What other music there is?

[roope]

This maybe a boring question, but it would be fun to know what other music than library music are people here listening! So what are your other passions besides library music?

I'm a music freak since beginning, and I've mostly spent my time searching for the unknown - through exploring experimental, synth, psychedelic, outsider and 60s-80s private press. I think in library music I was first attracted to some charming productions, spontaneous touch and strong melodies, but with time it has opened my ears to more and more. And I got the buzz to dive deeper and keep finding new exciting things.

I think I'm usually using 80% of my listening time with library music, but I always need some other musics too. The world of libraries is still so much connected with being commercial, so it's healthy to hear some voices that are motivated in other ways too. Lately I got very heavily into Georgian choirs, and it gave me the buzz to listen more stuff outside of library for change, which lead to this topic...

[le_tomval]

Nice question.
I listen to really a tons of differents stuff, mainly 60s 70s 80s music, jazz, oriental music, early electro, psych prog, jazz-funk, brazilian music...
But I also listen to modern stuff like electronica or hip-hop ! Maybe i'm too much eclectic...

[ericmivalstoothbrush]

Interesting topic, and one I'd like to add another (perhaps worn out) question:

How did you discover library music?

Answering your first question, I think I'm getting more and more into niche genres the older I get. I'm also getting more and more lazy. I don't feel that certain drive to discover new music these days. In my younger days I used to spend hours upon hours just digging, trying to finding new music.

I've had all kinds of periods when it comes to music. When I was a kid I listened to my brothers' synth LPs, then I discovered the Beatles and my taste went in all kinds of directions but mainly towards alternative/indie pop/rock and 60s psych. Then there was the 70s krautrock and modern electronic music period. After that more experimental stuff, old and new, and the private press stuff, along with tropicalia, European jazz, Turkish psych, etc. etc. - well, all the average record nerd type music.

These days it's mostly 60s-80s soundtracks, library music, weird and wonderful private presses, new electronic music and classical music.

Answering my own question, I believe I first came into contact with library music in the 90s when I was deeply into 60s psych and discovered The Pretty Things and then the Electric Banana. A certain Jonny Trunk and his label is probably also responsible for the library music thing. Plus Andy Votel and Finders Keepers. And my love for 60s/70s films and soundtracks.

Discovering my dad's Herb Alpert LPs when I was 12 or something might have paved the way for my later love of library music and the first comps of easy listening and library music that I came across, like "Music for TV Dinners".

I'm still having trouble warming to library music from the mid 80s onwards. I feel MIDI ruined a lot of the library music output, but I'd love to be proven wrong!

[tezeta]

Interesting topic, and one I'd like to add another (perhaps worn out) question:

How did you discover library music?

Answering your first question, I think I'm getting more and more into niche genres the older I get. I'm also getting more and more lazy. I don't feel that certain drive to discover new music these days. In my younger days I used to spend hours upon hours just digging, trying to finding new music.

I've had all kinds of periods when it comes to music. When I was a kid I listened to my brothers' synth LPs, then I discovered the Beatles and my taste went in all kinds of directions but mainly towards alternative/indie pop/rock and 60s psych. Then there was the 70s krautrock and modern electronic music period. After that more experimental stuff, old and new, and the private press stuff, along with tropicalia, European jazz, Turkish psych, etc. etc. - well, all the average record nerd type music.

These days it's mostly 60s-80s soundtracks, library music, weird and wonderful private presses, new electronic music and classical music.

Answering my own question, I believe I first came into contact with library music in the 90s when I was deeply into 60s psych and discovered The Pretty Things and then the Electric Banana. A certain Jonny Trunk and his label is probably also responsible for the library music thing. Plus Andy Votel and Finders Keepers. And my love for 60s/70s films and soundtracks.

Discovering my dad's Herb Alpert LPs when I was 12 or something might have paved the way for my later love of library music and the first comps of easy listening and library music that I came across, like "Music for TV Dinners".

I'm still having trouble warming to library music from the mid 80s onwards. I feel MIDI ruined a lot of the library music output, but I'd love to be proven wrong!

Seems my discovery of library music is similar to yours (and my general taste as well!). The first records I heard were also the Electric Banana albums from De Wolfe - Awesome!! Then I discovered Italian library via the Pretty/Volga nature series and got totally hooked!

[roope]

Interesting topic, and one I'd like to add another (perhaps worn out) question:

How did you discover library music?

