How does one keep up with music?

I don't bother anymore. I just listen to what I like and occasionally sift through YouTube and Pandora for similar songs. I used to care about these types of things. I wanted to know what was current and what trends were unfolding in popular music. Now, as I said, I don't. I think a big part of it is the only new music I listen to is J-pop. Since no one else I know cares to listen to that stuff, I don't feel compelled to keep current. I'm already well educated in pop music from the 20th Century dating back to the 30's. I hated the music of my teen years and so I researched back through the 70's, 60's, 50's and so forth. Then in my college years, I explored alternative and independent music. After that, I felt it was important to know what was climbing up the charts as well as being talked about in smaller circles. It's all just so much work though and I am tired of it. I don't want to think about anything when I listen to music these days. Not even the lyrics which might explain some of my attraction to J-pop. Give me an upbeat tempo with a catchy chorus and I'm satisfied. Something like this.

@TheSlip: wrote for a few blogs for a while and the university paper, put together a good portfolio. But honestly the best thing was being in the Chicago area a lot. Ended up meeting a couple of people there who had connections to the site. I had connects, but that doesn't mean I didn't deserve it. From what I saw when I worked there, unless you already have a net following, published credentials, know someone, or are in the Chi/NYC area and apply for an internship first they dont even bother. I was lucky to have a foot in the door to the point where they actually looked at my portfolio and resume. Dont mean to be negative, but you told me to be honest. I left on my own terms to start a different site and focus on school, so I'm still cool with a lot of the people there. I didn't really enjoy my time working there overall, but if you really want to I can pass your name along and give you an email address or two.

RateYourMusic.com, go to the charts, pick a genre, enjoy.

iTunes top 100 songs.

Pandora, random chatter on the internet.

As mentioned before, The Needle Drop and Pitchfork are great ways to keep up with music. I've also found a lot of bands simply by checking out bands on the same record label as one I like.

For awhile, I just listened to whatever music the people I follow on Tumblr reblogged- sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't. But it's a good way to find new music, or older music you might not be aware of.

It also helps to have an open mind to genres you're usually adverse to. Sometimes you stumble upon an exception to the rule.

Not simply.

@Hector said:

iTunes top 100 songs.

I wouldn't recommend this unless you want to just listen to Katy Perry & Glee tracks, with the occasional Adele, Gotye or Wiz Khalifa song thrown in there. You'll definitely know what the mainstream digs, however.

As for recommendations, friends, Pitchfork, A.V. Club (which I use for everything) and The Needle Drop.

Very much recommend Anthony at The Needle Drop. He highlights mostly independent artists (people you won't be too familiar with) and even if he doesn't particularly like an album or whatever, he explains his stance on the music thoroughly & is always open to discussion about it, which is really the key thing. He acknowledges that music taste is subjective.

I'm really surprised that nobody has said this already, but the NPR All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts podcasts usually have a pretty wide sampling of stuff to check out. Another way I find random bands is through Metacritic. While I don't always agree with their scoring methods/relying on numbers, generally if an album has an 80 or above score then I'll check out samples to see if I like it. I've found several bands I really like that way. Happy hunting!

The majority of my tastes are pre-2000. I visit stuff like Pitchfork or music blogs, but more than half of their recommendations aren't as good as they say they are. I feel like sites/blogs on the Internet have a hive mentality; I'm not impressed with most of the Best New Music picks.

Since I've been seriously listening to music for over 20 years now, most of my tastes don't come from anywhere specific. But if I had to choose, somewhere like All Music or the Sound Opinions podcast: places that weed through the bullshit.

radio at work, random youtube vids, word of mouth, random internet station.

I don't follow enough for it to be an issue, I really only follow Lady Gaga/Katy Perry. I'm sure the world will not let me forget about a new song of theirs.

Making new Pandora stations, amazon suggestions, and itunes suggestions mainly. I also keep an eye out for the kind of reviews/comments on bands that I like which mention other similar bands. Every now and then I find it really hard to find new bands/artists in genres that I've been listening to for awhile, but I just take that as a sign that I need to go find another genre to start adding to my library.

Liking your favorite artists' facebook/twitter pages is great for keeping up with tour dates and general news (that sounds like a fucking ad, I know). Lately magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin have been giving out one-year subscriptions when you buy certain tickets through Live Nation. I buy a lot of concert tickets so it works out well, and Spin has really stepped their game up with their new format. I check XXL.com for hip-hop news every day or so. The articles are written pretty terribly, though.

