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The Price of Music: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Music Ally
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 - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship email - joe@musically.comThe Price of Music is a Music Ally production:https://musically.com/joe@musically.com
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- Yesterday43 min
What is slop and spam music? (And why is there so much of it?) Daft Punk Lego! What makes venues "fair" for artists? Killing Grannies! Michael Bublé! And more...
Stuart is back, back, BACK, baby, and he returns with some giant numbers, a lot of slop, and hypothetically granny-murdering AI chatbots. In this week's episode....→ How many millions of ‘slop and spam tracks’ Spotify has kicked out of its recommendations in 2026 alone? And what is it anyway?→ A new campaign in the US wants venues to treat artists more fairly. But what does that mean?→ Joe was in Manchester in the last week, chatting to the great and good of the British music industry about new Prime Minister Andy Burnham. What do they think of him?→ Spotify also had its financial results last week, and its bosses were really keen to talk about "AI agents". So what do AI agents have to do with music?→ Do you like Daft Punk? Do you like Lego? Well, we have some exciting news for you…→ Liverpool attraction ‘The Beatles Story’ is getting a huge revamp for 2028, but it’s part of a bigger strategy to keep the Fab Four’s reputation high for future generations…→ Grannies are being tied to train tracks and left to die… all because of some Justin Bieber lyrics. But don’t worry, the grannies are entirely digital…→ Apple has bought an AI-music startup. But don’t worry, it’s not about to start kicking human artists off Apple Music in favour of AI slop…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:Raye won the UK's Mercury Prize and it's chance for the now-annual discussion to take place: was this the worthy winner, and what sort of artist 'should' win the Mercury Prize anyway?Joe is still walking with an exaggerated swagger whilst wearing a bucket hat – what other interesting stuff happened in Manchester?If we had our own personal AI agents, what would we want them to do for us in a musical sense?Sam Fender VS Michael Bublé!===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusicFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
- 1 weeks ago25 min
Is music radio making a comeback? Or did it never go away? And what is different about music radio in 2026? We find out...
With Stuart under the weather and taking a well-earned rest to recover his lost voice, Joe wrangles full control of the podcast for one week only, and gets stuck into a question that will resonate with most TPOM fans: what's going on with music radio?You'd think that, with music streaming booming, and personalised algorithmic feeds promising to dominate music discovery, music radio would be fading. But it's not - the opposite, in fact. And, it's changing into something more interesting – the centre of discovery and community around genres, niches and scenes. Joe is joined by Laura Fisher, an analyst at MIDiA Research, to speak about its recent report on radio's evolving role in the music ecosystem. Their research shows a growing shift back toward human-curated audio and community stations.(Note: our Patreon Superfans get the full, unedited, 50% longer interview!)Joe and Laura discuss:The rise of independent & community stations: How platforms like NTS, Balamii, Rinse FM – and even big stations like BBC 6 Music – have created thriving cultural hubs around niche genres and scenes.Why a smaller, highly engaged radio audience can carry significantly more value for artists - and listeners – than algorithmic playlists.Context vs. algorithms: Why avid music fans are craving the story behind the music (labels, producers, and scene context) that streaming algorithms often leave out.Screen fatigue: How younger demographics (Gen Z & Millennials) are turning to radio as a screen-free antidote to endless feeds.Other stuff mentioned in the show:MIDiA Research: midiaresearch.comAlbum Recommendation: Exile on Main St. – The Rolling StonesCompanion Album Recommendation: Exile on Cold Harbour Lane – Alabama 3===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusicFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
- 3 weeks ago47 min
How much should billionaires pay for music? What would you pay for unheard Oasis gig recordings? How many songs has Peppa Pig made? And when is it too early to listen to Christmas songs?
