If you’ve tuned into my live stream lately, you’ve heard the awesome 8-bit music that’s playing. I can’t stand silence. There’s always something making noise here in my office. This sound can come from the television, or from music I have playing. My tastes are pretty out there as far as style goes. The beauty of music, though, is that there’s something for everyone.

One of our LockerGnome contributors recently asked about music which influenced other members. This made me stop and think about music in a very broad sense. I know so many people – my assistant Kat included – who claim they cannot think, work or sleep without music playing. I cannot honestly say that I am the same way, but I do agree that what I listen to has a lot to do with the mood I am in.

Our tastes change depending on what is going on in our head. If you’re in the writing zone, you may prefer to have classical music humming through the speakers. However, others insist they have to have some hard bass pumping in their blood before they can type the first word. We go through life stuffing people into pigeon holes and deciding for them what they are most likely to enjoy. But when it comes to our listening style, every profile is thrown out of the window.

The grandmother of four down the street probably likes rock music, but the teenager on the bus has Jazz soothing her soul on the ride home. That young man with black fingernails and clothing isn’t listening to some “weird” punk stuff… he’s enjoying Mozart and smirking at you as you walk by. The little old lady with blue hair on her way to the supermarket isn’t playing something from the 1930s – she’s cranking up the Beatles and bopping her head along in time.

There’s something about music that reaches out and grabs you by the soul. It doesn’t matter what genre you happen to prefer – music is going to touch you in some way. You’re going to identify with it and you’re going to crave it. Why do you think there are hundreds of ways to get your fix? Crank up a radio, turn on the CD player, slap in an 8-track or cassette, tune in to your favorite online station or grab an instrument and play whatever is in your heart.

How does music influence your life each day? What do you listen to?

How Does Music Influence Your Life?

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How do you discover new music? Don’t sit there and tell me you only like one type of music. You can’t just stop at some point in your life and decide you don’t want to listen to anything new. One thing I like about Pandora is that I can give it a specific genre or artist, and they’ll help me discover other artists that may be similar. I got an email from TJ recently who shared with us his top 5 list of ways to discover new music.

• Find out who your favorite artists consider to be their inspirations. Chances are, you’re going to enjoy listening to them, as well. It’s easy to go online and find a biography of musicians you like. Those will usually include a list of names of the people who inspired them.
• Listen to a lot of music on the radio, last.fm, or any other service. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a song on the radio that I liked, and wrote it down quickly to find later and purchase for my own collection. I tend to turn the radio to stations I might not normally listen to. That helps me broaden my scope, and allows me to find music I love that I might otherwise never have heard.
• Get out and listen to local musicians. We musicians love all the followers we can get. Getting out and hearing them is always fun, and they love your support!
• Join music-related forums. You’ll be exposed to so many different types of music that you may not have even heard of! Read what others are saying. If they’re raving about a new artist or song – check it out for yourself!
• Trade music with others. I remember when I used to trade CDs with a good friend of mine. Just that summer alone, I was able to discover a ton of new things that I hadn’t heard before. I went from having only about 100 songs in my collection to more than 5000.

This same thing happened to me back in college. I traded CDs with a friend of mine. The name of a particular band was strange, but I gave it a chance. Turns out, I loved their music! By sharing the cassette tape with my friend, it turned me on to a whole new style of music… which turned into sales for the artist.

I want to consume music as I want to consume it. I’d rather “rent” the music, instead of owning it. That’s why I subscribe to Rhapsody’s service. I can pull up and listen to whatever I want, when I want it.

So my question again is “how do you discover new music”?

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How to Discover New Music

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I still listen to AM radio, don’t you? I grew up listening to AM – and I used to host a show there back in the day. One of my favorite shows is only found on AM radio – Coast to Coast AM. However, the reception isn’t that great. The problem is that the quality is just poor – tons of static everywhere!

Luckily, I came across a Terk AM-1000 Advantage Passive AM Indoor Antenna. There are no wires or cables, and you only have to tune a dial to make the reception better and better.

