The Price of Music: your essential weekly music biz explainer – with Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Become a Price of Music Superfan and get extra content every week – at patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship email - joe@musically.com The Price of Music is a Music Ally production: https://musically.com/ joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe comb their Emo fringes, use a tie as a belt, and pout about this week's music industry news: → A surprising percentage of Americans are actually MORE interested in music if it was made using AI – according to a new survey. → In last week’s episode, we talked about a data breach at Suno that seemed to have given the game away on what music it trained its models on. But there’s been a development … → Spotify has a brand new daily music videos chart . Is it now officially The New MTV? And does this mean full-length music videos haven’t been killed off by TikTok after all? → The UK has a new prime minister, he’s a New Order stan, and one of his first moves was focused on helping grassroots music venues and clubs … → What’s the latest big music trend in Mexico? It's erm, emo … → Live Nation wants YOU to become a festival promoter. But happily for your stress levels and financial standing, this is just for pretend on Roblox . → AND FINALLY… KPop Shark Heroes ! And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: Stuart has a new favourite music wearable: a Game Boy-inspired digital music player on Kickstarter. It's time for a Little Grandad Update! Discogs and crazy vinyl prices: which 00's band has the highest-priced record sold on Discogs so far this year? https://www.discogs.com/digs/collecting/the-most-valuable-records-sold-on-discogs-in-2026-so-far/ =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe are back from two weeks' holiday in Rhyl – and immediately hop into a golf cart along with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to go through this week's music biz news: → More than 50%(!) of all new music being uploaded to streaming services is now AI-generated. How might the music industry respond to this? With... a system of labels (not the record kind…) → Stu's Big Number is 1.124 billion... but which mega-song does it relate to? (If you’re a parent, you’ll know it only too well…) → Someone's leaked the code of Suno, the biggest AI-music service, and they claim they know what it trained its models on ... → The latest startup hoping to help artists make some money directly from their biggest fans is Lume, and it’s got Lorde’s backing → Lorde has also been giving a right Royals bashing to Meta and Spotify ... but why? → Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael’ got a mixed response from critics (OK, they thought it was rubbish). But at the box-office it’s a huge hit: to the tune of ONE BILLION dollars … → The Rolling Stones (collective age of their three founder members: 243) are now on Roblox , the platform famously used by children. But is this a surprisingly good fit? And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: → Following the last episode featuring plastic bottles being turned into Ed Sheeran Records – could Ed Sheeran records be turned back into plastic bottles? → A recap on the World Cup half-time extravaganza: Madonna! Ronaldo/Ronaldinho! Muppets! Bieber! Vuvuzelas! BTS! → Stuart rhapsodises about seeing the Beta Band live, including some epic four-man bongo wigouts → Good overlooked deep-cut World Cup songs, including Chin Up by The Rhythm Method ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KqmUtU1QEM) =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe are still on their summer holidays in Rhyl, but before they packed their bags, they had a chat with the team behind EcoRecord. It's a PVC-free, injection-moulded alternative to the traditional vinyl record, which cuts factory energy use by up to 85%, and swaps PVC for recyclable PET plastic. Recently, artists like Coldplay and Lorde have released versions of their albums using the process. We chatted to Sven Deutschmann, CEO of record manufacturer Sonopress, about what he's learned over the last two years of production, whether the records sound as good as traditional vinyl, how Coldplay have switched all of their back catalogue from PVC to PET, and if most records will be made this way in the future. (Plus, Joe gets very excited by some gold and silver coloured records.) And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: Ecological vinyl roundup : what other types of ecologically-friendly records are there anyway; and how big a difference can these records make? A Little Grandad Update - the band are playing Sŵn, and it got Joe and Stu talking about... Band names!: which are are the good bands with bad band names, and bad bands with good band names? Are there any good bands with good names? Band names discussed