I just tried the web player of Spotify but I was quite dissapointed on how it's organised and the apparent selection of titles (too mainstream). I could try Deezer but I guess it's the same stuff. ====>>>> So, in 2014, how do you discover new bands/artists and keep up-to-date in some music niches without checking hundred websites and with direct listening options?

I'm mostly interested in psy-trance, new-age, world music, goth-electro/industrial/ebm (whatever is the new name), arab/indian hip-hop, folk metal, shoegazing, progressive house.

I go to a band I like on amazon, and look at the "people who bought this also bought" links that are on the page. Most of the music will have samples.

Good question. In the past, my girlfriends always turned me on to different music. Nowadays, I may happen upon new music by chance through my satellite radio.

If you like folk metal, have you ever listened to Amorphis?

I mainly use the Youtube side bar suggestions to discover music, old or new. Radio is too random for me.
Two bands I just recently discovered via Youtube's side bar are Thetis and Narsilion, very relaxing music.

I don't know a good site for that, but I usually discover new music quite randomly from videos,movies,animes,games,generic browsing.. and I love it! :D

Stick your cock up someone's ear, and the rest will come naturally .

Yeah, that's the kind of trick I use on youtube/itunes/amazon but the downside is that it's quite "fragmented" and popular-based (you end up getting the same suggestions after a while)

I agree Spotify is terrible.

Soundcloud should be your first stop but, it's becoming less relevant. It's pretty ironic for me to say that being the die-hard fan of last.fm that I am.

Your best source of info for finding new music is going to be social media (I am personally very fond of Tumblr and StumbleUpon and Reddit is good but, Facebook and Twitter are still the most ubiquitous.). Follow your favorite artists, labels and venues. Also, find niche publications that cater to specific genres of music you are interested in and subscribe to them digitally as well. A good example being Side-Line Magazine.

Avoid generalized publications such as Rolling Stone, Spin and to a lesser extent Pitchfork and Stereogum as they all tend to churn out the same, recycled, watered-down click-bait and simply echo it off one another.

There are also tons of online groups for people to come together on the interwebs and connect with like-minded folks, I tend to avoid them but your milage may vary.

Step outside of your comfort zone, you may be surprised at what you like. When I was a teenager I only listened to Alternative rock and a few older bands like Pink Floyd and ZZ Top, now I enjoy various bands from almost every genre... except rap or dub-step, those are two genres I'll never get.

Maybe you just haven't tried enough yet. ;) Slightly off-topic, just out of curiosity, why arab/indian hip hop particularly? Do you speak the languages?

I play Euro Truck Simulator 2 and tune in to various internet radio stations by the built-in system. Through that game, I discovered EKR and through that quite a few bands that I never knew I liked. The game itself cost about five euros on a discount; the music I've bought because of it has set me back about a hundred so far, and I regularly tune in while cleaning, doing the dishes or something just to listen what they might have on air. It's getting a bit expensive, to be honest.

Oh no, I gave them their fair shake. Rap's lyrics are generally repetitive and unimaginative while dub-step gives me a headache. I mean that literally, every time I hear dub-step it makes my head hurt.

Wasn't there an 80's electro-pop station as well?
That was a very relaxing game, but I didn't get that much music out of it. I always found myself listening to some dutch talkshow that I couldn't understand.