In the ever-changing and fast-paced music world, it becomes challenging to stay on top of the music game. It can be hard to keep up with music trends, new albums and emerging artists because of how quickly the music world moves.

I hate not being in the know when it comes to music. If someone asks me if I’ve heard an album yet and I haven’t, I will lock myself in a room and listen to each song until I know every word. Being this way, I have come up with a system so I am always aware of new songs and artists.

One thing that has helped me become constantly aware of new artists in the music world is SoundCloud. Yes, every music lover knows what SoundCloud is, and it’s no secret that the website/application is great for finding new music and sounds. However, something I use on the site that most people don’t is the discover feature.

The discover feature on SoundCloud is personal to each user. It uses your listening activity to find new tracks and artists that are similar to the songs you’ve reposted and liked.

As opposed to your regular SoundCloud feed, the discover feature solely takes into account your music tastes, which makes it easier to find new sounds and artists you like. Yes, your SoundCloud feed is also a great way to uncover new music, but the discover feature helps you find music and artists before anyone else.

SoundCloud has a seemingly endless amount of music, which sometimes makes it hard to find exactly what you’re looking for to suit your tastes. The discover tab makes this a piece of cake.

Another method I like to use when trying to discover new music is a daily check of an application called Hype Machine. Hype Machine keeps track of what music bloggers are writing about, and then aggregates that information into charts. Users have the ability to “heart” tracks, which allows the song to move up in the Hype Machine charts.

What I like about this application is how the various charts constantly change. Hype Machine offers several charts, such as “popular,” which shows the songs with the most likes, and “latest,” which shows what’s going on in the Hype Machine world at that exact moment.

A song can only be in the popular chart for a maximum of three days, which allows a user to hear all kinds of different music each day. The continuously changing aspect of Hype Machine helps me discover a plethora of new music, from hip-hop and pop, to indie and mainstream rap.

Another great thing about Hype Machine is that it highlights artists that are not necessarily known yet by the masses. For music tastemakers and gatekeepers who are looking to find the next cool artist, this is the application for you.

I prefer SoundCloud and Hype Machine as opposed to applications such as Spotify and Apple Music because of the music variability. Although Spotify and Apple Music both also offer various ways to discover new music, such as the different playlists, SoundCloud and Hype Machine work better for me because they’re both constantly changing.

Phoebe Smith is a junior public relations major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at phsmith@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter @phoebesmithh5.

Published on September 5, 2016 at 8:19 pm