Not new bands but new to me. I managed to be a mild metalhead my whole life yet never listened to Iron Maiden. I started on their music a few months ago. I can’t believe I waited until I was in my forties to pick them up. Amazing guitar work and great vocals.

This is actually scientifically proven. https://neurosciencenews.com/music-youth-17765/ You love the music that you “grew up with as you were forming an identity” You can always change but it is more work to create new memories and nostalgia based on different or “new” songs.

I found out power metal was a thing right as the pandemic was starting and it’s just been a constant stream of new music to listen too I’ve found since then. I do have a couple go to bands though.

I’m a mix. I really enjoy finding new bands, even if they’re not new bands. Recently I’ve gotten EXTREMELY into Lorna Shore (Deathcore/extreme metal band). I’d never heard them, they’ve been around about a decade, but they’re new to me! Last year was the year of Bad Omens (Heavy Rock with some metal core tendencies). I’ve also been liking this synthy band The Midnight lately (like 80s electro pop complete with saxophone solos).

The way I find most of new bands is usually by either listening to bands I already like or have been into forever and using like “radio” feature on Spotify (Lorna) OR by searching out the openers for bands I like and checking out their music Bad Omens/The Midnight). It’s so fun to come across an artist you’ve never heard and dog into their catalogue and realize they’ve got multiple albums filled with bangers.

Youtube has put me onto a lot of Australian stuff lately, such as Smoko (The Chats) and Hertz (Amyl and the Sniffers) as well as some more indie stuff like Wet Leg. I might just be old but these bands are all new to me and I love it.

Okay, the old saying “horses for courses” comes to mind…

Yes, I actively search out new and wonderful music, and listen to it, and like it. Problem is that a lot of current music just sounds bad, either over- or under-produced, and i’m going deaf.

Last new music I really loved was Christine and the Queens, and that’s almost ten years ago!!!

But, and here’s the rub, when I want to sit here on a lovely summers evening drinking some cider with my spouse, I’ll mostly put on music from 30+ years ago. Frank and Walters, New Order, Biggie, The Cure, MC Solaar…

Mostly? its because I know it, and as sounds become ever more remote to me and my brain, I can rely on my memories to fill in the bits I can’t hear any more.

I try to always listen to new stuff. 1001albumsgenerator.com is a great project for getting out of your comfort zone and discovering some missed gems. It can be a slog at times though.

I am constantly on the lookout for new metal/metalcore/deathcore bands! As I have gotten older, I am enjoying more and more genres of music.

Personally I have found that Pandora’s algorithm for suggesting new music is the best when I am on the hunt.

Actively searching for new music is fun to me. I ask for recommendations from close friends, family members, people I know online, and just the internet in general. Typing ‘artist that sounds like _______’ into a search engine has been surprisingly successful, almost on par with the other methods, lol.

I also just recently discovered Bandsintown, which suggests artists playing live in my area that are similar to the ones I am already following (i.e., willing to pay money to see). I listen to a few of their songs and if I like them enough, now I have a new performance to go to!

For every song I listen to from my teens/20s, I listen to at least 2-3 songs from artists I discovered much more recently. The amount of good music is never the problem - there’s just not enough time in the day!

I have to admit that I don’t actively seek out new music as such anymore.

But I usually welcome suggestions and follow a few reaction channels on YT. So I feel well-covered for my own need of new stuff.

Just got into ‘Sicksense’ for an example. Pretty neat band so far.

I’ve always been the type to look for music. In highschool I was torrenting music constantly, then in the last couple years I subscribed to Spotify. I get so much dopamine from finding new music that I listen to new things probably every week/month. I do still listen to what I listened to 10-20 years ago, it’s just all a mix of my favourites at the time.

Every so often I’ll put on some of the old jams. But man, I’m just not angry enough anymore to listen to the old hardcore punk stuff I used to be into. Every so often I’ll put on a few albums though and think about those old times. Lately though I’ve gone down some crazy rabbit holes from jazz, ambient new age stuff, lots of lo-fi and lo-fi adjacent stuff. I recently discovered Macroblank and Monodrone, those two artists have taken up a lot of my time lately. I went through a pretty heavy vaporwave and futurefunk phase a few years back when I was trying to find more eletronic/funk style music like Breakbot. So all the stuff I listen to now is a far cry from the punk and metal I used to listen to back in the day!

I’m more focused on new releases by bands I’ve listened to for a long time. Mostly rock, folk, and pop from the 80s/90s.

But I also got into EDM a little while ago and added a lot of new and old stuff to my frequent plays.

I don’t want to be the old grumpy guy, but the current pop music is very rarely pleasant for me… Queue the struggle for control when I’m in the car with the kids: We found that Yacht Rock is safe territory for all :p

I also started making an effort to discover new music to me, no necessarily new music, simply because my tastes shifted quite a bit and I realised it by noticing I almost stopped listening to music. I just started following some very nice YouTube music album channels that introduced me to some great music that I’d never learn about otherwise.

Another thing I didn’t realise I was doing was that I wasn’t keeping up with the artists I enjoyed, I kept listening to the old stuff, but I didn’t listen to the new material to see if liked where they were going.

I actively seek new music (and discover older music that I previously didn’t listen to, just like you described) but also have bands that I’ve been a fan of since I was a kid that I still listen to. I exclusively listened to 60s and 70s rock when I was growing up, Zeppelin and The Beatles are still two of my favorite bands, but I have definitely expanded my palette since then. I agree that the “music these days” take is a tired one; if your only source of new music is the hits radio, of course, it will all sound the same.

I have this beef with people who say new country music sucks (or any genre for that matter) - sure there are bro-country singers that only sing about trucks and beer, but there are also insanely talented country musicians and songwriters out there right now.