I always get excited when I hear the words "library music" in a question! My answer is internet. It was about 6-7 years ago when I first noticed some Roger Roger tracks somewhere in the internet and loved them right away, then started to dig through Discogs and some blogs, trying to figure out what library music was about and what records I liked. I was in a job where I could spend a lot of time online spending hours and hours researching. Library music sucked me in very fast and soon I was mostly listening to that. I started with Crea Sound and Illustration Musicale, then Flipper, Montparnasse, Coloursound, Sonoton...

[digdeeper]

I'm mostly into "Easy Sounds", hence the name of my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/easysounds1970 where I have been dumping stuff that hadn't been available on YouTube before, and it's 770 tracks as of now - so much missing... Apart from that, I also like jazz-funk and disco (both of which are already well represented on YouTube, no need for yet another channel). It's 1960s and 1970s mostly, really. As to contemporary music, to which I only occasionally listen, I like soundtracks the most, such Thomas Newman's Skyfall, Spectre, John Powell's Bourne trilogy, video game soundtracks, and deep house.

[Upgrade]

I really enjoyed the Ren and Stimpy Production Music compilations and many other cartoons that used the APM library like Spongebob.

I also got into trying to track down snippets of songs used in TV shows and commercials which music ID apps like Shazam couldn’t identify.

Then I got into video games like Bioshock and Fallout with a period art style which did the unusual course of allowing the library tracks to be played in full on the radio alongside other vintage tracks. Though identifying and separating the two group (which are not mutually exclusive) took some effort since they use different wheelhouses of research techniques.

[Lord Thames]

I'm mostly into "Easy Sounds", hence the name of my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/easysounds1970 where I have been dumping stuff that hadn't been available on YouTube before, and it's 770 tracks as of now - so much missing...

I am a huge fan of your channel, and often use it as motivational music when work starts to drag - thank you!

[Porn Library]

Aside from library music, I listen to a lot of 70's and 80's easy listening instrumentals (which some are a form of library in a way), 70's and 80's Pop, Rock, Adult Contemporary (AOR) and Disco, and also 60's through early 90's Jazz and Smooth Jazz.

[digdeeper]

I am a huge fan of your channel, and often use it as motivational music when work starts to drag - thank you!

Nice! :-)

[FictionOfColours]

It's pretty obvious but I love just about most eighties scenes like new wave, synth-pop, italo, goth rock, & stuff like Tangerine Dream. I absolutely love synthesizers, thus electronic music is my favorite umbrella genre by far. However i try to have eclectic taste, so there's tons of other niches I enjoy in varying levels; dream pop, VGM, ambient, folk, lounge, disco, R&B, dance-pop, hip hop, even some of the modern 'retro' stuff that eighties library has indirectly [but audibly!] influenced.

[Col Wolfe]

I’m an old Mod so mad for 6Ts/Northern Soul/R&B and Psych/Freakbeat and a bit of Boss Reggae/Ska.

I was aware of the likes of Electric Banana/Lemon Dips etc but only really became aware of library music via clubs like Blow Up, Smersh & Happiness Stan’s in The early/mid-90s.

[Divi Trivi]

I'm literally new in the library music, but before of get involved I was look for new music, in the local radio, social networks, videos, on blogs, whatever I would find, I was and I am happy, but with the school and other things I have less and less time, so I decide to enter in this large world of library music, a little big but not enough like the music in general...

Well, getting back to your question, since I was younger I have interest in other kind of music, I love the Björk's works and since then I like the electronic scene in general, mostly the "experimental" electronic; Easy Listening, IDM/Breakcore, Ambient, Industrial, Abstract, Downtempo, Synth-pop, Minimal and a lot of genres but with some exceptions Skrillex-Gueta. In some point I decide search (again) other kind of music, then I found folkloric music (this is when I was decide to listen the radio stations of other countries), in this case I really like the African music, fantastic music, and I can't forget the "Classical" music, Bach and Chopin are my favourites compositors... well, a lot of music to hear in a short time.

[Mr]

I was aware of the likes of Electric Banana/Lemon Dips etc but only really became aware of library music via clubs like Blow Up, Smersh & Happiness Stan’s in The early/mid-90s.

Cool! Could you tell us a bit more about this? Interesting 'angle'.

[elifunk]

i'm into japanese grooves and j-soundtracks mainly. adding my collection here: https://www.instagram.com/onioncuore/