The Price of Music: your essential weekly music biz explainer – with Steve Lamacq and Stuart Dredge.
Become a Price of Music Superfan and get extra content every week – at patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic
Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq
Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge
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For sponsorship email - joe@musically.com
The Price of Music is a Music Ally production:
https://musically.com/
joe@musically.com
The Price of Music: your essential weekly music biz explainer – with Steve Lamacq and Stuart Dredge.
Become a Price of Music Superfan and get extra content every week – at patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic
Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq
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
One more round? The post-show "lock-in" is just for our Patreon Superfans - try it for FREE!: https://www.patreon.com/c/thepriceofmusic/membership
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Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s episode of The Price of Music, Steve and Stu pour a couple of foaming pints of:
Stu’s Big Number is 10 million – but how does it relate to the premature jingling of Christmas bells?
The UK government has announced that tickets will soon only be able to be resold at face value – but will the law work in reality?
Why don't some venues share set times for concerts? (And if you knew when the artists were onstage would you arrive earlier or later?)
Paul McCartney's released a completely silent song - but why?
Why has a UK radio DJ spent 24 hours playing songs that peaked at number two in the charts? (‘Number two' is a clue.)
Metal legends Megadeth have released their own beer
Spotify is shaking up its subscription tiers as a test in five countries. What does it say about its future plans elsewhere in the world?
Veteran British band Squeeze are releasing a brand new album... of songs written when they were teenagers.
Why is streaming service Tidal adding an ‘upload’ feature for DIY artists?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
Steve weighs in on venues and artists announcing venue stage times - who is it good for, and how might doing this harm venues?
(Read the piece this relates to here: https://markdavyd.substack.com/p/the-room-where-it-happens)
Stu’s Megadeth beer taste test (spoiler: it’s very hoppy)
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
======
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
Have you heard the now-legendary post-show "lock-in" section, just for our Patreon Superfans? Try it for FREE!: https://www.patreon.com/c/thepriceofmusic/membership
=======
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s episode of The Price of Music, our dynamic duo Steve and Stu grapple with the following:
Stu’s Big Number is 713 million – and you are quite possibly one of them. But what is it?
Can YOU tell the difference between human-made music and AI-generated music? A study suggests: almost certainly not.
The 1975 have deleted a song from their last album on streaming services... because frontman Matty Healy didn’t like it any more. (And are artists, as Steve says, often bad judges of whether their songs are actually any good?)
Music contributed a record £8 billion to the UK economy last year... but why is there still a reason to be concerned?
Last week Steve said he couldn’t understand why Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ is still popular … well, it turns out someone literally wrote the book that answers the question.
A quick update on the music biz deals with AI companies and what they mean for musicians;
Music Venue Properties, which saves UK grassroots venues from closing, has bought two more venues;
A vinyl record made using… coal dust?
Thundercat’s remix of Diana Ross’ ‘Upside Down’ can be listened to via – oh yes – a ‘bone-conduction lollipop’.
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
97% of people can't tell AI music from human music. Stu is going to put Steve to the test by playing an AI song about… rock bands in Camden.
The Grammy Awards nominations have been announced - including one for… Milli Vanilli?
More on the ‘live show value for money’ debate… featuring Radiohead!
All-seater shows in small venues – Steve’s got a puzzler for Stu about Southampton Joiners...
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
======
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. And in this week’s episode of The Price of Music, Steve and Stu grapple with:
Stu's Big Number is 11.5 million – but what does it have to do with Billie Eilish and a room full of billionaires?
One AI-music company is working on a new service with the world’s biggest major label... so will be be able to create our own sound-a-like tracks?
How Spotify is coming under fire in the US over controversial ICE ads running on its service.
For the first time in 35 years, there are no rap tracks in the US Top 40 singles chart. So what's happened?
A new tech startup in the UK wants to help musicians ‘poison’ their own recordings - how is that a good thing?
Also! Please let us know what you'd like to hear more of in TPOM in our listeners' poll! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/listeners-poll-142732962 – or if you're on Spotify you can find the poll beneath the show!
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
Steve went to see his favourite new band Little Grandad again. But how much should emerging artists charge for tickets?
And how long should a band’s set be, does a three-hour stadium set make your heart sink, and what its your ideal set length?
Why are so many people treating the lyrics from the new Lily Allen album as if they are literally true?
What are Steve’s (frank) thoughts on Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”?
Which albums are hanging around in the charts for years – and how many weeks has ABBA Gold been in there?
