Top 13 places to find great music on the Internet

I love all kinds of music, and over the years I’ve found that the Internet is a terrific resource for music lovers. Here are some great music blog aggregator websites, sites that feature World/Latin/African music, and sites that showcase folk/pop music.

Top music blog aggregators

1. The Hype Machine – Streaming music from hundreds of MP3 blogs. Built-in player and search feature allows you to customize things (much like Pandora).
2. Last.fm – Similar to The Hype Machine, but has a much larger database of music, along with links to artist info., blogs and much more. Also allows you to install a free (no adware!) desktop player that can help you find music you like, based on your own MP3 library.
3. Elbo.ws – Republishes posts and feeds from hundreds of music blogs. The format is a bit awkward, but the content is excellent. Probably easiest to navigate via their built-in search feature.

World/Latin/African

1. Benn loxo du taccu – One of the oldest (and best!) world music blogs on the web. Africa-focused, but has recently changed format to allow music from a far wider range of countries and styles. Informative, fun, and very well-written.
2. African Music Treasures – From the archives of Voice of America radio come musical gems from every part of Africa. Great commentary.
3. SoundRoots – Covers a lot of territory, with streaming playlists taken from the author’s radio show, occasional song downloads, and many links. Irregular postings, but there’s a lot to dig into in the archives.
4. La Onda Tropical – Focused on Spanish-language indie rock, pop and more. Great links list.
5. World Passport – The subtitle promises “vintage music from around the world,” and this podcast-only site really delivers. I’m especially partial to the African and NY-style salsa shows, but there’s much more. Quite possibly the single best resource on this list!

Folk/Pop/Other

1. Keep the Coffee Coming – – written by “a more than middle-aged baby boomer,” this is one of the most eclectic – and consistently interesting – music blogs of its kind. Engaging text and photos, too.
2. Moistworks – Multi-author blog specializing in jazz, pop, rock, R&B, soul and more. Extensive archives (dating back to 2005), insightful music reviews and comments. Don’t miss the book recommendations in the sidebar!
3. The 9513 – For country music fans, a roundup of new releases, legal MP3s, interviews and more. Be sure to check their links (at the bottom of their homepage) for updates from related sites.
4. Soul Sides – If you’re a fan of classic soul/R&B, this is for you.
5. Get On Down with the Stepfather of Soul – Even more rare grooves, featuring podcast mixes and single tracks Marvelous link list, too.