Apps that stream music content have seen significant improvements in their ability to predict your music tastes, but lag behind when it comes to offering updates on local events. This imbalance is partly the reason why many parents who used to go to music events regularly find themselves unable to remember the last time they were at a show
The algorithm knows your music taste, not your zip code
Discover Weekly / Release Radar know one thing and one thing well: how to keep you at home. Their implicit assumption is that the more time spent listening to music, the merrier, hence the more of the same kind of music you want to hear. This is great if you are looking for new tunes to stream, but not so great if you are searching for an excuse to hit the bar and listen to live music. They simply weren’t designed to do that.
Why discovering local music feels like an inaccessible luxury to parents
It has nothing to do with a decreased desire to experience music in real time. It has to do with the opportunity cost of “going to a show”. For the parent, that phrase is inexorably tied to finding a sitter, a late night, a sitter’s fee on top of ticket prices, and next-day grogginess, and I’m probably leaving out the most important fear in that equation. That is the reality parents live with, and it’s why, with all due respect to the music discovery apps, right now their features are an affront to everyday reality. There is no extra time in the parent’s weekly schedule to invest in the kind of night out that “going to a show” typically requires.
The answer is not to get better at convincing yourself you have the time
It’s to change the end goal.
Imagine an opening act on a weeknight at 7:30 that lasts 2 hours, an outdoor concert, a place where a bar regularly hosts a duo that you could pop in to hear on your way home from dinner. These things, while still requiring a commitment, don’t necessitate the all-nighter type of show that typically defines “going to a show” for most people. They only ask that you adjust your expectations of what going to a show can be.
Build a hybrid habit instead of a better playlist
Most advice about music discovery is about learning to control what you see in your feed. What they completely miss is the element of tying your musical preferences to what is happening in your area this week, which is why most of these tools only offer one additional element – your personal preferences.
The first layer is standard and digital: continue to follow venues on social media, subscribe to a couple genre newsletters, and maintain your algorithm playlists. That is your baseline for “what might I like”.
What most people don’t have is the second layer, which is location-based and opportunistic. Instead of feeding the algorithm to discover new music by releases/album drops, use it to find things going on in your area this week. Take a look, for example, at hapjam.com and find things that align with your music preferences but aren’t necessarily “big shows”, the kind that would show up on Discover Weekly because of your listening history. This is the layer that will let you turn vague ideas of “I should go to more gigs” into an actual plan for this Thursday.
A ten-minute Friday habit beats waiting for inspiration to strike
Here’s your plan, and it’s deliberately small: ten-minutes on Friday, before your weekend is fully booked, to look at the places you are interested in. Consult your hyperlocal source of choice (hapjam is just one example). Find one thing within your acceptable parameters – an opening slot, a Saturday afternoon show, a flea market with a live band and no cover. Don’t commit, just highlight it.
Consistency beats waiting for the right moment. If the babysitter is out, and you’re tired, and it’s too far to walk to, that’s fine, just move on. But an unexpectedly open Sunday, or an evening with no plans at all, may not be as simple to fill as grabbing tickets to something you already knew was out there.
Train your feed to work for your schedule, not the other way around
Many people only ever feed information into their algorithm about their music-listening habits. You can do the opposite and start to train your algorithm to recognize your going-to-shows intent by searching for venue names. Search for opening acts for bands you already like. Search your city + a genre instead of a mood. Over time, your intent will shift from “this person streams a lot of indie folk” to “this person goes to shows”, which will influence the recommendations that come your way.
This is the part most music discovery advice fails to mention: it’s not about consuming different content, it’s about changing the way you communicate so that the platforms you use begin to point you toward rooms with people, not just songs.
Redefine what winning looks like
The point is not to find more bands. It’s to find that sense of connection again. See a local three-piece open for a band you’ve never heard of on a Tuesday night, spend twelve bucks on a ticket, and you’ve already won. It doesn’t have to be a music festival or a stadium show to be worth your time.
The more shows you go to, the better your algorithm and local event recommendations will get at finding you new opportunities to do the same. Music in real time has not disappeared from the lives of parents with young children. It has simply shifted to other places we don’t visit as often. Realign with those more accessible destinations and watch the magic happen.