include: Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Teardrop Explodes and Nickelback! =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe get ready for their summer holidays and punt a beachball at this week's music biz news: How much has controversial secondary-ticketing firm StubHub has just been fined in the UK for illegal ‘drip pricing’ ? (Also, what is that?) The news seems bit AI- heavy this week, but it's actually all about artists : → 31 groups representing artists and managers have written an open letter about AI music… but it’s not AI companies who it’s addressed to … → AI-music company Suno is giving some money to musicians at last! But there are some strings attached… → Meanwhile, streaming service Tidal isn’t giving ANY money to wholly AI-generated music, according to its new policies on this area. ANY OTHER BUSINESS? → James Blake has been making friends in the world of music journalism. Hasn’t he? Oh. → And talking of good causes, more than 200 artists have signed an open letter calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty . So who’s signing, and what exactly do they want? (and there is some new advice on how we as music fans can reduce the impact our streaming has on the planet .) AND FINALLY… → Recommendations of classic, influential hip-hop bangers from a maker of fizzy, lemonade-adjacent drinks. And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: Can you make money by investing on things mentioned in a Kraftwerk song? A Little Grandad Update - a segment that now has its own jingle! In a section recorded before England get knocked out on penalties / gloriously proceed on penalties against DR Congo, Stu and joe take a look at the successful use of the much-mocked 'hydration break' as a massive singalong They also venture further into the Official FIFA World Cup Album™ and dare to ask the question: who is iShowSpeed anyway, and why does he have a song? Assorted football songs discussed: IShowSpeed - World Cup (Champions) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrY1THC_NQE&list=OLAK5uy_nsOacWtSBM2kV8c_yjosYwk3hQq1A7-JY&index=19 Alejandro Fernández - Mi Mexico Lindo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk-8wMflT34 Belle and Sebastian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8riNobpEyg Peter Beardsley doing the John Barnes rap from "World In Motion" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPh63Y6sSKA =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe focus on one very interesting and rapidly-developing story in the music biz... Did you know that music fans and industry insiders have quietly built a massive half-billion-dollar market trading purely on pop culture gossip and chart data? Stuart and Joe take a deeper look at how prediction platforms saw a staggering $400 million staked on "music outcomes" on a single app alone in the first half of 2026. That includes a mind-boggling $110 million wagered by people just to guess what the opening song of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show would be. From fans turning passive streaming into high-stakes gamification to the legally murky waters of music industry insider trading, they talk about how (lots of) real cash is changing the way we forecast what's going to happen in the music business, including... What are Prediction Markets anyway? : Online platforms where users buy and sell financial contracts based on the likelihood of real-world future outcomes. Is it gambling or what? : Technically, no, but... The market has exploded into a multi-million-dollar sector in 2026, led by platforms like Kalshi and the crypto-powered Polymarket. What could the music industry do with it?: platform, fan and release data could be used for future forecasting, such as assessing fan interest or adjusting album release dates. Insider trading and addiction: The space introduces risks of insider trading from industry professionals who know when things are going to happen before the wider public – and presents addiction risks similar to traditional gambling. And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: A long-awaited, much-requested Little Grandad Update : what are our indie heroes up to? Successful festival bookings, and a London residency await... The Music-Prediction Prediction Quiz: Joe tests Stu on various active Kalshi markets, covering Spotify listener stats, album sales, and future album genres, including... Which artist will have the highest monthly Spotify listener count by the end of June? What will Olivia Rodrigo's first-week chart sales data for her new album be? When will Selena Gomez debut a new song on Spotify? What will the musical style and genre of Beyoncé’s next studio project be? =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe go football crazy and stick a reducer early doors on this week's music biz news: → 270. That’s how many ‘unofficial anthems’ called ‘World Cup 2026’ have been uploaded to Deezer … and 70% of them are AI slop. → YouTube reckons that its terms of service allow it to use independent musicians’ uploads to train AI models . Is that really true? → Tupac Shakur has been dead for 30 years – or HAS he, etc etc – but if you think that will stop him returning to his acting career for a new console game, you’re wrong … → Say You, Say Me… just don’t Say It In My Voice Without Permission. Why has Lionel Richie been filing trademarks for some of his most famous sung phrases? → UK indie streaming service Cantilever has raised £250,000 of funding from a group of independent labels . Can it carve out a niche for itself against giants like Spotify though? → Ariana Grande is one of the ‘good eggs’ of the pop world, and this week brought more evidence of that: her new charitable foundation, and beef with the White House … → The Happy Mondays want to sell you a giant pill. But wait, it’s not what it seems! This is the latest, very literal meeting of physical music and merchandise… And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: Stu has used AI to make a stereotypical England-oriented World Cup song. But is it any good? (No.) We listen anyway. Joe and Stu dig into the weird and wonderful Official FIFA World Cup Album What other overly-literal packaging could be made? (Stu has ideas for 'Revolver' and Portishead's 'Dummy') Last week, Stu saw Rufus Wainwright and Joe saw Mike D – but which had the sparkliest shoes? And which one brought out a Pussycat Doll to do a duet? Joe explains why he only buys his gravy and chips on The Strand =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week: two very special guests talk about how to actually make important change happen in the UK’s live industry at grassroots level, and improve the live music fan's experience: we welcome back Lord Kevin Brennan of Canton , Labour member of the House of Lords and a recording musician himself. We also speak to Shain Shapiro , who amongst other things is author of This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better . (They are both speaking about this on 10th June at the Music Cities Convention in Hull , FYI.) ** As ever, our Patreon Superfans get the full interviews – with 50% extra conversation! Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! ** We talk about the important stuff that fans care about: surge ticket pricing, local grassroots venues, music fan associations and more – and it’s all built on the results of the UK’s Fan–led Review of Live and Electronic Music , the House of Commons committee special report that Lord Brennan oversaw. He explains what he learned and what can – and should – be done next. Then Shain explains why live music must be treated as a "vital public good" – i.e. just like libraries or the NHS – and how people like you can build real political heft, in order to save their struggling local spaces. Lord Brennan reflects on his past work with the Music Streaming Inquiry, examining how parliamentary reports can ripple out to create real-world impact for creators, even when they don’t instantly become law. Essential learnings from the live fans' report: From transport and safety to fair ticketing, Lord Brennan boils down the core pillars that everyday music lovers actually care about. The surge pricing backlash: The data doesn't lie – fans are united in their hatred of dynamic ticket surging. We discuss the urgent need for primary market transparency and why standard "free-market" arguments don't apply to the emotional experience of a gig. Shain Shapiro breaks down how society has prioritised the passive consumption of music (the noun) while deprioritising community participation (the verb), leading to the isolation of modern music fans. Why you should know your ward councillor . Shain outlines how forming local "Music Fan Associations" can force local councils to unlock underutilised property and rethink how spaces are used. The 24-Hour Dictators: Both guests flex their imaginary emergency powers to fix the ecosystem, including slashing VAT on tickets, restructuring property business rates, and mandating grassroots funding. As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week: → Enigmatic duo Boards of Canada have beef with the White House . What on earth is going on? → €55bn: the amount that hedge fund Pershing Square WON’T be paying to buy Universal Music Group, because it has rejected the offer . → Last·fm was once so buzzy, a big US media corporation bought it for $280m. 19 years after that acquisition, it’s going independent again . → Warner Music Group is on the verge of settling its lawsuit with US cookies chain Crumbl . But why are so many brands and retailers getting sued by major labels for their social posts? → Another day, another 17 baffling trends on TikTok made up by young people to confuse older people. But the ‘text to song’ trend IS