And I don’t just mean genres. I mean levels of popularity, different cultures, across decades. Don’t just use Spotify, listen to the radio, dig on soundcloud, find older music on youtube- there are things to learn and integrate into your own music from all of them. Picking and implementing certain aspects from today’s music- Alex G style guitar, Fred Again samples, whatever tf it is- doesn’t really separate you from the pack.

 

The more you consume, the more unique your taste becomes. It’s like your DNA. You could fw the rhythm in afro beats, trance melodies, soul chops, whatever. The combination of these interests is what really creates your taste, and it will allow you to finally find your own sound.

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If you’re at a loss, here’s some places you can look: For older stuff, look up Rare Samples & Songs Oleg Tsoy on YouTube. Goldmine. Or, [1001albumsgenerator.com](http://1001albumsgenerator.com) gives you an album a day of the most acclaimed of all time.

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For smaller soundcloud stuff, look at the following of the account [ihatetalking.fm](http://ihatetalking.fm) to get started. Then just go down the rabbit hole, if you like something, see if that person has done stuff with other people, then check that artist out, and so on. There’s also the 2026 soundcloud report they released, which is a bit more mainstream, but has tons of artist suggestions and is definitely worth checking out, as SC has a way different demographic than the major platforms.

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[music-map.com](http://music-map.com) is a really good site for recommending artists similar to whatever you type in. They stay very up to date and the website is super pleasant to use.

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Ask your friends what they’ve been listening to! Explore that.

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I don’t need to tell you how to use the radio.