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
======
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
Bonus episode! Steve is joined by Lord Kevin Brennan, the ex-MP – and now member of the UK's House of Lords – who is also a musician, and has been described as “a writer of songs and a righter of wrongs.”
He talks to Steve about his leadership of the UK parliament’s new fan-led review of live and electronic music, with the aim of improving the sustainability of grassroots live and electronic music to safeguard the success of the wider UK music industry..
You can take part in this review right now – just go to https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9161
The initiative seeks to place fans’ voices at the centre of decisions about ticketing, venues, accessibility, and transport, similar to football’s fan-led reform from a few years ago. Lord Brennan stresses that live music depends on fair treatment of fans and transparency over ticket pricing, fees, and resale practices.
Lord Brennan argues for a “fans’ charter” to ensure shared values across the live sector, from small venues to major promoters. Drawing from his experience in Parliament and his previous inquiry into music streaming, he also explains how policy can protect grassroots venues, improve access and late-night transport, and encourage community ownership models.
He also exclusively reveals the future plans for his cross-party, all-MP band with the pun-tastic name of... “MP4”.
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
======
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s episode of The Price of Music, Steve and Stu dip into the postbag and answer some very astute listeners’ questions which get to the heart of music streaming and live music!
Matt asks why ticket prices can vary so much at the same venue? And he has a good real-world example: Maximo Park and Suede are playing Cambridge Corn Exchange soon – and tickets for Maximo Park £36.50 and Suede’s are £45.50. If they both sell out, Suede will be making an extra £12,600 a night by his calculations. But does it really work like that? And why do the prices vary? Steve has dug in and found out.
Richard asks about the credits information for songs on Spotify – and he has noticed that there’s missing or incomplete information – so does this mean the songwriters don’t get paid properly? Where is all this information anyway? And how is this one of the music industry’s “big, big problems,” as Stu puts it?
AND: look out later this week because we've got a bonus episode on its way . We'll bring you an actual Lord: Steve will be joined by Lord Kevin Brennan, the ex-MP – and now member of the UK's House of Lords – who talks to Steve about his leadership of the UK parliament’s new fan-led review of live and electronic music, with the aim of improving the sustainability of grassroots live and electronic music to safeguard the success of the wider UK music industry.
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
======
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s episode of The Price of Music, Steve and Stu crunch the numbers and figure out...
Exactly how much does a Mercury prizewinner’s streams really go up after a win?
Spotify is going to make a licensed AI music something – but what is it going to be? And will artists get paid?
Is TPOM now a Baby Shark fan-podcast? Steve politely requests that Stu stops singing a mooted Peppa Pig/Baby Shark collaboration.
In Australia, people are listening to less music by Australian artists (and it’s the same in the UK too) … so what are they listening to instead? And what can be done to increase fans’ local listening?
MTV is shutting down its last music channels – so are we witnessing the death of the music video?
What about Ireland’s idea of a basic minimum income for musicians?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
Festival Goose Poo Vacuuming!
What did Steve chat about with Damon Albarn in the 100 Club last week (and what drink did he order?)
Steve has some exclusive hints about the forthcoming John Niven-penned Britpop musical!
More on the UK’s Mercury Music prize - and the growing gap between the pop-single megastars at the top and the more niche album-oriented artists at the bottom.
What are the benefits of Neil Young being grumpy (or bold and individualist, depending on your perspective)?
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
======
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
A special episode for you this week - where TPOM wonders: just how hard is it to run a festival in 2025, anyway? Spoiler: it's tricky, but rewarding! To find out more, we spoke to John Rostron, who started in the festival world when he co-founded the award-winning multi-venue festival Sŵn in Cardiff in 2007.
He's now CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals which represents over 150 independent UK Music Festivals – making it the single largest collective of festival audiences in the UK, with 1.3 million tickets sold.
So, we wanted to know what challenges festivals are facing today, and he shines light on what goes into putting a festival on, including sharing some astonishing facts and figures around the economics of it all. It's a fascinating interview!
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
======
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. And in this week’s episode of The Price of Music, Steve and Stu wrap their minds around...
How much would it cost to buy Coldplay’s very first single today?;
Steve reveals the “best new band he’s seen in months”;
A proper AI vs human band dust up!;
Are the major labels about to sign deals with music-generating AI platforms?
A splendidly indignant speech from RAYE;
Major labels are buying up indie businesses – and now hundreds of indie labels are very angry;
The Spotify CEO is “stepping down” (and yet is still somehow the boss);
How have Steve and Stu finally removed ‘Baby Shark’ from their music algorithm?;
Listeners' letters: how on earth did the UK once have four weekly music newspapers?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
Steve and Stu wonder exactly why second-hand records are so expensive at the moment (and how disappointingly little is Steve’s teenage copy of “Message In A Bottle” on green vinyl worth?)
