I don't know if I am a music buff -- what are the qualifications? I have a few thousand CDs, some of them fairly rare, and I am the person my friends turn to when they need to track down a song or rare release. By those standards ...<p>1) Find your passion. I generally despise this as advise for careers and the like but when it comes to matters of personal preference, <i>de gustibus non est disputandum</i>. What do you like?<p>2) Hit Discogs for your bands. Don't just look at main albums, look at appearances and rarities, songs covered by the band, appearances on soundtracks (which can often be one-offs) and the like. For certain bands, I literally own everything they performed in because I like all of it. This is <i>depth</i>. After that, follow each member of a band to hear if they did anything before or after you enjoy. Even try session musicians. You may find a talented collaborator that way, too. This is <i>breadth</i>.<p>3) Find a radio program adjacent to your tastes and examine the weekly playlist. What did you like? Here you are riding in the slipstream of a great big truck, as the DJ is doing a lot of the work for you.<p>4) Ignore most recommendation algorithms but Pandora, which are based on what other people play rather than what is actually related.<p>5) Don't be afraid to reach out. I have written musicians letters (snail mail, self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed) and said, "I really like X, Y, and Z" or "Your performance on this track moved me" then asked what inspired them, influenced them, or if they have influenced others. I usually hear back.<p>6) Attend concerts and listen to the opening acts, buy their (typically cheap) CDs. The openers appreciate it and you can find some great somewhat related music that way.<p>7) Back in the days when record stores existed, I would hit the "M" section or whatever letter, any band that didn't have a tab of their own, and just flip through it, looking for anything to catch my eye, then listen that way. Many duds, but some real wins.<p>8) Now that you have a sense of what you enjoy, you probably have some names associated with them, various microgenres. List 'em. For example, "grave wave."<p>9) Look up those microgenres on Bandcamp and the like, listen through that way.<p>10) Hit "Every Noise at Once" and surf your microgenre that way, too. Bop around between band and microgenre names.<p>11) Iterate.