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12 Months to Expand Your Musical Horizons.
Make 2025 YOUR best music year ever.
Hey SongsBrewers!
As 2024 comes to a close, and the awkward bit between Christmas and New Year is in full swing, we thought we’d arrive and give you some inspiration for 2025.
Each month has something to do, a challenge, or suggestions to expand your listening. We've got everything from Jazz and Opera to record players and movies.
Have fun!
Housekeeping: As always, your support is highly appreciated. Some links in the newsletter may be affiliate links. If you buy something using the links, we make a few cents—at no extra cost to you.
January
New year, new music, and January is packed with new releases. Check out this list of 2025 albums, and set a reminder to check them out on the release day.
You can kick it up a notch, and for anything you’re really looking forward to - have a listening solo listening party. Sometimes, you get the best experience when setting time aside alone to tune in.
Get some snacks, get comfortable, and hit play. Make it a little less passive and a little more indulgent.
We’re looking forward to:
Sam Fender - People Watching
The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
Tate McRea - So Close To What
Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe
February
Block, hide, and remove. If you skip one too many songs in a row or passively listen, it is time to take action. Yes, it is time to tidy up your playlists, but just a little bit.
There are two ways to tackle this: one for the brave and the bold and one for those who can’t let go.
If bravery is your bag, open up your playlists and ruthlessly delete tracks, hide artists, and block them.
Don't feel like you can let those tracks go just yet? Create a new playlist and move the songs you don’t want to listen to often to it. They aren’t in the main circulation anymore but have not been forgotten completely.
Why does this matter? Every music streaming platform that delivers personalized playlists runs on an algorithm. And that algorithm will deliver what it understands you enjoy.
Let’s say 50% of the songs on your playlists you don’t love; the algorithm doesn’t know that unless you remove them and stop listening. It happens to passive listeners more often. To get better music recommendations, a little bit of playlist cleaning and maintenance is a must.
March
Try somewhere new. Really. Change doesn’t always have to be scary. It can be a lot of fun to explore new platforms. For years, the issue with switching to a new music streaming platform was that your playlists were held hostage.
Typically, when people want to move platforms, there are some common reasons:
Looking for better audio quality
Want a nicer UI
Switching from Android to iOS and getting free months of Apple Music
Want a wider selection of music
Prefer something more indie feeling
Better pay for artists and musicians
Make March your month to test out the platform that you keep looking at. Make the most of the free trial, and use FreeYourMusic to move your playlists. If you’re switching from Spotify to Apple Music or TIDAL, we highly recommend listening to the same song on each platform. The difference is stark.
April
When was the last time you went to a gig? Sure, live music can be expensive, but there are likely a lot of local bands that play in smaller venues without the significant expense.
Start looking at local listings; even a quick search online will help you find some live music events. One of the great things about smaller bands playing is that all of your favorite global superstars started somewhere, and you might hear the next big thing.
Make 2025 about experiencing music in more than just your headphones and in a bigger way than just through streaming.
May
Throwback May. No, we aren’t going to the 70s, 80s, or 90s. That isn’t throwback enough. Instead, we’re throwing it right back to the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Why? Well, through every 5-10 year period, music changes dramatically.
Even skipping back a few years, you’ll hear trends throughout every genre. Take a few hours and explore music further back than you usually do.
With careful listening, you’ll hear influences and sounds that have made their way into the years following. Consider this a little bit of musical education and exploration.
June
New month, new genre… Jazz hands, everyone! And no, we are not talking about a side-step into a fusion version of what you already listen to. Instead, we are talking about leaping into a genre you’ve never listened to.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
One is that it can serve as a palate cleanser, and the second is that pesky (yet sometimes perfect) algorithm.
When we repeatedly listen to the same genre, there will be a couple of songs you love, but you might find you’ve kinda… switched off. You’re not listening like you used to, and actually, music feels boring. And those algorithms will keep serving you the same thing and not helping the situation.
