Where do you find out about new albums/artists?

When I was a kid, we went to the local record store, Dog Ear Records (which survived until recently), and had a mentor/mentee relationship with our record store clerks. It was kind of like the movie High Fidelity, but more nurturing. They'd let you browse the stacks or listen to stuff on a stereo up front with headphones, and in the meantime they'd be putting on whatever it was they wanted to hear over the house system. They wouldn't ask you if needed help and they wouldn't make fun of your choices, not even behind your back. They'd make great recommendations based on what they remembered you buying. They'd order anything you wanted that they didn't have.

They understood that your relationship with music was your own personal journey.

I wish religion and politics was that way, instead of being some exercise in branding that was based upon your parents ideologies and the socioeconomic class you were born into.

But back to that record store, it was a great education, and one thing of particular note was that most of the music they played consisted of new releases.

Another source of information was the radio, specifically Q101 for me, which was clearly capitalizing on the alternative music craze that was sweeping the nation in the early nineties. I didn't mind one bit as they successfully targeted my demographic.  I'm still not sure if they lost it, or if I just got old.

When I got to college it was WRUW, my university radio station, that I got a deep musical education from.  I hit up Record Revolution and Record Exchange a couple of times a week minimum, and I'd go digging through the 25 cent bins. I read alot of CMJ. I watched MTV incessantly, especially 120 minutes with Matt Pinfield.

After college, I relied on online music communities to keep me up to date on new releases, but as technology has made it easier and cheaper to record, there have been a deluge of releases every year.   How does an album get any kind of hype or traction in the first place on the internet when bands can't afford to tour?

If it wasn't radio, print media, or online communities, I was counting on personal recommendations from friends and musicians that I grew to trust.

To my students, how are you finding out about new music?