A couple of days ago, regular RyanWelton.com reader Toad described the state of music in 2008 as something related to polished doo-doo.

That's a fair assessment relative to what is being pushed by corporations into stores and onto radio stations. In the interest of full disclosure, I listen to mainstream radio to hear what's playing, not because I get general enjoyment from it. Part of my mission with this blog is to be able to expound upon music trends, and without listening to the radio, I can't really be a reliable resource for that information.

In a nutshell, my assessment is this: Our collective tastes have degraded, primarily due to an increasing resignation among critics that anything upon anything can be music and, therefore, be art. Furthermore, the integration of television and Internet with music combined with the rising influence of tweens relative to purchasing power is a virtual death knell for great music on the radio.

In the 1970s, pop radio was the environment for kids 14 to 19. Today it's the place for kids from 9 to 14. It's an observation, and I could be wrong about this. However, it seems to me that kids closer to college age probably get most of their music online.

Not that most 16-year-olds have great taste in music, but those of us in our 30s and 40s are the ones who have to suffer anytime we turn on the radio, which usually only happens these days when we're in the car. But we grew up with great, great 1970s and 1980s music, some of the best songs ever written. And that kids would want (actually WANT) to listen to Miley Cyrus albums indicates to me that kids these days have no idea how fun it is to be a kid -- a rambunctious, rebellious teenager.

However, this rant isn't about how to force teens and, thus, the mass market to change collective tastes. This is about helping YOU, the fair ryanwelton.com visitor, to discover great new music on a regular basis.

It doesn't matter what kind of music you listen to, either. The process is the same.

First and foremost, you have to subscribe to Rhapsody or a service like it. For $13, I can listen to almost anything: Individual songs, full albums, anything. Roughly 95 percent of all established artists have deals with Rhapsody to include their work.

Secondly, you should become a regular visitor to MetaCritic's music section. MetaCritic is a site that gathers critical opinion about all sorts of media, sorting it in a way that consumers can get a sneak-peek at those opinions.

Part of the process of reviewing the notes on this site is in deciding which publications fit your tastes best. However, MetaCritic is great in organizing information in such a way that music lovers can focus on the best-reviewed material out there.

Lastly and most important: Music lovers have to delve through the trash to find treasure. No matter how you gather information about new music, you have to listen to albums from people you have never heard of in order to discover new gems. Most every great song and album I have discovered in the past three or four years has come from a lengthy process of trial and error.

On Rhapsody, once you find something or somebody you like, you should refer to categories such as "similar artists" to expand your musical horizons. Your obligation at that point, I'd submit, is to tell other folks when you find a gem.

Hell, I know I do enough of that!

To say that all music nowadays is crap is fine. You know, whatever. There is a ton of truth in it; however, there are more singer-songwriters, more serious artists than ever before. It is a statistical, quantifiable fact.

The process to discover that music, however, is totally the onus of the consumer. Radio won't do it for you. Corporations won't. VH1 and MTV won't.

It's on us.