What you need is a palate cleanser! You can try silence, which works for many, or you can try a genre hop—Jazz is a great option (because so many people avoid Jazz).
You kick your listening back into action by choosing something you have never heard or not explored. Jazz can be tricky to follow to new listeners; it requires you to tune in.
Try Keith Jarrett Trio’s - Tokyo '96, Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny's - Beyond the Missouri Sky, and Miles Davis's - Kind of Blue.
The worst-case scenario is that you fall back in love with the music you usually listen to; the best-case scenario is that you’ve found lots of new music you can’t live without.
It's a win either way.
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July
It is festival season… so where are you going? The great thing about summer is that it isn’t just music festivals; there are smaller mixed festivals that usually have live music, too. So if Coachella, Tomorrowland, and Glasto are out of budget or not something you love - look local. Head to at least one outdoor music event in July. |
August
A short challenge. But only for the creative… Make a playlist that contains:
Now you’ve made it, share the link with us by tagging us on Instagram @thesongsbrew so we can enjoy it, too.
September
Is it time for you to try analog? If you have made it to September and are still thinking about how it feels to slide a vinyl out of the sleeve. Wondering how it sounds, the light crackle, and the smooth spin of the vinyl as you flip it over for the B side.
It is time. Realistically, you will need a budget, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your beginner kit doesn’t need to be either. You only need three things for a basic setup: a turntable with a preamp and bluetooth, a WiiM (the mini will do), and some speakers. A budget pair of Edifier R1280DBs will do the job - and they are Bluetooth. That’s it.
Hook the record player up to the WiiM mini and plug the speakers in. The WiiM also acts as a digital streamer, so you can stream from TIDAL, Spotify, Deezer, and plenty more to various speakers and home assistants.
Everything can be upgraded. As you become more familiar with analog, more speakers and separate amps can be added. When you're ready to commit, you can eventually switch to a completely wired system, giving you true analog quality.
October
With the nights getting darker earlier and the weather a bit hit-and-miss, it’s a good time to get theatrical. Over the year, our musical listening habits tend to change. First, they change based on what is trending, and second, the seasons.
When the sun is beaming and the air is warm, we lean towards more upbeat music; in winter, ballads are played more. Of course, you still have your personal tried-and-true on-repeat playlists.
So, this October, embrace something new and head for the Operatics and Classical.
Wait! Wait… If you just sighed and said, ‘I don’t like them,’ that is even more reason to try it.
Here are three places to start:
November
Music + movies = besties.
So here is a list of movies that you should make time to watch this November:
Whiplash - Drums, jazz, stress, and J.K Simmons - a great start.
Amy - A documentary about Amy Winehouse. (if you want a lighter version, try Back to Black).
8 Mile - Rabbit transforming into Slim.
Walk the Line - Johnny and June’s early years, great soundtrack.
Sound of Metal - Super highly rated, a drummer starts to experience hearing loss.
A Star Is Born - You're missing out if you haven’t seen it. Award-winning for a reason.
20 Feet From Stardom - Putting the backup singers in the spotlight, gorgeously presented.
Homecoming - Don’t forget to thank Beyonce 😉.
Don’t Look Back - RollingStone’s number 1 music documentary.
Amazing Grace - Aretha Franklin, eyes closed, choir loud - it’s an experience.
While the list isn’t the most exhaustive, it covers several genres and sweeps between documentaries and storytelling - grab your snacks and get started.
December
Wrapped, Recap, Rewind, and look back over Your Year of Music time. Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music show us what we love and how many minutes we spend with artists. Hopefully, over the last 12 months, you’ve explored new platforms, watched incredible movies, heard something new, and maybe even tried vinyl.
Don’t worry; we don’t expect you to keep returning to this email; we will include a reminder each month.
If you've made it this far, we’d like to say a huge thank you for the support you’ve shown this year, including interacting with polls, checking out our sponsors, and exploring the links we share.
We hope you have a peaceful start to 2025, and join us for more music, tips, and audio.
We’ve got a lot planned - and we’d love you to join us on our journey!
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