Open Your Ears: Discovering New Music

Discovering new music is exciting. Isn’t it? Few feelings come close to listening to one of your favorite songs for the first time. Sometimes music just hits you.

The great Bob Marley once said, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

New Music is Everywhere

Many of us stick to what we are familiar with musically. If you like country music, you are going to tend to listen to mostly country artists and songs with the occasional mix up. That’s just how it is. But, if you have ever felt like your music has gone stale, and that you need something new, there’s good news. Finding new music is easy. 

Music is everywhere, and there is undeniably great music in every genre. You can be out shopping while a song plays over the speakers, and you just fall in love with it. Sometimes all you need is an open ear, and an open mind in order to truly hear it. This is easier said than done for most people, but staying open is perhaps the best way to expand your musical horizons. Who knows? Your next favorite song might find you when you least expect it. 

Sure, apps like Spotify and Apple Music have millions of songs, but you’re most likely not going to go out of your way to search for new things when you already have a playlist full of songs that you like. More often than not, songs are suggested to us, or are nearly handed to us by these apps. But sometimes, a song will catch your ear, and you just have to know what it is. 

Down the Rabbit Hole

So, you use Shazam – the spark of musical curiosity – and suddenly you can’t get the tune out of your head. You listen on repeat, maybe a little too much and you simply need more. This launches you down a rabbit hole of new music, new artists and new sounds.

Before you know it, you’re exploring discographies of artists you’re unfamiliar with, and listening to full albums at length. Its almost as if you found an entirely new world. Keeping an open ear when out in the world will always lead you to something you never knew you liked. All it takes is a little spark of curiosity, and just like that, your music taste has evolved.  

Keeping your ears open, and letting new music find you can help you learn new things about the world, and yourself. For example: You might find that you like rap music, music from a time before you were born or even music from an entirely different culture — all because you found one song that you liked. Music reflects emotions in a way that little else does, so when you connect with a new song, you also connect with new emotions. 

Color and variety are talents that music is uniquely gifted in. Music can expose you to different sounds, emotions, languages and even cultures. This is a beautiful thing because of how accessible music is to us. Unfamiliar and exciting new experiences are literally at the touch of your finger tips.

What new music have you been obsessed with lately? Let us know @VALLEYmag on X!

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