I continue to feel like the system of delivering new music to me has moved on and left me behind. I recently enjoyed walking into HMV and buying a copy of Daft Punk "Random Access Memories", an artist I was only peripherally aware of before a friend turned me on to this new record. I derive great pleasure in going into a music retailer and purchasing an actual copy of new music, something I did years ago with great frequency. Now, just finding something that actually interests me is a treat.
I used to be one of those guys that would, for Christmas or birthdays, get many gift cards (gift certificates in the "old days") for Sam's or A&A, and would have to carefully weed through the many options there before deciding on what I would spend them on. Now, I find myself looking around with little but older product that I might like enough to buy, either something that I either never got around to, or something that I'm buying again for one reason or another. 3-5 times a year there might be an exception, but for me that is pretty sad considering what I once spent yearly on new music.
I was a guy that found music on the radio, and eventually music television. I'm just old enough to have been part of the last decade or so when broadcasters were actually exposing new music. I remember when MuchMusic was new, and so many of my friends didn't get what they were about because they were showing so much great stuff that wasn't super beaten to death. I find myself unable to listen to terrestrial radio anymore, and don't even bother talking about "music television" for the last 30 years.....
I held on and, during the '90s when I was teaching music regularly, students of mine brought me great new artists and albums to check out, but since I got away from that activity, my sources dried up. I don't teach enough to get that exposure that I once had.
Maybe it's me, and I'm just not keeping up with the times. So, my question to those of you getting your hands on stuff that really tweaks your musical taste, and I'm talking new stuff... How are you all getting exposed to this new material?