FINDING OUT about new music used to be a much more leisurely activity. To get pointers and recommendations, you could depend on a handful of magazines, some radio shows and the racks in your favourite record store. Those were your filters, though no one called them that. Instead, you called them the NME, John Peel, Comet Records and Bob, your mate who was always hip to new sounds, writes JIM CARROLL
New bands may have taken a couple of albums and years to make the jump from this micro-verse to the mainstream, but the breakthrough did happen. When it did, those who’d tipped Prefab Sprout or The Wedding Present as a band to watch could smile smugly at their prescience.
All has changed utterly. In 2012, new bands are an ubiquitous part of the cultural landscape and there are a gazillion different ways to find out about them. For the new acts themselves, getting to the audience has never been easier, thanks to easy access to sites such as Soundcloud, Bandcamp and Breaking Tunes to host their music. It’s bonanza time for newbies. Who needs record labels and critics and radio stations when the internet brings all the walls tumbling down? The problem, though, is that just because everyone can be heard doesn’t mean that everyone is heard. The music industry was never a great believer in a level playing pitch and the internet has made it a hundred times more lop-sided.
Sure, acts can now build and develop traction without the need for major label infrastructural assistance or permanent establishment dig-outs, but this doesn’t mean that everyone’s a winner. It’s still that often-maddening, unpredictable mix of contacts, hard work, networking and lucky breaks. And we’re assuming you have a handful of decent tunes to begin with.
If it’s hard for the act, though, it’s harder too for the music fan. Even the most dedicated fan of new music will admit to being overwhelmed at times by the sheer volume of acts on offer. It’s also not just a case of tapping into your local scene for inspiration either. The internet means it’s just as easy to listen to new stuff from Sydney (we’re currently very taken with Oliver Tank), Copenhagen (have you heard Iceage yet?) or Chicago (check out Willis Earl Beal immediately) as from Cork or Belfast.
Even though the ascent of online was supposed to mean the end of the gatekeeper, you need filters and curators now more than ever to help you gauge and chronicle the amount of new bands vying for your attention. Like the old days, it could be a publication, radio show or retail outlet. But as these channels are likely to be online in 2012, you can now hear the act as you read about them, instead of having to wait weeks for the record to reach your local store or radio DJ.
You could even turn to the geeks for help. Just as online stores use algorithims to recommend new stuff to you based on past purchases or browsing history, sites such as Last.fm will produce a bespoke menu of new music for you to enjoy based on what you’ve already listened to on the site. Every month sees further innovations and launches in this area as new companies try to get a foothold in the music market. For instance, new Finnish service Hitlantis is currently hoping that its bubble-led visual approach to music recommendations will match fans with new bands.
But given the huge number of filters and curators claiming to know what is what, you probably have to filter and finesse these recommendation channels to begin with. You will find that each of these channels is a self-contained world of its own, full of recommendations and tips which have nothing in common with other filters you’re using.
Other guides to new music are the lists of acts tipped for great things by pundits, which are usually compiled at this time of year. Over the last decade, it has become the norm for every publication, radio show and website to tip new acts for the coming year. With more and more music fans eager to discover new acts and share these discoveries with their friends, these lists have become a tried and tested part of the media furniture, even if the predictions don’t always come to pass.
The daddy of these lists is the BBC Sound Of poll, which was compiled this year by 184 UK-based journalists, DJs and bloggers. Since it debuted in 2003, the Sound Of shortlists have picked hits (50 Cent, Keane, Adele, Jessie J) and misses (Little Boots, the Bravery, The Twang, Air Traffic), yet it’s the list the music industry swears by because it’s proof – or otherwise – of the collective wisdom of the in-crowd.
However, one problem with lists of this nature is that they’re often more a guide to what the record labels are planning to release in the coming months rather than true talent-spotting punts. Of course, those who put their names to the lists want to be seen to be right, so they’ll go with the acts who already have a story and campaign in place, meaning there are rarely any surprise entries on these lists.
Dubstep DJ and producer Skrillex is on the BBC list for 2012, though he is an act who could not by any means be desribed as new, having already had copious amounts of media attention and sell-out shows. Another shortlisted act is Frank Ocean, who ended up on many best-of lists last year for his striking Nostaglia, Ultraalbum. Can acts like these, who already have releases and an impressive profile to their credit, really be described as new?
Yet acts such as Skrillex, Ocean and Azealia Banks are probably new names to the vast majority of music fans who will be looking at these lists with great curiosity. And if the Sound Of list or any other such poll piques someone’s interest about an act, it’s definitely doing its job.
Hot list 2012: The tipsters recommend
BBC Sound Of 2012
Michael Kiwanuka, Frank Ocean, Azealia Banks, Skrillex, Nikki & The Dove
The Guardian
Spector, Ron Hervieu, The Staves, Dot Rotten
Dan Hegarty (2fm)
Red Dancers Cometh, Azealia Banks, Faws, King Charles, The Jezabels
Jenny Huston (2fm)
Little Green Cars, Rainy Boy Sleep, Funeral Suits, King Charles, K.Flay
Brian Adams (Head of Music, Today FM)
Little Green Cars, Maverick Sabre, Alabama Shakes, Emeli Sandé, The Black Keys
Cathal Funge (Phantom FM)
Spies, RunawayGO, Jennifer Evans, Elaine Mai, Moths,
Neon Gold, Azealia Banks, Madeon, Walk the Moon, Gotye, St Lucia
The Age (Australia)
Alpine, Danielle Blakey, Deep Sea Arcade, DZ Deathrays, Timomatic
Example
The Weeknd, Michael Kiwanuka, P Money, Fenech-Soler, Nina Nesbitt
Mojo
Michael Kiwanuka, The Civil Wars, Toy, The Golden Filter
MTV
Angel, Conor Maynard, Clement Marfo & The Frontline, Charli XCX, King Charles, Michael Kiwanuka, Delilah, Lianne La Havas, Lana Del Rey
Jim Carroll
Alabama Shakes, Little Green Cars, Moths, Willis Earl Beal, The Jezabels