both amusing and interesting … → Talking of charts and rankings, a new site called Stream League wants to turn music releases into a fantasy-sports-style game … → Do you use Google’s Waze navigation app when driving? Have you always wished that its voice could be a bit more, well, a bit more Jamaican-music-royalty? Well, it’s your lucky day! And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: Joe tries to persuade Stu, who has never listened to a Boards of Canada album, to play one of them – with the promise of satanism, the occult, biblical allusions, mathematics, numerology, cults, and, by the sound of their new LP, the end of the world itself. Stuart has turned one of his messaging threads into a song; and he and Joe wonder if actually we need to think about music in a whole new way now. Stream League! Does Stu fancy himself as an A&R now? Does he sit back in his black leather chair with his finger steepled, nodding along as he listens to new song? We find out... =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week, Producer Joe steps into some big shoes to chat with Stuart about: How many streams did Drake’s THREE new albums get since their release on 15 May. But is this a hit comeback or a flop? Ozzy Osbourne is back! Wait, you say, isn’t he dead? Well, yes, but he’s the latest late star to be returning in avatar form . Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger: which musical nostalgia is now a preserved cultural artifact in the UK ? Spotify held its Investor Day last week, unveiling some new features including two big pieces of music news: one around ticketing and one around AI . Elsewhere in AI music-land, details have leaked out about the new ‘Starstruck’ service that Udio is building with its major-label deals. What can we expect? Ed Sheeran is leaving Warner Music Group after 15 years being signed to the company’s Asylum Records imprint. So where might his next recordings home be? Techno megastar Richie Hawtin is more than capable of making your nose bleed in a club, but can he help you study or sleep at home? His latest release aims to show he can… You can make vinyl out of recycled records now, but does that affect the quality of how they sound? Yes, but no, is the answer... And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – and while the barman may have changed, the game's the same... in this week's bonus material: What other pieces of musical memory deserve to be preserved? (And Stu reminisces fondly about, erm, The Kersal Massive ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uja3W-ibifc) Do we actually want to remix our favourite artists using AI? (Joe has a one-word answer) Which dead musicians do we want to see as avatars, if any? Is Drake any good? Really though, is he? =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Stuart and Joe ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... Steve is back from the Great Escape music showcase festival and joins Stuart to discuss: How many songs have Steve and Stu listened to on Spotify since 2008, according to its latest nostalgia-baiting feature ? BANGARANGA! Eurovision was this weekend and Steve watched it for the first time in a decade. We get his thoughts – plus find out who the most successful post-Eurovision artists are. Last week we were speculating about whether the UK’s planned crackdown on ticket-touting would go ahead. And the answer is… no (but also yes )… British labels body the BPI has some advice for the UK government about how to handle AI-music licensing. But will it listen? Those cartoon KPop Demon Hunters are going on a global tour … we just don’t know when, where, who, or how yet… The full lineup for the World Cup final half-time show has been announced. Madonna! Shakira! BTS! And… The Muppets? You may not have heard but Steve has announced that he's reluctantly leaving the podcast... he explains why (it's not because him and Stu have had a huge diva-ish artistic differences fall-out... or is it? (No, it's not.)) And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's definitely getting the first round in this time – as they discuss this week's bonus material: More on Eurovision; and the reluctance of TV to make music-oriented shows Steve reports more on what he saw and heard at The Great Escape in Brighton – and the challenge of getting good conflicting conversations on stage at conferences Half-time live performances at football matches: do the artists get paid a fortune (or not at all?) =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... Stu's back from his travels and joins Steve to discuss beer, AI music, and Los Campesinos!: → $5bn is how much controversial AI-music firm Suno could be valued at – and it might raising $250... so what is it going to do with that money? → The phrase of the week is ‘Blue Dot Fever’, and it’s all about big tours being cancelled or delayed due to reportedly-poor