This week on The Price Of Music, we end up talking philosophically about the, erm, price of music (as well as the actual philosophical value of it):→ If you were considering spending up to £1.6m on some unheard Oasis recordings at auction this month, well, we have some bad news for you…→ Chicago band The Empty Pockets have a special edition of their new album just for billionaires. It’s a snip at just $285,000, with absolutely no extras compared to the $20 edition for the rest of us…→ 1,300. That’s how many original songs have been released by the world’s favourite precocious, pink, porky pop star…→ When is it acceptable to start playing Christmas music? Well, people in the Philippines, Colombia and Barbados don’t care what you think: they’re cracking out the tinsel tunes already…→ Is Elon Musk’s X a friend to the music industry? Not if you take the opinion of global labels body the IFPI, which thinks it’s a piracy haven…→ Some of Spotify’s biggest playlists are getting smaller – in terms of how many followers they have. But this may not be a bad thing…→ Next year’s Grammy Awards are going to be missing another huge K-Pop act. Stray Kids have joined BTS in refusing to enter – despite there being a dedicated ‘Asian Pop’ category for the first time. Or rather, they have refused to enter BECAUSE there is a dedicated ‘Asian Pop’ category…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 ’n’ Joe go deep on, erm, Christmas songs:When DO we think it’s acceptable to start listening to Christmas music?How do you structure your Xmas playlist: is it all pop bangers, Christmas classics, or quirky deep cuts?And do non-Christmas-related songs that happened to be at #1 at Christmas count as “Christmas songs”?If you’re a regular listener, you’ll know we love quirky music gadgets on Kickstarter, especially if they let us make weird, bloopy noises and squelchy basslines. You’ll also know we’re still figuring out how we feel about AI. A new crowdfunded device called Engram combines both!Is all piracy bad - and is it all even piracy? And which pirated / bootlegged gig would you kill to listen to?A spontaneous update on the single Wu-Tang Clan album that sold for $4m… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Shaolin===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:<a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic
- Sep 30, 202644 min
Viagogo gets feisty over new accusations; How much are Oasis tickets selling for?; UK anti-touting laws?; Sylvan Esso reluctantly back on Spotify; and more extreme weather show cancellations
This week on The Price Of Music, there's a vague but tangible 'us vs them' theme, and lot of hoo-ha about secondary ticketing: Secondary-ticketing firm Viagogo is having its latest public argument in the UK, with anti-touting group FanFair Alliance. And it’s all about Manchester, and ticketing at smaller venues...Meanwhile 30 miles west of Manchester, it’s the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, and the Creative Industries Minister has promised that the long-promised crackdown on ticket touts will happen “quicker than we initially intended”. But what’s really going to happen?Sylvan Esso quit Spotify last year in protest at co-founder Daniel Ek's personal investment in military technology. Now they’re back on Spotify, even though he’s still invested in weapons. Why?How many people who’d bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran play the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts DIDN’T get to see him? And this has nothing to do with Israel or Palestine... it's to do with climate change. (Plus, here's Brian Eno on Ed Sheeran, Macklemore, and Robert Kraft.)We don’t get to talk much about brand new music print magazines, mainly because launching brand new music print magazines is usually a road to bankruptcy. Is Shownotes different though?Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t just a game that licenses music: it’s a game with its own soundtrack album stuffed with brand new songs…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:Oasis Tickets: did Stu 'n' Joe get them? Did the ticketing system stop tickets from appearing on secondary ticketing sites (no) and how much are they charging? (A lot.)Joe develops his "Oasis are definitely releasing a new album" theory, courtesy of an archive Liam tweet... We promised a Little Grandad update, but it’s been shelved in place of a Lammo Update...Listener Sarah writes in offering a new intriguing possibility of the Smiths reforming with politicians playing key rolesJoe went deep on other politicians' über-cringe music claims, their true taste (featuring a lot of MOR rock), and a couple of politicians with... objectively good taste in music?? Tim Farron's music taste: https://www.libdemvoice.org/tims-top-tunes-how-many-have-you-heard-of-48737.html===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:<a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic%E2%8
- Sep 23, 20261h 5m
Making sense of the Ed Sheeran situation; The million-pound fake vinyl factory; Will there be a new Oasis album?; AI pioneer speaks to TPOM; and The Ace Of Shatner!
