I absolutely love to listen to music. Especially if it’s foreign. However the majority of my music library consists of Japanese, Korean or American music. I would like to change that this year by trying out different types of genres and languages.

First of all, I would like to listen to more Chinese, Taiwanese and Mandarin music (the only artists I listen to are Nan Quan Mama and Jay Chou). I also would like to expand to other Asian languages such as Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Filipino and so on. Unfortunately these languages aren’t as easy to find as Japanese or Korean music, which I consider to be “mainstream”. What I mean by mainstream is that singers and bands from those countries have fanbases all across the Asian continent and sometimes even extended all over the world. So it’s much easier to find information and sample songs from those two countries.

Secondly, I want to listen to more types of genres and experiment with a few. It’s just difficult sometimes to find a specific genre in a country. Take Korea for example. I could say most of the music that is mainstream over there is pop, dance and R&B (mostly in the form of groups). However you barely hear of a rockband topping the music charts or winning first place in music shows. That’s one genre I would like to hear more from Korea. I also want to listen to more folk and traditional songs from native countries. They usually have a relaxing vibe. Also, classical and instrumental music is awesome so I wouldn’t mind listening to some native instruments.

The first step I can take to achieve my resolution is to ask you guys, what kind of music and/or artist I should look up (try to avoid Korean and Japanese mainstream artists)?

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