New music for your listening pleasure...

On occasion, I've been listening to my Ipod and have been asked by family and/or friends what band I was listening to. Upon repeating the name of the band (maybe something like Metric, My Brightest Diamond or Midlake), I get a blank stare. Few people, at least in Miami, have heard of them. It's not because the bands I'm listening to are no good (actually they’re probably much better than any other popular/commercialized band out there); typically it’s just because they haven't hit it big yet. Once I give them a listen, they'll ask where I found out about all this music. This is when I get all excited and give them a guided tour through the world of Indie music.
For those who are not familiar with the term, Indie or independent music is any of a number of genres, stylistic and cultural aspects, distinguished by independence from commercial music and mainstream culture and with an autonomous approach. I started listening to Indie music myself about three years ago while searching for a specific song I heard at a local store. I loved the song so much that I wrote down on a piece of paper some of the lyrics so I could google it and hope to come across the song that way; which I did find successfully…. after a couple of hours of searching with a glass of wine on hand.
By working on this little music research hobby of mine, so far I’ve gathered over 2,000 songs of plain Indie music on my Ipod. I now dictate what I want to listen to… it's not as easy to push something down people's throats anymore and make them buy it. It's not much that people have become smarter; they just have everything at their fingertips. They can find something that's cool and genuine to listen to. They tell people about it, and the news starts spreading… just like I do.Indie music is definitely moving and growing along with the internet. CD album sales so far this year are down 8 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, while sales of digital tracks through services like iTunes have risen 150 percent, to well over 320 million songs this year.
Now with the internet, MP3 players and custom playlists, consumers have probably more power than ever to treat their curiosities beyond the music that is offered through the major record stores, popular radio stations, VH1, BET and MTV.
True, there are great bands on major labels and bad bands on independent labels, but it seems like the records made on independent labels are more about real creativity. Melodies and lyrics are heartfelt and crafted with care, since it’s all about the music…
If you would like to find new Indie music, the best thing to do is to find Indie music blogs online like Underrated Blog and FreeIndie, where you can discover new bands and solo artists.
For your listening pleasure, I will be featuring one Indie music band/solo artist on the first Friday of every month that I think is worthy of being heard by you and your listeners. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask.