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.

backhdlp,
@backhdlp@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I usually get it from the YouTube algorithm, but I’ll also check up on some labels every now and then and see what they got new. I also follow some individual artists.

Doll_Tow_Jet-ski,

I get most of my recommendations via Diaspora and Mastodon (2 social networks that are part of the fediverse). They allow you to follow hashtags, so I just follow the hashtags of the music I'm interested and see people's posts that are tagged with them

S410,
@S410@kbin.social avatar

Most music I have is from "Pay what you want" albums from Ponies@Dawn, VibePoniez, A State Of Sugar, etc.
When I come across artists I like, I tend to check out their other tracks and grab the ones I like.

IndiBrony,
@IndiBrony@lemmy.world avatar

Ah, someone else who went down the rabbit hole of pony music.

Koa very quickly became one of my favourite artists as soon as she came in the scene ❤️

What I find amusing is just how many people have no idea how much pony music The Living Tombstone made back in the day.

Two artists who constantly churn out bangers are 4everfree and PrinceWhateverer.

And I’m the same: find an artist, look up their other stuff. I have the full discography of most of my favourite bands/artists.

Bandcamp is phenomenal for finding the niche and unknown!

Psythik,

I literally type “new music” into YouTube and see where it takes me.

pineapplelover,

I don’t think I’m pirating since I’m not reuploading, but I’m downloading Spotify playlists using Spotdl. So, I find music using Spotify.

mindbleach,

RIP rs.4chan.org, which compiled every RapidShare and MediaFire link on any board. You could scroll through and snag anything that sounded remotely interesting.

winterayars,

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

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.

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

Destraight,

Tunetank.com let’s you download 3 songs for free, or I think $10 a month for unlimited songs

Blxter,
@Blxter@lemmy.zip avatar

I am new to the music game but I still use the “discovery weeky” on Spotify and go from there as I used to use Spotify so it knows what I like. I just listen to it once or twice a week to see if I like any of it.

jetsetdorito,

im sad I got kicked off some private trackers for inactivity after streaming picked up 😮‍💨

alphacyberranger,
@alphacyberranger@lemmy.world avatar

Check out new songs from youtube, spotify, music sites and later download them and store them locally as 256 or 320 kbps mp3 files. I used to be a fan of billboard Top 100, but nowadays it’s just crap. Occasionally I do purchase from the artist’s site if available just to support them.

Ilandar,

I mainly listen to Japanese doujin music. It’s naturally good for discovery because many artists group together to form circles (independent labels) and release compilation albuns. I listen to the various annual compilation series I like, and every now and then there will be a new artist featuring on them so I’ll look up that artist and discover circles they feature on regularly. And when I discover a new circle, I naturally discover new compilation series and new artists.

The primary piracy resource for doujin music is Doujinstyle. One of the unique things about the doujin scene is that the pirates and the artists generally have a fairly good relationship. Most circles let Doujinstyle share their music because they understand it benefits them, and the minority who don’t submit requests to Doujinstyle who will always comply out of respect. As an alternative, these circles allow their music to be shared in the Doujinstyle Discord channels. Some of the artists even hang out in the Discord with the pirates. It’s a really interesting community that has formed over decades but never lost its tightknit feel.

t0fr,
@t0fr@lemmy.ca avatar

Talking to people

Youtube

Listenbrainz (or other scrobbling service)

Subscribing to communities of the genre of music you like

Music-map.com

Following artists you like on social media

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  • Subscribed
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  • Favorites
  • piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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  • All magazines
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