The Price of Music

• Spotify will launch an AI-music service... but what might it be – and will artists get paid? MTV shuts its music video channels; The Irish basic income for musicians; and Stu sings Baby Shark (again)

  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: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠See you next week!Steve and Stuart======Support The Price of Music on Patreon:⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacqFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠[email protected]

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• How difficult is it to put on a music festival these days, anyway?

  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: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠See you next week!Steve and Stuart======Support The Price of Music on Patreon:⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacqFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Coldplay's first single is now worth *how much*? The best new band Steve's seen in months; An AI vs human band dust up; A splendidly indignant speech from RAYE; and Steve & Stu vs ‘Baby Shark’

  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: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠See you next week!Steve and Stuart======Support The Price of Music on Patreon:⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacqFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Steve reflects on working as a music journalist in the 1990s – and has lots to say on music journalism today; Spotify deletes 75 million "spam songs"; and why is TikTok so important to music?

  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 ZoomShould 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: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠See you next week!Steve and Stuart======Support The Price of Music on Patreon:⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacqFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Massive Attack pull music from Spotify in protest; Ticketmaster sued by US government; Lizzo thinks that music videos are dead; More album-filing dilemmas; & people are listening to "My Humps" again?

  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: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠See you next week!Steve and Stuart======Support The Price of Music on Patreon:⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacqFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship, email - ⁠⁠[email protected]

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