Music tastes are variable and beautiful, and I have a firm belief that everyone’s music tastes are valid. It just depends on the person, what they like and what they happen to be going through. I’ve always liked a wide range of artists, and this is a key part of who I am. I love all kinds of artists, from those who are more “mainstream” to some that are less well known.

This past week I had the privilege of seeing one of the latter in concert. I was lucky and was able to see one of my favorite artists of all time in concert: Vance Joy. You’ll probably recognize his name from his hit song “Riptide,” but the rest of his album, “Dream Your Life Away,” is amazing, too. Here are the five benefits of falling in love with music that’s not always on the radio.

1. The connection feels more personal.

While most people know who Vance Joy is, not as many know about his multiple other tracks, so when I first heard his album I felt more understood than I may have listening to other artists. This isn’t to say that I don’t ever feel this way listening to artists like Nicki Minaj. I just feel like an artist’s “alternative” status gives them more emotional freedom when it comes to their music. I felt like he and I had actually had some similar life experiences, which was an extraordinary and rare feeling.

2. Tickets are cheaper and easier to obtain.

Let’s be honest, Beyoncé is awesome, but not everyone can afford to shell out sometimes hundreds of dollars to go and see her in concert. If you like an artist that has a smaller base of fans, then tickets will be less expensive and less exclusive. Tickets will take months to sell out, so you won’t have to stress about securing them, unlike for a huge concert filled with fans of Maroon 5 or Drake (I love them too). Since he’s not ridiculously popular at the moment, I was able to go see Vance Joy less than an hour from me for $30, and it ended up being one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

3. You can discover new artists!

Vance Joy’s opening acts were both impressive: Jamie Lawson and Blind Pilot. Jamie Lawson is a solo artist whose act consisted of only himself, a guitar and a microphone — I find that to be pretty rare these days. He’s the first artist signed to Ed Sheeran’s label, and he was No.1 on the UK iTunes Charts last year. He even did a meet-and-greet after the concert, and was very kind:

The second opening act, Blind Pilot, was an equally talented band from Oregon who impressed my friends and I, who had never heard of them, because we could literally feel the beat through the floor the entire time. If it weren’t for Vance Joy, we’d have never heard of them, whereas usually you’ve at least heard of the opening acts for bigger tours like Taylor Swift’s, who very recently had Vance Joy open for her. If it hadn’t been for Joy looking for even more alternative artists to open his tour, then I wouldn’t have been able to discover two awesome acts that will hopefully gain a ton of popularity one day.

4. You're a key part of their rise to fame.

As most people do with artists that they love, I hope Vance Joy begins to gain more popularity so that others can experience his beautifully crafted, folksy tunes. I feel this way for multiple reasons, but perhaps the biggest is that it’s a good feeling to know I was probably in one of the first major groups of fans, nationally speaking.

Watching the rise of an artist is special and it’s something we’ve all participated in as a culture, with musicians like Taylor Swift or Fall Out Boy in the 2000's. So to know that you’re a part of what’s likely about to happen, the nationwide recognition of a talented person you appreciate, is something you can only get when you begin to appreciate them in the early stages of their fame. As a fan, supporting them contributes to the growth of that fame, and it’s special to know you’re helping spread their art.

Even though Vance Joy isn’t the major headliner that the majority of people get excited for (yet), seeing him in concert and being about 20 feet away was one of the best experiences I could’ve asked for. This is because first discovering him a couple of years ago when he wasn’t yet very popular, I have always felt a personal connection to his music. I’ve considered writing to him to tell him that he’s made an impact on me through his songs, not only as a writer and a singer, but as an individual too. Every artist has had a stage during which they strove for stardom, and it’s so special to be there supporting them during their rise to the Grammys.