Pull a random record out of the 1,000 or so I have and let it rip.

Unless I have something specific in mind of course.

Yes. All except search by genre.

I listen to community radio, look at music related websites, let the music app dj, sometimes my kids show me music or vice versa, and opening acts at shows.

Loaded question! When i was younger I had a list of stuff i wanted to try like classic rock which moved to other more obscure genres from the past while also keeping up with what was newer and semi popular through websites, articles, and local radio.

I have always gotten most music off my private pirate sites and use local apps to stream my entire library on my phone, pc, or anything else everywhere. It has gotten so good lately that it can build out radio style mixes based off popular track information and even using AI (first time i have ever thought it was useful) to build playlists of similar tracks in the library based off individual wave lengths to get the best accuracy. I tried using spotify once when i got 6 months free and found that i only used it like 3 times and found it more dificult to find what i wanted or new stuff to check out weirdly enough. These days i mostly just download whats new for artists i already know and see them in the top 10 of my pirate sites or just new stuff in the top 10 that fits the genres i like. At the end of the year ill check out top 50 lists to see if i missed anything and ill get them as well. Its worked out pretty good for the past 20 years now although as i get older it gets harder to find the time or interest in it like I used to…

It either depends on my mood, or if I have to focus on something.

As far as focusing on an activity, if it’s something that does not require a lot of thought, such as the audits I do at work every day, I’ll pretty much listen to anything. If I need to actually focus and think, then I’ll put on classical music, in particular Debussy, or Mozart.

There is an in between where I need to focus, but I have already figured whatever I’m working on out and just need to become adept at doing it. In that case I will listen to Rush for the most part. I’m not sure what it is about their music, but it engages me enough that I’m not bored doing something repetitive, but also allows my brain to quickly jump back to the task at hand when needed, then jump back to listening to the music. No other band works for me in that way. It’s really weird and I’ve spoken with multiple psychologists and other mental health professionals as to why. None had a clue, other than one speculated that their precision playing is the reason.

90% of the time I know what I want to listen to.

The other 10% of the time I will listen to new things I’ve squirreled away in my personal listening queue, because the art was interesting, I’ve heard good things, or I randomly heard a song I like. Sometimes recommendations from friends will make it into that queue.

Random mixes, not usually. I’m far too picky. But there are niche subgenre mixes that can be good.

i have hard time understanding the case here, how is that you don’t know the TYPE of music you like? I can see that you might ask for suggestions for a given music style, but the type? I don’t get it

For my normal background playback I apply a random track shuffle across my entire library, with a delay on repeating each track by a month for each iteration of its play count.

If a track has not been played before, can be included in the list immediately.

If a track has been played 6 times, it can be included once 6 months have passed since its last play.

When I was younger it was Pandora. I’d listen to Pandora channels and if I heard something new I’d grab the artists discography off limewire. Go through and see what I liked. Sometimes I’d see who opened live for the artists I really liked then listen to them too. Now that I can afford to support artists I try to by buying physical media. I swap it with friends. I have 3 buddies I do this with. Every month or so we trade an album or two.

There’s a lot of great indie music on the fedi, and places to listen to it:

https://nham.co.uk/ Radio

https://theindiebeat.fm/ (several radio channels)

https://tv.theindiebeat.fm/ (24/7 Fedi MTV)

And more : https://nham.co.uk/2025/06/how-do-i-connect-with-artists-on-the-fediverse-cheat-sheet/

I thought I’d try 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (I’m using https://1001albumsgenerator.com/ ), but it’s been a bit disappointing really - I’m nearly 800 in and only found 1 new artist to add to my collection. I guess I’m just old and set in my ways.

Most of the time a song just starts playing in my head and I listen to it when I have time. Other times I rifle through my memories of the music I love and find one that I like to listen too, sort of like a radio. So, no to all of that.

When I started writing this Radiohead started playing. heh.

Best experience was hearing a song in a bar and asking the staff what it was. I discovered both Portishead and Maceo Parker this way…

In my youth it was more peer and radio driven. Now a days it’s streaming playlists, youtube algorithms, and tracklists for any sets I find. I still enjoy some radio, but the ads and piles of trash make it less bearable. There are still local/community stations doing their part. I had a blog phase too. Not sure if that’s a thing anymore.