Streaming apps are great at playing you more of what you already like. They are not so great at surprising you. If your playlists have started to feel like a loop, the fix is to step outside the app for a bit.
These websites are built for one thing: helping you discover new music. Some are maps, some are radio, some are simple tools where you type in a band and get a list of new ones to try. All of them are free to use.
Type in a band, get new ones
1. Music-Map
Type an artist into Music-Map and it draws a cloud of similar artists around them. The closer two names are, the more likely you are to like both. Click any name and the map redraws around that one. It is the fastest way to find your next favorite band.
2. Gnoosic
Music-Map's sister site, Gnoosic, asks for three bands you like and then suggests one at a time. Tell it whether you like the suggestion, do not like it, or have never heard of it, and it gets sharper with every answer.
3. Discover Quickly
If you use Spotify, Discover Quickly is a faster way to browse it. Hover over an artist and their top song starts playing, so you can sample dozens of artists in a few minutes and save the ones you like.
Maps of every sound
4. Every Noise at Once
Every Noise at Once is a giant map of thousands of music genres, from the ones you know to ones you did not know existed. Click any genre to hear a sample. Its creator stopped updating it in 2024, but the map is still up and still one of the most fun music rabbit holes on the internet.
5. Musicmap
Musicmap is a beautifully drawn family tree of popular music, showing how genres grew out of each other over the last century. Click a genre to read its story and hear examples. It is part music discovery, part history lesson.
6. Radiooooo
Pick a country and a decade on Radiooooo and it plays music from that time and place. 1960s Ethiopia. 1980s Japan. 1970s Brazil. Some features are paid, but plenty of it is free, and it is the best musical time machine there is.
Radio made by real people
7. NTS Radio
NTS is an online radio station run from London with hosts and shows from all over the world. It streams live and has a huge archive of past shows covering almost every genre you can name.
8. KEXP
Seattle's KEXP is a listener supported radio station known for its DJs and its live in-studio sessions. Stream it live, or dig through years of live performances from bands you will soon be telling your friends about.
9. NPR Tiny Desk Concerts
Artists squeeze behind a desk in an office and play a short, stripped back set. Tiny Desk Concerts have been running for years, and the archive is a goldmine. Pick one you have never heard of and see what happens.
Dig deeper
10. Bandcamp
Bandcamp is where independent artists sell their music directly to fans. Its discover page lets you browse by genre and tag, and its editorial site, Bandcamp Daily, writes about artists you will not find on any chart.
11. Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music has been collecting ratings from serious music fans for more than twenty years. Its charts let you find the best albums of any genre, year or country, which is a great way to fill the gaps in what you know.
12. Radio Garden
Spin the globe on Radio Garden, tap a green dot, and you are listening to a live radio station in that town. Morning talk in Lagos, late night jazz in Tokyo, country in a small town in Montana. It is the most direct way to hear what the rest of the world is listening to right now.
Make it a habit
- One new artist a day. Give it one song. If it hooks you, play the album.
- Go sideways. Start from a band you love and click two or three steps away on Music-Map. The best finds are rarely the closest match.
- Save as you go. Keep one playlist just for discoveries so you can come back to them.
More music on NexURLs
NexURLs has a whole Music topic full of instruments you can play in your browser, sound toys, music history and more, all shared by people who could not stop playing them. For something quieter, try our list of relaxing websites, which includes radio from all over the world.
Know a music discovery site we missed? Share it on NexURLs.
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