Where this music comes from

From time to time, I get asked where I find the music I play and where I find out about it in the first place.

Let's take where I find out about them first. Obviously, some of the songs I play are occasionally played on the radio. But many of the songs are not what you would call 'popular' enough to appear there. In fact, if you don't have a contract with a record label, it's almost impossible to get on anything other than a local station, as there's no way they can get in with the distributors that feed 99% of the radios stations out there.

So I find them through recommendations of people who come to my sets ("Hey, could you play X song by Y band" or "Have you heard of Z band? They sound a lot like what you're playing now."). Or I'll be listening to another DJ and think that that track sounds cool and ask them for the info on it. Or I'll check out other Steampunk sites & podcasts (like The Clockwork Cabaret) to see what they've played or liked. The same goes with the few online 'radio' stations that play Steampunk music (like Radio Riel).

And then, once I find out about the bands, I find ways to get ahold of their music. Some are easy (iTunes music store, downloads from the band's website or from Bandcamp) and some aren't so easy (the band broke up, no one has their music anymore, etc.). For those, you start to need to find music stores with connections. I don't ask about those connections, but I'm glad they exist. I'm sure you all have heard about the various illegal means of acquiring music, but I'm hardly going to promote that.

Anyway, I hope that helps and I really do recommend checking out places like Bandcamp. You might find things there that you like, but would never have heard of before. I know I have.