I would very much like to know in wich way RM members are finding new music. What process is typical before you buy a new album?

Just to take mine as an example. I have three ways that I can think of that gets me to the record shop for a specific album.
1 - Listening to some friend`s album. If it`s good it usually takes me to the shop for a short second listen and if I feel like that short of music at the moment, it`s a buy.
2 - I snap up names on this forum, especially from members I know has similar tastes as me. I then note it in the "Add artist note" box. When I can spare soulseek some time I`ll start searching for all I`ve got in my list. If I can`t get what I need I might take a listen at the record store, and then buy what I feel like having at that moment.
3 - Similar to 2nd method, only I snap the names from last.fm which I recently started using and am very impressed with.

So what`s your method? You don`t necessarily have to elaborate as much as I did here.

i steal it. i find someone on direct connect or something, that has alot of music, then i just download like crazy. then i listen. if its good, i keep it.

so far, that has resulted in about 95 gigabytes of albums, and currently about 3 or 4 gb that is waiting for me to listen.

well there's the newspaper, magazines, boards, last.fm indeed, rateyourmusic, allmusic; in all of these I might read something that seems interesting enough, or at least something that I think I should hear once and all those names go on a list, a download list or if I'm feeling more confident that I will like it and wealthy too, I just might buy it directly...

@ Hakoon:

When you like an album and you have a buddy who already bought it, why don't you just burn it?

I hardly ever pay attention to music recommendations on RM or anywhere else. If I hear something I like in a club or on the radio I try to find & download the tune, sometimes even several songs by that artist or even an entire album.

The artists I appreciate deserves my cash, that`s all.

I agree with this, although I don't have the money yet to buy everything that I want... My hunger for new music is just too big, I guess...

yea. my interest in music dont match my interest for making money

Two ways.

1: I get a lot of good tunes from video game soundtracks.

2: I do a P2P search for interesting bands that I've heard or read about.

i'll take a name i hear on the boards, through friends, or from the media, and i run the name through allmusic, metacritic, and usually pitchfork, and see what they have to say. usually if they say it's decent, i'll download it or buy the best they have, see if i like it, and go from there.

good idea for a thread, i always wonder how my friends come across new music.

another question could be, and i'm looking at chiva here, where do you download your albums? there's a local hub at the university i go to, and it's shared through a program called DC++. it's wicked.

I'll pick up names from forums and if I have the patience, look for them on soulseek. Most of the times the label site has previews of the releases though so I'll first look there. Soulseek is a hassle.