And more on Slady - the only all-female Slade tribute band, don’t forget – and on buying tickets in advance.
Do bands get a better reception when they travel to remote cities to perform?
Should we call AI artists “artists” – or something else entirely?
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
======
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. And goodness me, there's a lot in this week’s episode of The Price of Music for our dynamic duo to get stuck into...
Listener Richard sent us a great question about music journalism – and Steve has a lot to say when answering: what’s changed about music journalism, whether music journalism is still important, where the music print media has gone, and what the future of music writing holds.
(Plus - does Steve get paid when his 1991 “Nevermind” NME review is re-printed today?)
Stu’s Big Number is 75 million – and they are “spam tracks” that Spotify has removed from its service in the last year alone. But what on earth is a spam song anyway?
What extra information do artists need to attach to their songs when they upload music?
Spotify has new rules around AI music – so what’s banned, and what’s not banned?
TikTok is apparently about to be sold in the US (maybe) – but why is TikTok so important to the music industry?
Why are old Billie Eilish and Rihanna songs re-emerging to huge popularity?
The Great Record Shop Album Filing Debate rumbles on – where would you file Elton John – “E” or “J”?
(Plus: a listener report from the Resident Records shop that started it all…)
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
More on music journalism: are video creators being ‘encouraged’ to do certain reviews? (And in what ways in the past were journalists persuaded to write reviews?)
Doing an artist interview in real life versus doing it over Zoom
Should online influencers who help songs become successful get a cut of the song’s profits?
Introducing Slady – the all-women Slade tribute band! (And why did they have to cancel a gig?)
Why are people now buying tickets at the very last minute - and why does the economics of ticketing mean artists won’t be able to do as many gigs?
Do you always turn up early for support bands – and have you ever discover a new favourite band this way?
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
======
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s multi-faceted episode of The Price of Music our intrepid duo get to grips with...
Stu’s Big Number is One Hundred Billion Dollars… but who has paid it to whom and should that number actually be bigger?
Ticketmaster is being sued by the US government for ‘illegal ticket resale tactics’ and deceiving artists and fans - but what will happen now?
Why have Massive Attack also pulled their music from Spotify everywhere? (and how does it relate to AI drone weapons?)
And why have hundreds of artists pulled their music from streaming platforms in Israel?
The Great Album Filing Debate: If Ben Folds is filed under "F" is Ben Folds Five filed under "B"? What about Prince when he was a symbol?
More AI-artists are finding success – including Steve’s nightmare: an AI-generated Country music album.
Artist Lizzo thinks that music videos are dead and that authentic self-videos are key; meanwhile, major research says that "going viral" on social media may not help artists build their fanbases after all. So who is right??
Stu once again gets excited by Taylor Swift (and this time it’s a cinema-based launch party)
Why are people suddenly listening to "My Humps" again?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
Which instrument did Steve (reluctantly) learn at school? (And how did he get tricked into learning it again just after he'd given it up?)
Which nationality of people travels abroad the most to visit music events?
How does learning an instrument make you a better doctor?
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s action-packed episode of The Price of Music: a bunch of extremely interesting music biz questions are answered by our intrepid duo...
Stu’s Big Number is 30,000 and relates to the number of AI-generated songs… but why so many songs and where are they going?
Why are Radiohead’s fans getting angry about tickets (“that don’t exist”)?
The Great TPOM Record-Filing Debate continues: do you file Van Morrison under ‘V’ or ‘M’? And where does a record by the band 86TVs go?
Why has Spotify given paying users lossless music for free (and is ‘Lossless’ a long-lost My Bloody Valentine album?
Did Steve and Stu cause Morrissey to get so many offers for his Smiths songs that he deleted his email address?
How did King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard fill the entire Top 30 album chart on Bandcamp (and why)?
What is the (depressing) reason that Bad Bunny has chosen not to tour in the mainland USA?
How much is Bjork’s VR album re-master?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
The UK’s Mercury Prize shortlist has been announced – what do Steve and Stu think of the finalists and why is Steve “flabbergasted” by one specific missing nominee?
Steve and Stu’s true feelings about lossless audio - is it actually worth it?
What is the sole record on Steve’s Discogs Want List, and why does he regret not buying it when it came up for sale recently?