ticket sales … → While we’re on live music, indie band Los Campesinos! have explained exactly just how much it costs to tour North America … → Sony Music Publishing is spending $4 billion for a company that owns a lot of songs: Recognition Music Group. And some very famous musicians’ rights are changing hands as part of the deal… → British charity Youth Music has warned that 37% of grassroots music projects in the UK are in danger of shutting down . But what can you do about that? → We’ve talked about how sales of alcohol can be crucial to the grassroots circuit. Now there’s a specific beer that’s been made to support artists on tour … → We talked last week about the possible delay to the UK’s ticket-touting ban. Now an update: industry bodies have been weighing in with their disappointment … → Clankers With Attitude are an entirely AI group, releasing entirely AI-generated music on a label that is entirely run by, yes, AIs. And if you want to listen to their new album, you have to be an AI too … And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: → More on the "Blue Dot" tickets story – why are some artists selling a lot of tickets, and others... not so much? And: is Suno really worth $5bn? → With the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ recordings catalogue being sold for $300m, does this blow Stuart’s ‘the worst band in the world’ theory out of the water? And what happens to the value of a band or artist's songs if they go out of fashion? → Metal band Zao have been flagged as releasing AI-generated music. The only problem? It wasn’t, and they aren’t happy about the mistake … → Stu has heard the first release by Little Grandad at last! =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... Steve and Producer Joe grapple with some big numbers, mergers, and warnings about signing your rights away: The UK government promised to ban ticket touting (scalping). But now the ban may be delayed for a year or so: and the industry (and Steve) is not happy.... The estates of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix's Experience bandmates, have lost a court case in which they were seeking more money from the band's albums – but why did they lose? The resurgence of vinyl isn’t all good: LPs aren’t the most climate-friendly product. But that could be changing, and a group of independent labels wants to show how … 761 million people are now using Spotify every month, according to its latest financial results . Talking of Spotify, you may have seen a new ‘green tick’ badge on artist profiles to verify that they are human. What’s that all about? The music industry’s latest mega-merger will see BMG and Concord coming together - but who are these two businesses and why is this one so big - and meaningful for indie artists? Have Taylor Swift or Rihanna tried to get you to sign up to an online service you’ve never heard of on TikTok? Here's why... William Shatner has a full-length heavy metal album featuring 35 hand-picked collaborators from across the genre, including Dave Lombardo of Slayer, and Rob Halford of Judas Priest(!) And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: More thoughts from Steve on the UK government's pause on the touting ban Apparently Angine de Poitrine are ‘2026’s first breakout band’ according to the streaming stats. But what does Steve think about them? And what does Steve think of Dadaist Math Rock, anyway? Plus: Grebo! Fraggle! Baggy! Which genre deserves (perhaps) a revival? =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... Stu and Steve grapple with: → Brace yourself - how many AI-generated tracks are being uploaded every single day now? → Steve uses his knowledge of London pubs to try and figure out which one Olivia Rodrigo shot her new video in... but wait: both Spotify and Apple Music have a an exclusive new Olivia Rodrigo music video. How can this be possible? → The UK’s voluntary levy on stadium and arena concerts is starting to pay off for the grassroots live scene - some latest news on that... → Superfan David joined in the debate on buying tickets at the last minute – in particular the non-refundable fees on tickets being a possible cause of delays. → Greater Music Group is a brand new record label – run by an army of AIs . Is this really the future we’re heading towards? (And what vital skill does Steve realise that AI's can't do with new bands?) → You can get music, podcasts and audiobooks on Spotify, but now you can also get… fit? → With AI deepfakes getting ever more convincing, Taylor Swift, has taken action with trademark filings … → And introducing.... Finnish band Heavysaurus, who make “high-quality heavy metal music for children” while dressed up as dinosaurs. And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: Steve has an update on the sale of the BBC's legendary Maida Vale studios – where everyone from the Beatles and Nirvana to Adele and Amy Winehouse