[tomphoolery]

> I've always kind of coasted off of what friends and family find.

Not sure why you feel like you "suck" at music discovery. First of all, it's not exactly a skill...so you can't really suck at it. In other words, there's no "wrong" way to discover new music except not doing it at all. Second of all, the means of discovering music you described is the primary way that 96% of the world discovers new music. Few people hear an artist, then immediately look up their label and listen to a few other things the artist has done, as well as other songs from the label they're on. Most of the spread of music occurs via word-of-mouth, or people listening to whatever their friends are listening to.

Honestly there isn't anything better right now than getting music from your friends, or just going out all the time and hearing new tracks from DJs/bands/whatever.

[cwal37]

It's probably just how I consider myself in the context of people I know. I love being well versed in something and offering suggestions to people, but I have always been more of a taker when it comes to music. Normally I'm ready with a book/movie/tv/game/whatever recommendation, but I've never been connected to the music world the same way.

It could also be a sibling thing, as 2 of my younger brothers are very much on the cutting edge of new acts (following tiny blogs, watching new soundcloud accounts, etc.), and I feel like I end up mostly relying on hearing new things through them. There's even a clear delineation in my musical tastes in the early 2000s when my siblings began finding music and I shifted away from relying on my parents' stuff to theirs. It's just something I think about when I'm strolling through spotify playlists most days.