20 smart ways to discover new music

11. Music-map
Although the design of Music-map is straight outta 1999, this recommendations engine is surprisingly powerful. Put in the name of an artist and it'll give you a cloud of related artists that can be navigated with a simple click.

12. StumbleAudio
The cousin of website discovery tool StumbleUpon, StumbleAudio works in much the same way. Just define a few genres you like and then click a button to be whisked away to a random musician's website. If you like it, click thumbs up and enjoy. If not, just click again.

13. TheSixtyOne
Users of social link-sharing site Digg will immediately get how TheSixtyOne works. Bands submit their music, and then the community sift through and 'heart' songs they like. The ones with the most hearts bubble to the top, giving you a chart based directly on fans' enthusiasm.

14. MuseBin
Similar to Blip.fm, MuseBin also applies Twitter's length limits to music reviews. If you don't have time to read a million music blogs, then you might find MuseBin's brevity appealing.

15. CherryPeel
If TheSixtyOne is Digg, then CherryPeel is Reddit. As well as pumping bands up a chart, you can also choose to rank down any that you really hate.

16. MOG
Well-liked by critics, MOG presents a community of music-lovers that are into providing content as well as just consuming it. Sign up, and you'll be given a free MP3 blog and some personalized music recommendations.

17. Tastekid
Whereas most of the sites in the list blast out bright colours, Tastekid gives your eyes a break with its rather darker colour scheme. A little emo, but it's the only site in the list that works with books as well as music and movies.

18. 8tracks
Relatively few recommendations sites focus on what was once the best gift you could get from someone who was into music - a mixtape. 8tracks shuns maths and computer models, believing that a handcrafted mix will always be better than a machine's taste.

19. Musicovery
If you're feeling rather specific - you only want to listen to downbeat 70s jazz, for example - then Musicovery is the site for you. Pick a mood, a timeframe and a few genres and a path through musical history will appear before your eyes.

20. RadioBeta
Also believing in the superiority of people-powered recommendations over machines, RadioBeta is an aggregator of web radio stations. It's beautiful in its simplicity, and there's the option to search by geographical location too. All the Croatian indie-rock you'll ever need.

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Duncan Geere
Duncan Geere is TechRadar's science writer. Every day he finds the most interesting science news and explains why you should care. You can read more of his stories here, and you can find him on Twitter under the handle @duncangeere.