In the past I have used modified versions of Spotify and they are fine but obviously no modified version allows you to download songs because it is a premium function at server level and honestly I would like to have my songs on my device, so if I don’t have internet I can still listen to them.

After those modified versions of Spotify, I have used apps like ViMusic, Spotube and SimpMusic which are basically Youtube Music apps but without ads and with more features, including downloading music, the problem is that they do that at the level of the app itself, not in a separate file. And I love these apps and I can not recommend them enough but my phone is a little old and I see 0 need to change it since I use it for basics usage and although this can sound dumb the interface of these apps are full of blur and unnecessary effects that make my device slow, including Spotify, and I don’t like Spotify Lite because I feel it is a very trimmed version of Spotify.

So this is where my question comes in, for those who exclusively download music, how do you discover new songs? Spotify’s recommendation system is great and Youtube’s radio mode is very good but obviously I need to use Spotify or Youtube Music to use it and I prefer to use light apps for local playback because of what I already mentioned.

Edit: Thanks for all the recommendations! I never thought this post would get so many answers and there are too many comments to answer one by one, but I admit that the old-school method of reading blogs or magazines works well, and I also like the idea of sites like Last.fm or discogs.

SwampYankee,

Great topic. A lot of my discovery was through /r/listentothis, but I’m 100% off reddit now, so these recommendations are helpful.

lucho,
@lucho@lemmy.world avatar

i really wish there were an alternative to that sub in lemmy

SwampYankee,

There is, but it’s not very active at all.

!listentothis

Navarian,

Be the change! On a real note though, I feel your pain.

Couldbealeotard,
@Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world avatar

Gnod

Type in 3 things you like, and you get suggestions that you yes/no as it tries to narrow down your vibe.

HerbalGamer,

the map function is pretty neat as well. Thanks!

ByGourou,

Youtube, cracked spotify, collab with artist I already like, rythm games, friend recommendations…

Abd then I download with soulseek, sort and send to my phone with musicbee and listen with musicolet

Okurok,

Last.fm Ever since I’ve created an account on last fm 15 years ago almost every song i listen to is scrobbled(last.fm fancy way of saying “put into database for statistics”).

When you listen to enough bands it can actually provide good recommendations

nevetsg,

This is the way. I stopped for many years after I stopped using Winamp. But it is back on after setting up Plex to last FM scrobbing.

choss,

I like their “neighbours” tab of people with similar listening habits. I’ll choose a few accounts and look at the tracks they listened to most frequently in the last 365 days. You can find some real gems that way

brezelradar,

tunefind when I hear something I like while binge watching, and occasionally to see what others seem to enjoy these days (although that only matches in say 10-15% of the cases).

Gooey0210,

Not for music, but there’s github.com/Fallenbagel/jellyseerr

Macaque,
  1. Google searches for open directories. One dude found an RIAA directory full of media, but it quickly got secured.
  2. YouTube
  3. Ringtone sites
  4. Asian (Indian) sites, with heavy use of Google translate.
Rai,

Spider chart at the bottom of Orpheus’ web site!

It’s not as good as WCD’s was, but it’s getting there.

KillSlaveOwners,

Charts as well as collages on Orpheus! Basically user made Playlist but for whole albums.

aaaaaaadjsf,
@aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net avatar

Spotify APK with no ads and premium features. I then pirate what I like

janguv,

When you say premium features, which exactly? I imagine you’re referring to the xManager patched Spotify, which I also use, but it’s not really premium. Ads cut out and can play an album without shuffle. But can’t choose audio quality, download, etc

aaaaaaadjsf,
@aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net avatar

Pretty similar to that yeah. No downloads, and I don’t think it saves any changes made to audio quality in the settings.

winterayars,

Piracy is how i discover music, to a large extent. I see something i might like? I listen.

Cheers,

I go to concerts/look up who’s touring with the band. It ends up being more than the subscription cost, but it goes to the venue and band rather than Spotify and Joe Rogan.

thelastknowngod,

Not scrolling through all the comments to see if someone mentioned this yet or not but every December I check what is on the best albums of the year lists… Generally I check per-genre that I’m into. Like best black metal of 2023, best jazz of 2023, etc etc…

Other than that, bandcamp and YouTube are the biggest. I honestly buy more on bandcamp these days than I torrent though. It’s such a great site.

vector,

surprised nobody has posted soma.fm. they’re a listener-supported, commercial-free internet-only radio station. i love their “fluid” channel

Venomnik0,

Thank you for this. Usually I go to my universities’ underground radio station but this works just as well :)

jivandabeast,

I don’t anymore, now that I use Spotify. But when I did, it was YouTube recommendations to find new music and then torrent the whole discography to find the ones I liked

reboot6675,

I sometimes browse the KEXP live playlist to find new artists

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
  • localhost
  • All magazines
  • Loading…
    Loading the web debug toolbar…
    Attempt #