Have you ever tried to put a friend on to new music and they immediately dismissed it and didn’t give it a chance? It’s usually for a few different reasons. Now you’re either thinking that they will like the song in a few weeks once everyone else jumps on the wagon or they just aren’t listening for the right things.

If you find yourself in this position try to follow these tips.

1. Know your surroundings and crowd. Figure out if those around even like the style of music that you like. Save yourself the time of presenting a song you know the listener would not listen to on their own.

2. Try to get an understanding of what the person is listening for. Are they looking for straight bars, catchy lyrics and flow, a nice beat or maybe all of the above. You may even preface a song with, “Hey just to let you know the bars aren’t the best in this song but the beat is hard.”

3. Feel out the mood. Some songs sound a lot better in different situations. For instance Passionfruit from Drake’s recent album More Life probably has a better feel on a sunny Saturday afternoon rather than when you are getting ready to turn up in the club on a Friday night.

4. Be selective of where you play a song for the first time. Some listeners may like a song more during a car ride vs sitting on a couch and playing it out of your phone.

5. Some music is best paired with a visual if it is available. When a listener hears a new song and sees a new video at the same time, depending on the quality of the video, the song may go over a lot better for the simple fact that the video looks dope. It’s almost like an instant connection even if they don’t initially like the song.

6. Make it an experience. Maybe this is the song you played the whole time while you’re wasted on vacation or your friends birthday party. Either way it’s now tied to a great memory.