I wouldn't say I "keep up" really. I know what styles of music I really enjoy and mostly stick to that, and when I get tired of whatever is in my current rotation I try to find new* stuff similar to what I already like by doing a Google search for "similar music to [artist that I like]" and go from there.

http://www.metalsucks.net/

This.

My dad is more up to date than I am. I'm still mining the 60s and 70s for gems.

I don't really. There's like two or three bands I've liked since my teens that I "follow" and everything else is just a random mix of stuff I grew up listening to on account of my parents and the occasional new song that I inadvertently get exposed to thanks to Twitter, Facebook etc. but I don't really go out of my way to listen to new music.

I try to keep up by visiting lots of music websites. Like people have already said, pitchfork is great for new music, although I find their reviews themselves to be a bit shit. I visit tinymixtapes, factmag, drownedinsound and the needledrop as well.

Mostly through blogs and a small forum that I joined back when I joined the internet world. That only works for rap music, though, since I have no idea for how to learn about other stuff I might like. My taste is pretty varied but in those other lanes it's still pretty selective. So I just happen to stumble upon things.

And I look up stuff I hear in TV shows or whatever.

An example: I would've never heard about The Heavy and the awesome music they're making if it hadn't been for last year's Batman: Arkham City trailer that used their song Short Change Hero. Went and bought their two albums immediately and loved every song on it.

It's hard to keep up with the latest releases, so I have friends that spend most of their free time looking through music blogs and talking with others. They know what I like and drop some recommendations if they find anything good.

I'm not up to date at all. I just don't really care that much.

Been listening to a looooooooot of Touhou/rock remixes, that right there is a fucking endless supply.

Now? I listen to a lot of DI.FM, whenever I hear a song I enjoy I just check the track history.

When I was a teenager I used to go to a lot of local shows, word of mouth, etc.

Well.. it's music. It's not like games where some of them are literally technically broken pieces of crap. Most music is at least listenable, so it all depends on your tastes.

Personally I discover music when people recommend music, or I just ask what they're listening to these days. That's pretty effective, honestly.

I don't really. I've accepted that metal from the 80s and 90s is generally better than what there is now, this is especially true for black and death metal.

Listen to the radio and watch music channels like IConcert.

Wutang is forever. I don't really listen to new music other than dubstep, and that's only when I'm in the mood while playing LoL. Most of the time I stay in old school/underground hip hop rooms on Turntable.fm and listen to some good shit.

wikipedia, music websites, sample discs, look for similar/related artists

@Sooty said:

I don't really. I've accepted that metal from the 80s and 90s is generally better than what there is now, this is especially true for black and death metal.

Goddamnit yes. Almost all modern metal is terrible. WIITR are the only truly decent Black Metal band around atm. I still listen to 1349, but they've been going like 15 years so they don't count as modern.

As for the topic, unless you wanna be some pretentious bastard, don't. I discover new music through friends and actually seeing them live with other bands. I went through the stage of expanding my music knowledge when I was like 16 and thankfully grew out of it. Botch aren't around any more so why bother with modern music.

Try out whatever that isn't pop music?

http://hypem.com/

This is how I do it. There are a lot of remixes that get popular on there but also a lot of really good indie stuff, alternative rock, and anything else really. Just try it out for a bit if you've got time.

put favorite record labels on book marks, fav band sites, go to music forums that have new releases sections, check last fm for recommended artists, check out music review sites

I don't. 95% of current stuff is pretty shitty anyway.

I don't keep up with modern music. But to find music, I just use Rdio's lists they keep under artists of who their influences were, who they influenced, and similar artists. That stuff works particularly well for Jazz and Ska. I found like 6 Ska bands I liked the other day in a total of 5 minutes. 
 
@AlexW00d said:

@Sooty said:

I don't really. I've accepted that metal from the 80s and 90s is generally better than what there is now, this is especially true for black and death metal.

Goddamnit yes. Almost all modern metal is terrible. WIITR are the only truly decent Black Metal band around atm. I still listen to 1349, but they've been going like 15 years so they don't count as modern.

As for the topic, unless you wanna be some pretentious bastard, don't. I discover new music through friends and actually seeing them live with other bands. I went through the stage of expanding my music knowledge when I was like 16 and thankfully grew out of it. Botch aren't around any more so why bother with modern music.

Go see bands anywhere you can. Local shows, not so local shows, house shows, club shows, bar shows...everything

or just read pitchfork till your eyes bleed.