Maturing Musically, Alone, Kazaa Style.
 

~or~

What’s it like when your taste in music changes completely and suddenly you have no idea what you’re listening to you just know that you like it. (If you ask me that was an run on to be proud of.)

My first rant on this board, be gentle.

Long read, skip ahead if you’re lazy or albino.

Where I went to middle school rap was in, so you had two choices. A.) Listen to rap, or B.) Get your ass beat by the wigger with the sweat gland disorder and Jordan jersey. Naturally I chose A, and was pretty successful under that persona. Then came high school and I made the choice to go away to a boarding school.

Now I don’t know about you but as a white 14 year old going to school in the boonies I couldn’t really relate to some guy screaming at me to shake my ass or some strange man with a misplaced band aid asking me to take a ride with him. (I think we’ve all seen enough of those health class videos to know not to get into his van for candy.)

Then I started working out at the gym, where bands like Disturbed and Dope would be playing. It fit me a lot better I think so I went exploring on the schools network (a treasure trove of piracy) Suddenly I’m listening to (Hed) PE, Spineshank, Taproot, Perfect Circle, and Chevelle. If only my old friends in oversized jerseys could see me now…

Getting a little of track I guess, here’s my bottom line: Its strange getting introduced to artists solely one the auditory level. I’ve never known all the little trivial facts about the bands I like, and you know what? Don’t care. The only downside is trying to find new bands to branch out to.

The Moral: who the frig cares? Its only music.

Comments? Questions? Concerns?


PS: After I had a breather I’ve grown to love rap. I listen to bands like Jedi Mind Tricks and artists like Aesop almost religiously.

I agree with you Shte, Theres nothing I like more than searching for new grooves. Legal or not filesharing has opend me up to countless bands, groups, dj's, whatever. Filesharing is a better way to find music you like. All but one of my local record stores give a shit about 'real' music as opposed to plastic garbage.
I dont know if youz got HMV's over there but I for one will never buy anything from those pop nazis as long as I live.

I can safely say that if someone asks me (& they do) what kind of music I like I wont be able to answer (& if i do answer, they wont have a clue what Im talking about!)

Bravo ShtE Luck & happy hunting.

I'm the same way. I don't think I know the names of 90% of the people in the bands I listen to, much less their history and any interesting facts about them.

I listen to what I like, and if I want something similar, you know what I do? I go to www.cduniverse.com, search for the band I like, and then use their "Similar Artists" list.

If I hear a band mentioned on TFP, I will repeat the above process with this unknown band. If its close to other bands I like, I give em a try. Thats how most of my CD purchases are made.

Hope this helps :)

A good point I forgot, I have no idea what style of music I listen to. I've branched out bands like Dave Matthews, Sublime, NOFX.

too bad my crappy ghetto college doesn't have filesharing.

mine dosn't either, thats where 'my neighborhood' comes into play ;)

Agreed.

Filesharing is a very effective way of expanding your musical horizons. Music is way to diverse to encapsulate your "type" with a few words. If i do have to describe what music i like, it mainly comes down to describing individuals bands and what they might be a mix of, of more popular bands. Which is a complete injustice in some circumstances...

Finding new music is great. I think that i have really grown laterally through listening to new different music over the last year. Filesharing is a huge help.

Loved your post, very funny. :)

I love finding new music. I am unlike you in that once I find new music, I tend to obsess over it - I find out information on the band, what other work they've done, etc. If I really like them, I'll seek out a message board on them - which is a great way to find new bands.

The shock to MY system is when the music is in a completely different genre than I'm used to. In high school I was all about classic rock. Now, in addition to that, it's folk, pop/alternative, jazz, R&B (like old-school Stevie Wonder) and the most recent one...bluegrass! I'm so ashamed! I never thought that would happen.

Another great way to find new music is to pick an internet/indie radio station that plays some music you like - you're bound to find other things that you like. At work, I often listen to http://www.wfuv.org, which is public radio and folk/rock. I keep a notebook next to my computer and when I hear a song I like, I write it down. Then I usually will use a filesharing program to download a song or two, and if I like what I hear, I buy it.

Filesharing has been a great way for me to find new music. When downloading something on Kazaa I like to use the "Find more from the same user" feature and skim through that persons files. If I see that we have similar tastes, I'll download acouple of tunes I am unfamiliar with and see what happens.

Great suggestions all.

Totally agree. actually before junior year of high school I don't really listen to much, just whatever was popular on the radio. Then it was though a friend and Kazaa, I found various bands from Linkin Park, Disturbed, Deftones (still my favorite band by far). Now I don't download so much music, but taste of music has grown a far amount with stuff like Radiohead, The Mars Volta, Nothingface, Audioslave, Glassjaw, and more.

This is a little off topic, but just looking at this thread kills any arguments the RIAA might have against file sharing. Pretty much everyone has said that they download music they've heard about, and if they like it, they go buy it. I can really see how that would hurt music sales...

Nefir, thanks for posting that link. I've been looking for some new music lately, but haven't had any way of finding it. That site is great... I'm checking out a bunch of bands right now.

Through all the transformations and evolutions of your life cycle, how could you possibly love unadulterated and unmodified in any way, one style of music for your entire life cycle?

Variety often solidifies your taste in something as you return to it.

File sharing has not appeared to impinge on cd sales in that one study found that as many people where buying new music after being exposed to different styles and tastes from the internet and that this was offsetting the theroretical/real losses due to unpaid royalities.

I can say that it has worked for me and I have bought many cd's that I have had a taste of after file sharing recommendations.