So – does the Terk work? You bet it does! I took a station full of static and “noise”, and made it come in as clear as a bell. You be the judge – and then pick up one of these for yourself.

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How to Improve AM Radio Reception

If you have an XM or Sirius satellite radio subscription, and you carry your iPod Touch or iPhone with you wherever you go, then you won’t want to be without StarPlayr.

In as seamless a fashion as possible, this app will connect to your account and immediately begin streaming channels directly to you – in 32k or 64k glory (although you need a WiFi connection for the higher quality audio stream).

I apologize for the lackluster close-up quality of the video – it’s the best I could do at such short notice. If you’d rather not watch this StarPlayr walk-thru, I’ve snapped a few screenshots which may better illustrate what’s going on with this app.

Exclusive: Sirius and XM Satellite Radio on Your iPhone / iPod

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Some people claim I have a face for radio. I have to agree with them, but that doesn’t stop me from streaming my life online. Maybe you have a plan to do something with audio, you could use ustream.tv like I do. Or, you could use the free service at Radionomy.

Search, find and listen to Radios. With the music you like and the content you want. Become a fan. Post comments. Be part of the Radionomy community. Download and customize our player.

Create your own radio, it’s free! Music, Jingles, Content: browse our libraries. Upload your own creations. Program your radio easily and broadcast it to the world.

Share your music or your content. The place to be for Artist or Content Producers. Share music, jingles or audio contents with all radio creators on Radionomy. Discover the win-win relationship we want to build.

Create your own legal radio station in minutes, for absolutely no money! Customize your show with their pre-designed templates. Listen to others, network to make new friends, and stream your musical life online.

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Do You Want to Have your Own Internet Radio Station?

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The differences between traditional radio and Internet radio are pretty vast. Yes, they are both audio. Everything else is merely the mechanism and limitations of the delivery. With a traditional radio, you can flip between bands and frequencies. You hope to pick up some kind of signal with your antenna that may be within range. With Internet radio… your Internet connection is your antenna. You have no limitations on what you can find.

When we talk about radio, we are talking about some kind of audio, usually live. Online radio is kind of the future of radio. Some argue that Satellite radio is the future, but I disagree. As more and more cars have the ability to connect to the Internet, they will start utilizing Internet radio. I received an email recently from Brian, who asked about more information on Online radio advertising. He had to do a research paper.

What I do here with my live video feed isn’t exactly radio. However, since there is audio and it’s being streamed live… there are similarities. When I have dealt with sponsors in the past, not only have I been transparent about those sponsors. I’ve also used certain hooks that traditional radio has. For instance, if you want a domain name, you want to go to GoDaddy. However, if you want to save 10%, you’ll use the code Chris or Chris1 or Chris2 or even Chris3. Same thing with GoToMeeting. When you do these things, that lets my sponsors know that you found out about them through me. They then know that I am connecting with my audience, and the money they spent to advertise with me was worth it.

Online advertising honestly isn’t that much different than traditional. The only thing that is different is the delivery method. It’s still audio… in some cases it’s more than audio. The audience will be larger with Internet radio, actually. What’s compelling about radio is that it’s live. You need to understand that with Internet radio, you are no longer limited by your antenna. You are only limited by your creativity and talent. When you match that talent with sponsors, you’re going to be happy, with far less overhead. The onus will be on you to draw in and retain an audience to listen to or watch your content.

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Is Online Radio Killing Traditional Radio Advertising?

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Honeytoast is a regular member of our live community. He wanted to send me his top 5 ways of getting and listening to music legally, conveniently, and inexpensively.

