So, I’m in the process of rebuilding my music library so I can finally get away from music subscription services. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that I download albums, but I don’t really listen to albums. I used to, obviously. Back in the CD days (and before that cassette tapes), you listened to one artist at a time, and usually you did so one album at a time. Unless you made mix tapes, which was fun. Mix tapes were the first playlists.

I’m much more of a playlist guy these days. I have a Favorites playlist that I’ve been cultivating across streaming services since before there were streaming services. In fact it originated in iTunes back in 2004 when I started at MSU. It has had different iterations since then, but the base is the same.

I have other playlists as well, with more curated experiences and aimed at different genres. It works really well for me.

The issue I’m going to have now that I’m moving away from streaming is that I’m going to have to be my own algorithm. Most of my music discovery will have to be from the music I own, instead of whatever Tidal or Apple Music want me to play next. I think this means I should listen to more albums. I’ll be exposed to more music that way, at least I think so.

I will have to work on a way to discover other music. The song I posted about the other day is one I wouldn’t have found if not for it being suggested in Tidal as I was listening along. I don’t know how I’ll be able to replicate that experience yet when I officially move to my self hosted library. I know that LastFM will help a bit, supposedly they give suggestions based on what you’ve listened to in the past. I do not know if ListenBrainz does the same thing or not. I hope so, because I’m not sure LastFM is long for this world.

For those of you who self host, how do you discover new music?