recorded sessions Can Stu guess how many summer festivals Little Grandad will perform at? Vinyl is so popular now that criminals are creating fake versions of official vinyl Record Store Day took place recently - but which records didn't sell? =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... → Geese have been one of the big breakthrough rock bands of the last year. But now some of the marketing tactics that helped them cut through are under the spotlight … → Live Nation has lost a major lawsuit in the US that could see it forced to sell its Ticketmaster division. But is that likely to happen? → 739.1m - that’s how many streams the new BTS album got in its first week (and yes, this is an official, not-made-up number this time…) → There’s a big argument in the UK between the Music Venue Trust and collecting society PRS for Music , and it’s all about how royalties from concerts are collected and divided… → While we’re on the subject of live music in the UK, a new report from a parliamentary committee made some interesting recommendations for reforms … And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: Steve shares a story about trying to bring artist Victor Jones to the UK and wonders if he could sleep in Steve's loft; "Industry Plants" – the music industry's "conspiracy theory", and a chance to reminisce about major labels using offshoots to appear independent. Almost-free-jazz: analysis of the UK parliamentary report showing that Jazz receives only 2% of Arts Council grant money, compared to 49% for Opera and 24% for Classical music. Physical Tickets : do you collect your paper ticket stubs? 75,000 AI tracks are now uploaded to Deezer every day. Vintage merch value : the prices of secondhand band t-shirts are soaring – so what have Steve and Stu got in their wardrobes? =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week, there's a change to our normal schedule – with a whistlestop tour around the news and then a very special interview with Ashli Todd , owner of the legendary Spillers Records , the world's oldest record shop (founded in 1894, fact fans!) Ashli takes time out from filing vinyl to chat to us about Record Store Day 2026 , which is taking place on Saturday 18th April. She also talks about the logistical hurdles of running a record store today. She also gives an authoritative answer on whether PJ Harvey should be filed under 'P' or 'H'! In this episode... The Ye/Wireless fallout : what are the financial and contractual "cleaning up exercises" facing Festival Republic after headliner Ye (AKA Kanye West) was denied UK entry – resulting in the entire festival's cancellation? Radiohead’s Coachella Bunker : the band's new "audiovisual installation" is located in a literal bunker beneath the Coachella festival (and if you visit, they put stickers over your phone cameras) A billion-dollar milestone : Latin American music has topped $1 billion in US label revenue for the first time - but which artists have driven this? Then, Ashli Todd , owner of Spillers Records, joins the show to chat about Record Store Day! (Our extra-special Patreon Superfans get the full, unedited interview... including some hearty debate about Simply Red!) RSD reality check : Ashli reveal what it's like to run a record shop during Record Store Day – including the high-stakes gamble of ordering for the big day. Ashli explains how shops cannot return any unsold Record Store Day stock: so if a shop is left with too many unsold titles, it can negate the entire profit margin for the event. CDs are... back: Ashli sees teenagers gravitating toward them as a "retro" and affordable alternative to increasingly expensive vinyl. How sales of popular albums can "fall off a cliff" simply because it’s impossible to reorder from the warehouse, due to labels' unwillingness to sit on large quantities of stock. The Jools Holland Effect vs. the TikTok Effect: While the Jools Holland effect on sales has waned, TikTok now has a tangible impact on what (especially younger) customers ask for. We finally settle the argument : does PJ Harvey belong under 'P' or 'H'? A bonus filing complication: Record Store Day filing rules follow the official list order, which is alphabetical by first name. (We're still not 100% clear how this effects PJ Harvey, though.) (If you'd like to know more about the history of Spillers, this interview with Ashli is well worth a read: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/story-uks-oldest-record-shop-15805068) =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... $63.5bn is a very big number – but is it worth paying this much for Universal Music Group? A report suggests that 2025 and 2026 saw a ‘pop slump’ in the streaming charts – but what does ‘pop slump’ even mean? If you were on the Artemis II moon mission, what space-related songs songs would you force your fellow astronauts to listen to? And another study has