• Subscribe to Rhapsody or another streaming type music source. This is Chris’ favorite, and is by far the cheapest way to buy your music. Sometimes, it can be more convenient with having accessibility from any computer with an Internet connection. The biggest downside to this would be the limitation to using something like a computer, instead of your iPod or mp3 player. Another downside is the loss of quality. Most listeners, like myself, would not have a problem with streaming quality, or slightly lessened quality. Some listeners prefer having the highest possible quality. If you don’t need perfect CD or better quality, and don’t always need to take your music with you, Rhapsody is one of your best choices. You can even take the trial for a ride and see if you like it before you have to spend a cent.
• Use an online radio. One of my favorites that I am really starting to use is Pandora. It is free, and you can choose your favorite genres and create a station that will play music similar to any particular artist. These are great because if you don’t want to have to pick a song, you can just sit back, and a song that you will probably love will start for you. With Pandora, you can also create multiple stations, so you can listen to a few fast paced rock song before school, some quick Techno songs before work, and a folk or indie song before bed… or even mix them all together on one station. The biggest downside to this is once again, inability to bring the music with you everywhere. However, some online radio stations are providing support for cell phone streaming. Even a PSP with a wi-fi connection can play online radio now.
• Mix it up a bit. If you’re not too involved in music and only enjoy a few songs by some more popular artists, but like a tune every now and then, try to have a easy, cheap, and convenient way for music. If you’re at home and want a quick song, try your favorite artist’s Myspace page or Website. Most artists have their more popular songs up, which are probably the ones you want to hear. If you love a few different bands, spend a few bucks on their albums to listen to in the car or on your iPod when you want. You don’t have to spend a fortune on these, just to have something to listen to. If you want to get a single song instead of the full album, but still want it for the car, just try the iTunes or online music store. You can burn a mix of your purchased music, or put it on your player for your convenience. You once again don’t have to spend a fortune if you’re just looking for 10 or 20 songs. Even listen to the radio if you want. If you like more popular artists, there’s a good chance that that artist will play soon. If you don’t get involved enough with music to pick one single way to get your music, you should try to mix it up.

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How to Listen to Music Without Breaking the Law

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Neil writes:

I am not sure if what i heard about a Top 5 list was correct, but never the less I am sending you a Top 5 list on my favorite music websites. Music is a huge part of everyones lives, and I am sure your viewers will find a fresh set of music helpful, and hopefully these sites will help them out a bit.They are listed in no particular order as they are all great and serve their own purpose, but as always, they are open to user interpretation. Listed below are the names and url’s of the Top 5, listed with a universal descriptor for ease of use.

• Pandora
• LastFM
• AccuRadio
• Project Playlist
• Clear Channel Music

All of the above are easy to use and provide the same service in a slightly different way. Some do this better than others, but once again thats up to user preference. The services are all quite fast and reliable and provide ways for the user to get to music quickly and without hassle. Some offer user accounts with pretty nifty features and additions which will increase the amount of pleasure one can have with the service, and they tend to have a large music database from which music is drawn. Some services find and record the music styles and preferences of a listener and adjust what is being played accordingly, others offer new and interesting ways in which music is chosen, and it happens quite often that new artists with the same sound that one likes is presented for you (especially Pandora), leading to the discovery of new artists and bands.

All in all, these websites are great, and have proven to be quite a useful tool when it comes to bringing something fresh into my listening space. As such i would strongly encourage going through each and finding a service which best first you, you wont be disappointed.

To me the bottom line is it’s impossible not to find a place online that you like, which offers music you can listen to on a regular basis, with or without a subscription fee. This isn’t really the future… it’s the now. CDs are disappearing. Online music is just the way to go.

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Top 5 Music Sites

I listen to KUOW in my car all the time. If the dial isn’t tuned in to NPR, the radio simply isn’t on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken extra laps around the block just so I could listen to a full broadcast. Last Thursday, I heard a great segment on the origins of marriage (What is a Traditional Marriage) – I wanted Ponzi to hear it, too. That’s when I remembred: NPR has podcasts! And let’s face it – NPR owns the podcast space. I’d give my left nut to have a show on NPR (and my left nut is slightly more valuable than my right nut, FWIW). The problem is that NPR has over 300 podcasts as of today, making them impossible to manage and subscribe to en masse. So, I’m asking the NPR gods: please give us a single, permanent OPML URL? You can keep the same dichotomy, just put in a more transportable / importable format. If the NPR OPML is always at the same URL, we can always have the latest set of NPR shows a finger-click away. And if you already have a master OPML for NPR, why haven’t you linked to it from your podcast page?

NPR Needs OPML