It's a MEGA-BUMPER episode this week, as Stu and Joe not only go over the biggest stories of the week, but also track down the man who pioneered AI generated music – and give him a good grilling*... (*it actually turns out he doesn't like most AI generated music either...)This week on The Price Of Music:→ Just how many records were found by police when they raided the factory owned by a British businessman who’s just been sent to prison for vinyl fraud? → The show goes on for Ed Sheeran in his US stadium tour, but without any support acts or backing band. This is the fallout from the decision to remove support artist Macklemore from the tour after he spoke out about Palestine from the stage. Sheeran is taking the brunt of criticism for that decision, but is this fair?→ In news that will surprise absolutely nobody who’s been on the internet this year, Oasis are playing some more concerts next year. But tickets WON’T be going on general sale. Why not? Plus, Joe explains his "Oasis will release a new album" theory.→ AI music pioneer François Pachet speaks exclusively to TPOM...Joe went to the Reeperbahn conference in Hamburg, and speaking at it was François Pachet, the man who helped pioneer AI generated music (so it’s his fault). Jokes aside, he was fascinating to speak to, because he's a musician himself, and is more critical of the music industry's approach to AI music and of the AI music platforms than you might imagine.AND FINALLY…→ William Shatner is 95, and he's singing (kind of) The Ace Of Spades with his new band... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzTfH3MZZ84&t=94s)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:→ More thoughts on the interview with François Pachet, AI music pioneer (and huge Beatles fan).→ Listener Gez explains his unusual home record filing system that Stu and Joe both appreciate; and an approach to CD filing that also makes them both seethe.→ SHATNER! We've done "what other songs would we like William Shatner to do" before; but which other celebs would we like to see pivot to cover songs, and what would those songs be?→ Joe proposes the idea of forcing politicians to sing the songs they claim to like, like David Cameron singing “This Charming Man”, and Andy Burnham covering "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash".→ UK PM Andy Burnham's top 13 albums, which Stu and Joe appraise (mostly enthusiastically):The Beatles – 1962–1966 (The Red Album)The Smiths – Hatful of HollowThe Pogues – Rum Sodomy & the LashThe Stone Roses – The Stone RosesThe Wedding Present – George BestThe La's – The La'sBilly Bragg – William BlokeRadiohead – OK ComputerDoves – The Last BroadcastThe Strokes – Is This It Big Thief – CapacityNew Order – Power, Corruption & LiesCourteeners – Falcon===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: <a href="http://tpom.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopene
- Sep 16, 202640 min
Beyoncé's $900 record box (records not included); Macklemore, Ed Sheeran and politics on-stage; The giant streaming platform you've never heard of; The UK 'homegrown' artist chart; and more!
This week, Stu and Joe tread verrrrrry carefully around a bunch of hot-button topics: on-stage politics, billionaires billionaire-ing, and whether AI music is getting to the believable stage. In this week's show:You've probably already heard about the Macklemore and Ed Sheeran kerfuffle over the former's statements on Palestine. Now one big festivals promoter has launched an ‘artistic code’ explaining its policies when artists make statements on-stage...The UK now has a ‘homegrown’ albums chart to showcase British artists. What’s it for, and will it work? 167 million people are using a streaming platform called Soda Music... and most of us have probably only just heard of it. So what – and where – is it?Suno has released a "wild" version of its AI-music model, that gives you less-predictable results. Is it any good – or is AI music just like a covers band: you can be impressed by how convincing they they are, but you don't want to listen to their music?Some unusual sounds are coming out of Lime Bikes in London this month. But no, it’s not because teenagers hacking them to ride without paying…The music industry has launched its latest war on streaming fraud with a ‘Streaming Integrity Initiative’. Which sounds very dry, but how could it help beat the fraudsters?Good news if you collect Beyoncé vinyl and like giving lots of money to billionaires – Beyoncé is selling a record box made of pine, and it costs a whopping $900 (and you have to buy the records separately).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 was sent into a spiral of self-reflection by this fact: “The Rolling Stones still performing today is like a band formed in 1898 still performing when the Stones formed in 1962.” But what other fascinating temporal pop facts are there?More songs of the summer! Mungo Jerry’s In the Summertime VS Stardust’s Music Sounds Better with You? (Plus: “The ‘Song of the Summer’ Is Dead. Thank God for That”) How do you file your records at home? This is extremely telling about a person's approach to life, and so Joe reveals his objectively chaotic system and Stu explains why CD singles and CD albums MUST be kept separate...===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:<a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic%E2%81%A0%E2%8
- Sep 9, 202641 min
Artists sue Suno! Soft rock! Virtual snarky record-shop clerks! A 16-year old 'song of the summer'! And... chicken ice cream?
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. As ever, Stu and Joe take a closer look at this week's music industry news, including:→ TikTok’s ‘Song of the Summer’ this year is by HOT NEW BREAKING artist, erm, Katy Perry, and her 16-year old song ‘The One That Got Away’. So what is a summertime hit nowadays anyway?→ Yes, yes, another lawsuit against AI-music firm Suno – but this one has a twist: it’s from musicians, rather than labels or publishers… and these artists won't back down easily.→ Meanwhile, another artist, Mary J. Blige, was (we think) very supportive of Suno, but now (we think) she very much isn't. Or is she? It's complicated...→ Sonos, the popular connected-speakers firm, is getting into AI agents. And apparently that means a you can have a virtual snarky record-shop clerk as your AI song-picking pal (or anything else you'd like).→ India has had *how many* music streams in the first half of 2026? (It's a lot, as you'd imagine).→ Joe doesn't know who Captain & Tennille are, but they got the biggest spike in Spotify streams from Grand Theft Auto IV’s big reveal – but there’s one caveat to their 130,730% boost…→ Joe also doesn't know who Young Roddo is –but he's the first artist to film a music video entirely within Roblox. (Young Roddo is nine years old).→ The New York Yankees stadium hosts concerts and now you can eat ice cream that looks like fried chicken while you watch the show. Are we entering a new phase of stadium gig snacking?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:→ What are the best-ever "songs of the summer", and are they even important now, anyway?→ Who or what would your ideal "AI agents" be for music recommendations (and why not, Joe and Stu, wonder, just switch on the radio and listen to a human DJ?)→ A conversation about snacks and music venues turns into a speculative series of suggestions for food that could be served at an Oasis show→ And then, we regret to inform you, that it then turns into a too-much-information chat about using toilets at music festivals, and novel festival toilet strategies.→And finally... Superfan Ian issues a Very Important Correction to Joe's misremembered Blue Peter time capsule story.===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:<a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic" target="_blank" rel="
- Sep 2, 202642 min
Grand Theft Cliff; Are festivals being cancelled because of the climate crisis?; Gina's Pet Bangers!; SoundCloud sells WAVs and much more
Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe plan an ultraviolent trip through the criminal underworld* as they take a look at this week's music industry news, including:→ We’re all going on a summer holiday… (a summer holiday that involves cocaine, strip clubs and lots of shooting people in the face.) Yes, the Cliff Richard / Grand Theft Auto crossover you've all been waiting for is here at last! *Yes, this is the extent of their violent plans, sorry.→ The popular US Bonnaroo festival is taking a year off in 2027 because its venue has been battered by storms two years in a row. Is this a big warning klaxon for other festivals regarding the climate emergency?→ We need to talk about Gina’s Pet Bangers. But what are they, and WHY do we need to talk about them?→ $76m. That’s how much a company called Stability AI raised in funding last week, with investors including all three major labels AND their former nemesis Sean Parker.→ Did streaming kill the downloads star? Now SoundCloud wants to bring it back from the dead by helping artists to sell MP3s and WAVs from their profiles. Is this a big deal?→ OK Go have released a new mobile game, except it’s an old mobile game that they already released in 2013. What’s going on here, and are there any treadmills or tech brands involved?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 and Stu wax lyrical about Dolly Parton, including some good Dolly Pub Facts from Stuart; Grand Theft Auto and music: what are the most impactful moments of hearing just the right song at just the right time in video games / movies etc – and will there be a GTA music streaming platform?Stu and Joe play the OK Go game (you'll be able to tell how successful they were right here)===================================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.comSee you next week!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/Support The Price of Music on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusicFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - joe@musically.com
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About The Price of Music
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 - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship email - joe@musically.comThe Price of Music is a Music Ally production:https://musically.com/joe@musically.com
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