i hear new music from the good people at this board plus about a half dozen others. i've bought a bunch of cds because of what people here alone have reccomended. i've bought a couple things as a result of ICDE mixes i've received
i go to shows where i see opening bands (or headliners on occasion when i go to see the opening bands) i've never heard of.
i read through the thank-yous on cds from bands i like and check out the bands they mention.
i look into side projects from people in bands i like, along with post-band work from ex-members.
i frequent the sites of record labels i like and dowload free mp3s they post. the most recent album i purchased based on a single mp3 was the new breed's "off the beaten path". that album is great, kind of a rock n roll-y type punk with some underlying rockabilly/psychobilly tendencies, i guess. i've downloaded and liked almost every single song from every single band on thorp records current roster.
various internet radio-type sites that i've found on message boards.
for a while i was listening to launch.com's radio. that was pretty cool. i'm considering getting online XM radio when i'm at school, depending on whether or not my connection likes it. i tried the free trial on my dial-up. it
every once in a while i'll go through itunes videos. i'm still not a huge fan of the idea of buying mp3s rather than albums. if i want to hear something before buying it, i'll find some other way of hearing it first. and then if i like it, i'll go buy it.
college radio. i rarely actually listen to college radio. i'm somewhat of a jerk, i hardly ever listen to my friends' shows. the longest stretch of time i can spend listening to anything that any college station i've ever heard plays is the 2 and a half hours a week where i'm doing my own show. i hear a lot of stuff going through the stacks of music while i'm looking for stuff to play, and when i'm reviewing stuff for music staff. i should really spend more time down there listening to music because i know there's a lot of great stuff i'm missing as it is.
i listen to the mainstream country stations around here. i used to listen to the mainstream rock stations and the oldies and classic station when we still had them. (technically we still have a classic rock station, but they play mostly stuff from the 80s and 90s now. i love pearl jam, but i'm sorry, they don't belong on a classic rock station. when they do decide to play "classic stuff", they don't play much more than the same 5 zeppelin songs over and over)