Finding New Music On the Internet: Owl City

For some reason, when I visit areas on the Internet, I end up listening to and finding new artists or bands. Sometimes it's intentional and sometimes I stumble upon something dreamy and brilliant that I never intended to discover. Here are only a couple, in my humble opinion, musical masterminds that I've found via the Internet.

1. Those that know me will not be surprised that I mention 'Owl City', but they might not know how I learned about his music even before he was popular and before his well-known hit 'Fireflies'. It was the summer after I had graduated college in December of 2007 and I was still looking for a job online. So, I was searching for jobs and filling out lots of applications. I wanted music to entertain me while I was doing those mundane tasks. Also, I had developed a taste for electronic music and wanted to find a specific band that I could listen to in that genre. While listening to a playlist on someone's Myspace page, I came across 'Owl City'. I ventured my way to the artists' own Myspace. Later, I learned that it was essentially a one-man band comprised of Adam Young from Owatonna, Minnesota. I continued to follow his endeavors online and watch his success. I finally saw him live in Atlanta in the fall of 2010. I was greatly looking forward to his second signed album that is called 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'. I was not disappointed in his sophomore release and I will continue to watch his success grow as the years go by.

2. I found Breanne Duren from 'Owl City's music on Myspace. I discovered that she lent her back up vocals for some of his songs, such as one of my favorites called 'Saltwater Room'. Her high-pitched, clear yet jazzy voice sounded beautiful with or without a synthesizer. Then I went to Breanne's own Myspace page and enjoyed her own music, such as her song 'Warm Water'. It is soulful but does not have much meaning in its lyrics. It does contain a calming sound and visionary lyrics. She has been compared to Adele, a more well-known pop, soul, and jazz singer. I was able to see Breanne Duren live as a back up singer for 'Owl City' in the fall of 2010 as well. Since then, she has appeared in a few magazines, released an EP, and is now traveling with 'Owl City' again for his summer tour.

1. Myspace is a great place to find up and coming musical artists, bands, and individual songs. After going to myspace.com, click on the 'music' link at the top and then type in a song, artist, or band in order to find music. Also, there are featured playlists and artists on the music page to check out. Once you've found music you can click the plus sign besides songs on band's pages in order to add them to personal playlists you can create and display on your own Myspace page.

2. Youtube is another wonderful venue for finding new music. After typing in your favorite music in the search box, look to the right side of the page to see related material. This can lead you in your search of similar music.

3. Facebook is another easy place to start to find artists on the verge of becoming popular. You can look at your friends' pages to see what bands they have liked and are interested in.

4. Billboard.com is a site worth mentioning. You can see what artists are topping the charts and find popular music of the moment. You can also narrow down the listings by choosing what categories of music you want to see the charts for.

5. Mtv.com and vh1.com are, of course, optimum tools to locate featured artists and up and coming bands.

6. Pandora and Jango are two sites that one uses to create their own music station. By typing in a song, band, or artist, they will automatically start to play songs based on that criteria. To adjust, a user just clicks the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons to give feedback for each song. Subsequent songs are then played based on this information. Users can also click on premade stations by their friends or stations determined by a certain type of music, such as jazz, rock, or electronic music. This is a great way to be randomly introduced to different styles, songs, and artists.