found that nearly half of music fans think merch is becoming unaffordable – what's your t-shirt buying budget? Do you have an irrational hatred of a certain artist's music – and just can't change your mind? People are getting hesitant about buying gig tickets – and gig cancellations due to poor ticket sales are starting to happen. Steve digs in and has some concerns. Celine Dion: Now Big With The Kids! (OK, maybe not The Kids, but people under the age of 35 are reviving her career...) Guitars, synths, drum machines... they're definitely all musical instruments. Mayonnaise? Not so much. Or is it... ? Instagram says it’s the "home of music superfans". But what does that actually mean for those fans and their favourite artists? And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: Steve remembers Paul Jackson, the man responsible for UK indie venue stalwart The Hull Adelphi. More chat on the possible takeover of Universal Music - and what does it say about the state of the most successful music company? Is it good for artists? And what about fans? Recommendations of music in other media: some good books to read on the music industry, and in the theatre, Rebecca Lucy Taylor (AKA Self Esteem) in the revived play Teeth 'n' Smiles . The huge increase in women headlining the major UK venue The O2 – and what it means about where pop is going. =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... → Stu's Big Figure is... £50,000 – and it's been donated by that good egg Sam Fender... but to whom? → Music’s latest bitter lawsuit is Twigs versus Twigs . (That’s FKA Twigs versus indie band The Twigs, BTW.) So who really owns the name - and can people really lay claim to band names? → Superstar producer Timbaland has collaborated with everyone from Jay-Z to Madonna, but his latest musical partner is not so... real. → Grab your stetsons: we have a listener question from Pete Feldon, who wants to know if country music is really the fastest growing genre in the UK? → A new website called The Hidden Jams to help people discover the obscurities in bands’ catalogues (... so what would you recommend?) → AI-generated songs have appeared on some people's Spotify profiles. Now the streaming service is doing something about it … → Last week, we reported that BTS had 300 million people watching their concert on Netflix... well, let’s just say that was a little exaggerated … And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: → Talking of Patreon superfans, guess who’s joined us on Patreon this month? It’s only Bob Dylan … → Steve's been on the road again to the 6Music Festival and elsewhere... and why was he DJing to a mostly-empty room? → A new website called Slop Tracker claims to show you how much money AI tracks are “draining away” from human artists. So how much is slop worth? → Steve and Stu dig into some of the rankings on The Hidden Jams looking for deep cuts... and some of them are not exactly an overlooked (obscure b-side ‘Mr Brightside’ is number two on The Killers’ table , for instance...) =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week... Steve's back from Austin, Texas and has plenty of stories to tell about SXSW. Plus Radiohead, BTS, and, erm, Salt 'n' Pepa – all in this week's TPOM: → Radiohead's Ed O’Brien has revealed the band will do ‘ 20 shows each year: no more, no less ’. → Steve's fresh (kind of...) back from SXSW in Austin, Texas, and here's what he saw... (plus: his travel nightmare, in full!) → Annoyed that Spotify doesn’t really understand you? It’s testing a feature where you can give its algorithm a shove in the right direction… → Last week a huge Global Music Report revealed how much money the industry made from recorded music last year. (Spoiler: it was a lot) → Good news for artists: the UK government has u-turned on its plan for how AIs can be trained on music. → 300 million people (reportedly) watched K-Pop’s biggest stars BTS in their livestreamed comeback → Black Music has contributed £24.5bn out of the £30bn made by the UK music industry over the last 30 years. → Big Nostalgia Tour Bingo: Salt-n-Pepa, TLC AND En Vogue are hitting the road together… And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: → We hear more about SXSW from Steve, including his band tips... → Are Kiss and Tina Turner about to receive the ABBA Voyage treatment? → And is the virtual avatar show experience the only way we'll see The Smiths back onstage (and how would they programme Morrissey's grumpy ad-libs?) → What did Steve 'n' Stu think of last week's (great!) Picture Parlour interview? → Could the 6Music Dads turn into a national community of local gig assistants? → Why is Belgium and the Nordics the hot new place for artists to break? =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy a weekly Superfan Lock-in section! This week Katherine and Ella from ace UK indie band Picture Parlour talk about the stark economic