The Price of Music

• Coldplay's never-ending world tour keeps selling tickets; K-Pop Demon Hunters!; What on earth is "speculative ticketing"?; Bandcamp's $3.5m Friday; and has Steve actually “gone deaf for a living?”

  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 venuesHas 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 artistsThe 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 crowdWhich 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: [email protected] 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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• Spotify's prices go up again; Which album's songs are in the wrong order?; Napster are being sued (is it 1999 again?); How easy is it to get a #1 album?; Steve's tip for getting into a sold-out gig

  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: [email protected] 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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• Beyoncé sells $400m+ of tickets; How much money is Oasis making from merch?; Spotify wants a billion subscribers; Hayley Williams surprise-releases songs; and Cardi B’s "full-on cheese experience"...

  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: [email protected] 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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• Steve and Stu answer your questions! Does the money from a stream get split evenly? Do bands get paid if a festival is cancelled? How do music-making AIs work? What is Spotify's Discovery Mode?

  Steve and Stuart rummage through the TPOM inbox and pull out some brand new listeners' questions to answer (send yours into us here: [email protected]) – 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: [email protected]======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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• Will Drake face Kendrick in the witness box?; Los Campesinos! turn down a $60,000 ad deal – but why?; Steve takes a music superfan test; ... and what connects Taylor Swift & Five Finger Death Punch?

  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 SuperfanBreaking 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 PromsIs 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: [email protected] 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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