Teachables | How to Discover New Independent Musicians (And Never Download a Song to Your Computer Again)

I've been telling you guys about some great independent pop music -- and that's all cool and stuff, but what's that saying: "Teach someone to fish and you'll feed them for a lifetime." Well, I've decided I'm gonna teach you to fish, and by "fish" I mean I'm gonna teach you how to find some great music on your own. Also, how archaic is that saying? If anything, I would teach you how to use a phone. So you could learn to order a pizza. And then get fat. Then eat more pizza. Circle of life.

NOW, I'm not trying to be preachy. I just decided it would be cool to share with you guys my favourite way to discover new independent bands and artists. Obviously, there is no perfect method to discover new independent musicians, but this is probably the best/easiest way to do so. In my opinion.

This also works for finding great music as a whole. Including non-independent artists. NOW HAVE I GOT YOUR ATTENTION?!

My favourite way to discover new music is on a little website called Last.fm. Last.fm is one of those social networking sites devoted to discovering music and made specifically for internet users who want to share their music interests with friends. I've been using it forever: creating, maintaining, and deleting past accounts since I was in grade ten; so it's always shocking when I learn that a lot of people have never heard of this site.

Once you make an account on the main page and go through the set-up process, you'll need to download the Last.fm Scrobbler. This piece of software will upload, or "scrobble" the music you've listened to in iTunes, Windows Media Player or Winamp player (Winamp? Get yourself out of 1999 BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE) to your Last.fm account.

Once all your music appears on your profile page, you're then ready to discover some new music. The best part about Last.fm is that it takes what you're listening to, finds similar new artists, and then compiles all the new music on your main homepage so you can see it when you log in. Cool, right?

Ugh, I'm not that impressed.

Depending on what you "scrobble" onto your Last.fm profile, you'll get different recommendations. For example, based on my library of Charli XCX, M83, Washed Out, and St. Vincent, I got Trevor Powers' "dream pop" project, Youth Lagoon...

A fresh-faced, freshwater lake. Para-dise!

...And Pat Grossi's chillwave project, Active Child.

Something I never was as a kid.

Last.fm will show you recommendations for all your songs. That means that one Taylor Swift song you didn't want people to know you listened to, will not only be on your profile, but will result in some grotty recommendations as well. Like this:

Yes, ONE play in my library. When Last.fm recommends something, you listen.

The Scrobbler will also track your media player tracks and add them to your account as you listen to them; resulting in a page of your eclectic musical tastes, and a website that can now recommend friends, new artists, events and concerts to you based on what you give it. Now are you satisfied?

Ugh, can I just go now?

Okay, so Last.fm is great to discover new music, but there's one other thing that might be of interest to you. If you were able to control your ever-rolling eyes for one second, you would of noticed the second part of my post's title. With the growing fascination of moving everything to the cloud - including music - services like iTunes Match, Amazon's Cloud Drive, and Google Music are capitalizing on people with gigabytes of music, yet no hard space to put it thanks to the allure of net books and ultra portable computers. A lot of these online music storage services aren't even available in Canada, and a lot of these services aren't free. Free is always better than $$$. That's just basic math.

While these music services are a great idea, I know a way you can have access to all your music library in the cloud of the internet. Using Last.fm. For free. And I will tell you.


What You Need:
Google Chrome
A Last.fm Account 
Last.fm Free Music Player Extension for Google Chrome 

1. Install Google Chrome
I was against Google Chrome for the longest time, but once I started using it, I realized it's pretty groovy. In my opinion, all browsers are the same once you get past the learning curve. Chrome is fine, and at this point, it's the only browser that lets you do this, so just lie down and accept it. OK? OK.

2. Make Yourself a Free Last.fm Account & Download Last.fm's Free Last.fm Scrobbler
Make your own Last.fm account on the main page and then download the Scrobbler. Then import all your past listening history from your media player. If this sounds likes déjà vu, it's because I already told you to do this. You just don't listen!

At this point, you should have a new Last.fm profile that shows all your iTunes plays of TLC and Boyz II Men. If you already had a Last.fm account this whole time, then you are ahead of everyone. GOLD STAR.

Now I will get to the good part.

4. Download Last.fm Free Music Player Extension
This is the crucial step that will result in the ability to mimic Apple's iTunes Match service. The Last.fm Free Music Player Extension is a verified Chrome extension offered in Chrome's Web Store. Once you install the extension, there are a few steps that are necessary to link your Last.fm account together with the app in the browser. But after that, you've got access to your entire music library streamed from your Last.fm profile. All you need is Chrome with the above extension.

Once you click the blue play button beside a song on your profile, music will stream from your browser directly. It's embedded in Chrome so even if you navigate away from the Last.fm page, your sweet jams will still be playing in your earbuds.

Last.fm gives you recommendations, concert listings, friends, and with this extension, your entire music library on the go. And you now know this because of me. You're welcome!

Of course, if you are encountering any problems, please let me know in the comments below and I will help you. Everyone should have access to free tunes.

For those of you who figured it out. Enjoy.