realities of being a touring artist in the modern music industry. They're joined by David Martin from the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), who explains why his organisation is handing out top-up financial support to help artists like Picture Parlour get out on the road. ( As ever, our Patreon Superfans get the full interview with extra bonus conversation!) In this episode: Katherine and Ella explain the huge financial pressures of touring – while inflation has soared, artist fees have remained largely unchanged, and yet ticket prices are kept low to maintain demand. How Picture Parlour lost approximately £10,000 on a recent support tour, even when trimming their budget by asking fans to help at the venues. With this in mind, David explains why The FAC is distributing £125,000 to artists to help get them on the road – and how he hopes to put the money to work effectively and fairly. The band also talk about the reality of a major deal, where the initial financial boost depletes rapidly when paying for tour transport, crew salaries, and accommodation. They explain how a record deal doesn't provides even a living wage – and that artists often still struggle to pay basic rent while being signed. There's lots of positive news too! They all talk passionately about why independent venues remain so important (for example: they met in The Castle in Manchester!) and how they're essential melting pots where people can meet and community can thrive,. Plus the band are excited to go on the road again in support of their newest album. More on the fabulous Picture Parlour : pictureparlour.co.uk - and get yourself tickets to their tour here https://linktr.ee/pictureparlour . More on the Featured Artist Coalition’s UK Artist Touring fund , which aims to plug shortfalls and de-risk touring for all types of artists: https://thefac.org/ukatfund You can apply here – but be quick – the deadline for applications is 23:59pm on Friday 20th March 2026: https://forms.gle/SLvWLASSR9o3nodv8 =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy a weekly Superfan Lock-in section! This week... Steve's about to head off to SXSW in Austin, Texas, so we interrupted him as he was packing his suitcases, and grapple with non-league football, buying pieces of your favourite artist, why Tr*mp deliberately annoys artists by using their music, and much more, all in this week's TPOM: → How many millions of Instagram views did the Brit Awards got this year – and why is that now An Important Thing? → Radiohead and Kesha are the latest artists furious that their music has been used in social-media posts by the US government. But can they do anything about it? → Apple Music subscribers will soon know if and how AI has been used in the music they listen to . And is there a huge loophole? (Yes) → Good news for UK artists who are struggling with the economics of touring: a new Touring Fund. → Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers has a new job as... chairman and part-owner of the world’s oldest football club … → A listener question: how does this Dune app, which lets fans buy stakes in the work of artists, work – and will it help artists? → Another music / football crossover - but this time it's Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka? And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans , Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material: → Steve went to see the new Britpop play by John Niven, which is about the Oasis vs Blur Battle of Britpop – so was it any good? → The UK’s Eurovision entry this year is partially sung in German, mentions ‘roly poly with custard’, and has been described as “Blur covering Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus”. Is it a winner in waiting? → Steve is about to fly out to SXSW... so what Steve’s looking forward to and what are his thoughts as SXSW hits its 40th anniversary? → The first ‘AI Music Creators Accelerator’ happened last week. What on earth is that? VARIOUS LINKS: You can check out the Weekender mix CD – including some really interesting liner note photos – that Steve put together with John Niven here (can anyone find the audio of it anywhere online? We can't!): https://www.discogs.com/release/89176-Various-Weekenders And Kate, who asked this week's listener question, also shared some bands with under 1000 plays on Spotify , following our discussion a few weeks ago... True Heads - Public Pressure Jester - Pamphlets Glue Smells - TV Moms Sell With Confidence – Aiming =================================== As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works! Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com See you next week! Steve and Stuart ====== TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/ Support The Price of Music on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod For sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