What is Stu’s ideal Christmas gift? And could it possibly be connected to The Black Crowes, much to Steve’s amusement?
Can you guess Steve’s response to Stu saying “I should now give you a lecture on The Black Crowes’ ‘Amorica’ album”?
What is the best song about the fans of The Smiths?
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s The Price of Music: an urgent-ish delve into the news that Morrissey has announced he wants to sell his ownership of The Smiths’ songs… including a suggestion from Steve and Stu about how Johnny Marr might buy the songs off Morrissey via a gmail address that Morrissey put online.
And then Steve and Stu take a deep dive into a fantastic question from listener Simon who asked: artists often say that they are not making enough money from music streaming but are artists REALLY worse off today in the music streaming age?
To answer this, Steve and Stu wander down some... interesting pathways. They:
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s The Price of Music:
Steve takes over Big Number duties to reveal how many weeks ‘ABBA Gold’ has been in the UK’s album chart
The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Light’ hits 5bn Spotify streams – but what is he raising $1bn for?
Why has Spotify reintroduced messaging inside its app, and would Steve or Stuart use it?
Apple Music’s radio stations are expanding beyond their parent service
Sad TikTokers have given Radiohead a new chart hit in the US with an old song
Bandcamp is enlisting DJs and journalists to curate $13-a-month clubs for music and community.
More shade for The Smiths’ tracklisting skills.
Plus music speakers made out of rocket-fuel tanks, which we almost certainly can’t afford.
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:
Why Stuart never liked The Smiths – and Steve’s recommendation of the perfect song to explain that
How Steve and family arrived three hours early to queue for a Conan Grey gig – and still found hundreds of people ahead of them
The tale of Stuart accidentally queuing for a selfie with Grumpy Cat in the days of Peak YouTube Cat Videos
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
If you want an easy guide to the music biz and how it all works – here we are! In this week's The Price of Music:
Stuart’s Big Number involves Coldplay, a lot of sold-out Wembley stadium gigs, and the band raising money for grass roots venues
Has Steve actually “gone deaf for a living?”
Chinese streaming platforms have a “Super VIP” subscription that costs 5x as much (and 15m people are paying for it…)
Ticketing re-selling platform StubHub: how does it work, how many tickets are being sold by users, and what on earth is “speculative ticketing”?
Bandcamp processes $3.5m of sales on the most recent Bandcamp Friday, where all money goes to artists
The soundtrack from animated pop group Netflix film K-Pop Demon Hunters has now had billions (and billions… and billions) of streams in just a few months
(Also: 25% of US kids say that K-Pop is their favourite music genre)
More badly-tracklisted albums!
• Due to high demand: more of Stu’s thoughts on Taylor Swift (her approach to buying back her recordings, not her music, honest)
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart loosen their ties, lean against the bar a bit more, and chat about:
Why Liam Gallagher has been banned from throwing his tambourine into the crowd
Which 80s pop-soul singer did Steve write the tour programme for?
Olivia Rodrigo's $38 tour book – how much would you pay for your favourite artist’s book?
How much will fans pay for unreleased demos and live tracks?
• And how much stuff like that does Radiohead have in their (allegedly giant) bunker of songs?
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
Steve and Stu have questions – so many questions. Fortunately they also have answers! In this episode:
Stuart's Big Number is 217.5 million... and what does it have to do with a B-side by US indie rock icons Pavement?
Steve wants to know which albums have the songs sequenced in the "wrong" order? (And which Blur album does he have a controversial tracklisting opinion about?)
Spotify's prices go up (again) – and who is happy about it and why?
How easy is it to get a #1 album now – and did indie band The K's do it by selling CDs?
Live-show promoters Live Nation have made "stonking" profits – and have sold 130m tickets. And it's because stadium shows are incredibly popular at the moment – but why?
Napster are being sued by Sony Music... so have Stuart and Steve accidentally travelled back to the year 2000, or is something else happening?
Donating a kidney for a sold-out festival ticket;
Stuart waits up all night for the Taylor Swift album announcement – or is it a pre-pre-pre-announcement announcement?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart chat about:
The time when the man in front of Steve in the guestlist queue claimed that he was Steve Lamacq;
(And the time when Steve claimed he was someone else to get into a Bob Mould gig);
Steve’s top tip for legitimately getting into a sold-out gig;
The time Stuart accidentally ended up at a minor reality TV star’s birthday party;
Stuart CONFESSES ALL about his ILLEGAL Napster use in 1999 (and how he downloaded the pop songs he felt too ashamed to buy in the shops);
How Stuart was once gifted - and then lost - a $2000 bottle of tequila.
