According to Nielsen research that I can't be bothered digging up right now, you, dear Public Address reader, are notably confident about buying things online, relative to the general population. It's a fair bet that you're also pretty confident about where to get stuff that you're not actually buying too.
I was nattering with Pete Darlington on Twitter yesterday about places to buy music -- yeah, buying music, that's how old we are -- and he said he'd been using Beatport for dance and reggae music. I tend to prefer the British-based Juno, despite is quirky interface, for the same task.
I'll also buy music from Bandcamp, 7 Digital (UK version), Amplifier (NZ only, and both MP3 and physical orders) and, if there really is no alternative, the iTunes Store.
I guess I'll come around to them eventually, but streaming services -- Rdio and Spotify -- don't really really work for me, and I never really got the hang of Last FM. I like to buy and have, and to do my discovery at Soundcloud, Hype Machine, and blogs like Ghetto Funk (particularly the Weekly Scour of Soundcloud goodies).
Soundcloud is becoming so vast that it's important to develop a list of producers and uploaders to follow and to join groups that meet your musical interests. If you want to follow me on Soundcloud, I'm knowyourproduct and my profile will show you what users and groups I'm signed up to. I also follow some if the more reliable MP3 blogs on Hype Machine, where I'm dubwise.
Sometimes I'll look at the more industry-approved discovery sites like RCRD LBL and We Are Hunted. And of course, there's the PAS Rollers group on Last FM, which has been a little quiet lately.
Locally? The Corner, Cheese on Toast and Under the Radar, with the latter two being good value for gig news. On Twitter I follow those blogs plus Home Brew, Street Chant, the Phoenix Foundation, Lawrence Arabia and others.
And for a great, constantly surprising flow of video, documentary and musical finds, the Dangerous Minds blog has no peer.
But that's mostly just music -- and that's just me. I'm well aware that not everyone in my demographic likes what I do.
I'm interested to know where you get your cultural stuff -- not just music, but books, ebooks, comics, video etc -- and in y'all sharing with the group who you are in those places. So please, go ahead and share.
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Meanwhile, some free goodies ...
Post Mint Chicks band Opossom's newest MP3 ...
A new, big crunchy tune from my favourite DJ-producer, Pretty Lights.
And that rare thing, a Beatles re-rub that shouldn't be drowned in a bucket: