The Price of Music

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 and Stu get Phonky with the biggest overlooked genre in the world: so what is Phonk anyway? Also on TPOM this week:
How much music streaming is “passive” – where the platform chooses what you listen to?

What impact does that have on our listening habits – and just who is controlling what we listen to?

A listener question: what is “radio plugging” and how does it work – and how does it affect (or not) what Steve plays on the radio? (Email us your own question here!)

Only 20% of tracks in the 2025 UK top 100 were performed by UK artists: so is music by UK artists being listened to less in its home country? And if so, why?  

Would you want your ashes stored in an urn that doubles as… a bluetooth speaker?

Why are Brazil and Mexico listening to so much UK music? (And how much of it is just Oasis?)

Legendary UK grassroots venue the Sheffield Leadmill is finding a new home – and how are they going to raise the money to do it?

Plus: cultural catnip for listeners of a certain age – not one but two mentions of Jim Bob from Carter USM rugby-tackling people on stage.

And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar to discuss this week's bonus material:
Something light to consider: what are the songs that will be played at Steve and Stu’s funerals?

Some reflections on the BRIT awards, including wondering who thought interviewing Shaun and Bez from Happy Mondays live on TV was a good idea…

More on radio plugging (something Steve has a lot of thoughts on...)

AI music generation platform Suno now has 2m paying users… and does this mean that people are using it to flood the world with AI music?

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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
======
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 - ⁠⁠[email protected]

Your 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 and Stu dig into the charts – and take a look at a load of data that’s been released about singles, albums and streams:
Do you know Japanese rock band Mrs Green Apple? They were the 13th biggest artist in the world last year. (Bigger than Eminem, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber)

The Fleetwood Mac chart syndrome: why are there so many old bands in the albums chart?

And why are there so few bands in the Top 30 singles?

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean are number one – but why has it taken 35 weeks after its release to reach the top spot?

And in non-chart news: it’s been dragging on for a while… but now EU regulators have approved Universal’s deal to buy independent music firm Downtown Music. So what happens next? And why are so many people still so angry?

Another children’s music superstar for Stu and Steve to discuss: behold, it’s The Wiggles!

How to get tickets into the hands of fans, not touts,

Streaming full songs inside of TikTok (kind of...).

And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar to discuss this week's bonus material:
Gold discs: how much are they worth - and why does Steve have more of them than he knows what to do with? (and who did he give his Stone Roses gold disc to?)

Why is Zara Larsson battling a Wikipedia editor about her Wikipedia photo?

(And what vital – and incorrect – info did Steve wrestle with Wikipedia over?)

The live music landscape is changing fast: artists are now playing sold-out multi-night residencies at big venues – so is there growing appetite for arena gigs? 

You can use AI powered apps to make your own remixes – but do you even want to?

===================================
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
======
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 - ⁠⁠[email protected]

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works: don't forget - you can become a ⁠⁠Superfan of the podcast for free – and access an extra 20 mins of show each week!⁠
This week, it's time for another interview with one of the people who make it all happen. Steve speaks to Niamh Byrne, who managed Blur, Elastica, and Turin Brakes, before founding Eleven management, which works with artists like Damon Albarn and Gorillaz – and she’s also the chair of the Music Managers Forum, the global organisation that represents music managers.
So... she is a great person to ask: what's it like being a manager today – and how is the role changing?
(As ever, our Patreon Superfans⁠⁠ get a bit extra - you’ll hear the full unedited interview, including Niamh’s thoughts on AI and the future of management.)
Niamh explains to Steve how:
Great management is built on trust and vision — artists need operational backing while they create, and managers must hold the long-term destination and strategy.

The manager role has expanded significantly — managers now carry much of the execution workload that labels historically handled.

How labels are still important — even though managers can now replicate many label functions, access to capital keeps traditional deals relevant.

Manager-led campaigns are increasingly viable — teams can now run marketing, digital, data and fan strategy directly (as with upcoming Gorillaz releases).

Managers are undervalued — despite delivering end-to-end commercial and operational value, compensation models often still reflect a “deal-maker only” role

Adaptability is now a survival skill — with more release paths and tools available, managers must continuously evolve and build flexible, independent-capable business models.

You can read Music Ally’s full report on the chat here too: https://musically.com/2026/01/26/today-managers-could-probably-do-everything-but-funding-is-really-difficult

===================================
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
======
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 - ⁠⁠[email protected]

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works: don't forget - you can become a ⁠Superfan of the podcast for free – and access an extra 20 mins of show each week!⁠
This week, Steve and Stu get stuck into:
Stu's big number is $60 billion... and it's how much money YouTube made in 2025. But how much of this goes to music makers?

Taylor Swift’s new music video was deliberately delayed before it hit YouTube this week, but why?

Who cares what the US president thought about Bad Bunny - after his Super Bowl half-time show streams of his music spiked - but by how much?

Record Store Day is happening on 18th April in the UK: Steve and Stu discuss Elton John and RSD queuing strategies...

Artists are selling their new albums on online stores before they go on streaming services - but why, and is it a good idea?

A new company is selling off early demo tapes, studio kit and even instruments to superfans... so how much does this stuff cost?

Steve and Stu discuss a message from Superfan Kate Collins about teenagers and their interest (or otherwise) in going to gigs.

How much will you have to pay to play the video game Fortnite dressed as Chappell Roan in a Joan of Arc outfit?

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 two juicy issues this week:
Noel Gallagher has won the Brit award for best songwriter of the year – despite "not having written any songs for two years". Steve and Stu have plenty of thoughts…

Superfan James Bennet asks where to find new artists in a fragmented world of new music discovery – Steve and Stu share their tips!

(And Steve explains how he discovers good new artists despite being overwhelmed with suggestions)

===================================
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
======
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 - ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works – and this week Steve and Stu grapple with Harry Styles, Bonnie Tyler and Bruno Mars...
Don't forget - you can become a Superfan of the podcast for free – and access an extra 20 mins of show each week!

Stu's big number is $11bn - and that’s ⁠how much Spotify paid out to the music industry in 2025⁠. But will that be enough to get its critics off its back?

Apple Music ⁠identified up to 2 billion fraudulent streams on its service in 2025 alone⁠. But did it pay any money out for them?

Music is now ⁠a third of all the time people spend watching YouTube⁠. But is that good news?

UK venues complained bitterly about proposed changes to business rates tax which would increase ticket prices and force small venues to close: now the government has announced some changes…

Remember when we talked about Bonnie Tyler’s Spotify royalties in a show last year? ⁠Both Bonnie and Spotify have chipped in with a follow-up to that story⁠…

Harry Styles’ "world tour" is ⁠only playing in seven cities⁠. Is this a new model for superstar touring?

Bruno Mars’ latest concert ⁠attracted 12.8 million people⁠! But what's the twist?

⁠No one wanted a global chart for AI-generated music⁠ - but here it is anyway!

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 and Stu reflect on last week's excellent interview with Ricky from Southampton Joiners - and the pressures on venues; and the changes in touring routes.

... and also the dubious reality for young gig-goers: who's putting gigs on for them – and do they even want gigs?

Football’s January transfer window has just closed in most of the big countries, which made us think: what if there was an equivalent for bands...

If you’ve been wondering what Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel and the Pope think about AI music… it’s your lucky week!

===================================
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
======
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 - ⁠⁠[email protected]