Essential Music Apps For 2012

To help ring in the New Year, I have decided to start off 2012 with a list of some of the apps that I like to use to help me discover great music. There are countless music apps all over the iTunes App Store (sorry Android users), but here are some of my personal recommendations.

Band of the Day (Free): What better way to discover a new artist or band every single day. With every day, this app features a new music act and includes their bio, tour dates and even songs to listen to. With 365 days in a year, just imagine artists one can discover.

Vinyl District (Free): A brand new app that keeps music lovers especially vinyl lovers up to date news and announcements on all that is vinyl. The app also includes a record store directory to help find the nearst store near you. This app from the awesome people of the Vinyl District and people can check out their blog here.

Discovr Music ($0.99): I was lucky enough to get this for free, but for only 99 cents, that's chunk change in paying for an amazing app. You simply type in the name of your favorite artist or band and it will create a molecule- shaped structure of other related artists. Click on one of the related artists and it will do the same thing. It also includes bio and songs to listen. Discovering music just got easier...and more fun.

TuneIn Radio ($0.99): One of my favorite radio apps on my phone, it not only picks up local radio stations (even ones that are hard to pick up), but also picks up millions of radio frequencies all across the nation. You can be in Hawaii and listening to a radio station in New York. How amazing is that?

NPR Music (Free): Not only does this app provide quality radio programming, but also includes awesome playlists and artists bios. My girlfriend and I were able to discover some incredible artists through this app.

Pandora (Free): This is one is a no-brainer. If you have an iPhone, it is an absolute must to download this app. All you do is type in an artist that you enjoy listening to and it will play songs in relation to that artist or his/her music. Again another great music that will help you discover new artists.