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
This week, Steve and Stuart find out that they both went to see Oasis last week, but try not to spend the whole show talking about it; and instead get stuck into all this:
Beyoncé’s tour is the most successful country tour of all time;
Steve and Stu both go to watch Oasis - but what did they think?;
Stu’s Big Number: Spotify wants One. Billion. Subscribers;
Tomorrowland festival gets 74 million viewers on Tiktok;
Hayley Williams lets fans who buy her hair dye listen to her songs first;
and Cardi B has “a full-on cheese experience” with “drippy cheese” (Stuart’s words, not Cardi B’s)
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stu chat about:
Steve and Stu check out the Oasis merch (official and unofficial);
They compare their experiences of seeing Oasis at Wembley - and which member of Oasis looked “a bit glum”?;
How much do ticket holders spend in total when they go and see Oasis?
They find a few more interesting points in Spotify’s earnings call – what does the company say about AI and music?
Steve recounts when his label released Elastica’s debut album and what happens when no-one can agree on the track listing
(They also further explore the world of “drippy cheese”)
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
Steve and Stuart rummage through the TPOM inbox and pull out some brand new listeners' questions to answer (send yours into us here: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com) –
Does the money from a stream get split evenly?
Do artists get paid if a festival is cancelled?
How do music-making AIs get trained?
What is Spotify's Discovery Mode?
PLUS: they go over the UK government's reforms for artists.
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stu chat about:
Is the music industry really ready for the AI revolution or is it about to be caught on the hop?
How many author pseudonyms has Steve used over the years?
Which fan club was Stu in, and why did someone burp at him down a telephone as a result?
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
In this week's show, Steve and Stuart get to grips with government legislation and bands turning down big bucks:
Stu’s Big Number: after some gentle ribbing from Steve on last week's (small) Big Number, Stu returns with a whopper: 2.5 trillion - but what is it?
Will Drake face Kendrick Lamar in the witness box?
Steve takes a 13-point "personality test" to see if he's a music Superfan
Breaking news from the UK governmental inquiry into streaming payments to artists and songwriters;
Los Campesinos! turn down a $60,000 offer from Airbnb to use their music in an advert – but why?
...and how does music sync – where songs get put into TV ads and movies, etc – work anyway?
What's the connection between Taylor Swift and Five Finger Death Punch?
And in the special post-show section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stu get classical and chat about:
Which fanclub Steve was a member of as a 14-year-old;
Steve visits the First night of the Proms
Is classical music expensive – or actually cheap in the era of £250 tickets?
Are too many heritage bands touring now? Will people stop buying tickets?
What's the average price of a gig ticket now, anyway?
In the era of no physical tickets, are selfies at the show the new "keeping the ticket stub"?
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
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
In this week's show, Steve and Stuart cover a lot of ground, including:
Stu’s Big Number: it seems small (1000), but that’s how many days Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” has topped the Apple Music chart
How do songwriters actually earn their money – a new report reveals the truth (part of which is that a lot of them are struggling)
Which well-known bands are also performing as cover bands to make cash?
Why Spotify are under investigation in Turkey – and what does it have to do with golden toilets?
How fictional (but not AI!) bands from a Netflix K-Pop animation are getting lots of listeners on streaming platforms
And much, much more (including Ozzy Osbourne’s chimpanzee collaboration)
And in the special post-show section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stu chat about:
Steve’s latest new band tip,
Unusual merch (including poorly-timed mug purchases, and expensive AA batteries),
Steve’s Noel Gallagher spoon-in-a-champagne-bottle anecdote origin story,
The duo pitch for podcast sponsorship from the Milk Marketing Board,
Dad-dancing at gigs, and more…
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
Steve and Stuart are back in the new and - oh yes - improved The Price of Music!
In this episode:
The Velvet Sundown are a fully-AI-generated band that have over a million listeners on Spotify – is this a tipping point – and should human artists worry?
Oasis are back – so how much money did each show make (and how much of it is VAT?
The band Deerhoof have pulled their music from Spotify in protest at co-founder Daniel Ek's investments into a weapons startup
The proposed takeover of indie conglomerate Downtown Music by Universal Music is starting to get tetchy...
Steve wonders: who owns your songs if your record label goes bust?
and more!
As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any niggling questions you might have about how the music biz works that Steve and Stuart can answer.
Email us: thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com
Steve and Stuart
======
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, email - joe@musically.com
The Price of Music is a Music Ally production:
https://musically.com