The Price of Music

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe pivot the podcast to the popular TRUE CRIME format in order to woo a giant mainstream audience. OK, not quite – but sort-of.
We’ve spoken a lot recently about AI-generated music accounting for 50% of music uploaded to streaming platforms – and how the reason for it, mostly, is for it to be used for fraud. We had a few emails asking: so, how does AI music help fraudsters, and how does streaming fraud work anyway?
So we pulled on our trenchcoats and got investigating – and in this episode we’re going to have a good old root around music streaming fraud: and we think you’ll actually be surprised at how it works, who is doing it – and how much money can be made.
The crime: Streaming fraud isn't indie bands cheating to boost their numbers; it’s organised crime laundering money, and stealing from real artists.

The scale: anti-fraud firms estimate that a huge 7–10% of streams are fake, but streamign platforms claim that it’s far lower (but still costing artists a lot of money).

How AI powers fraud: scammers use AI to flood platforms with songs, hiding billions of fake streams across thousands of low-profile tracks.

It might be you: Fraudsters hijack real users' streaming accounts to stream the fake songs overnight and exploit bot farms to manipulate payout thresholds.

Betting manipulation: people using prediction platforms like Kalshi are accused of artificially pumping track streams to win trades – risking account bans for innocent artists.

DSP crackdown: Platforms are fining distributors, purging dead AI catalogue, and wiping fake streams to protect payouts for real creators.

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 and Joe chat about the recently announced 2026 Mercury prize nominees – which include young upstart songwriter Paul McCartney. So who do they think should win it, and who do they think will win it? Here's the list in full, in case you missed it:
Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp

Dove Ellis: Blizzard

Florence + the Machine: Everybody Scream

Jade: That’s Showbiz Baby

Knats: A Great Day in Newcastle (Joe's tip- listen here!)

Kojey Radical: Don’t Look Down

Nia Archives: Emotional Junglist

Olivia Dean: The Art of Loving

Paul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon Lane

Raye: This Music May Contain Hope

Suede: Antidepressants

War Child Records: Help(2)

And then Stu poses an idle question that might expand into a running feature: what's your favourite music video of all time – and why?
Joe's answer was "every Michel Gondry video" – including the White Stripes' famous Lego-powered "Fell In Love With A Girl" https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl3Hr9RYX6gPSyj7-_cRTcMi06DqZW9xh
===================================
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!
Stuart and Joe
======
TPOM online: ⁠http://tpom.uk/⁠
Support The Price of Music on Patreon:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠⁠
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. This week, Stu and Joe comb their Emo fringes, use a tie as a belt, and pout about this week's music industry news:
→ A surprising percentage of Americans are actually MORE interested in music if it was made using AI – according to a new survey.
→ In last week’s episode, we talked about a data breach at Suno that seemed to have given the game away on what music it trained its models on. But there’s been a development…
→ Spotify has a brand new daily music videos chart. Is it now officially The New MTV? And does this mean full-length music videos haven’t been killed off by TikTok after all? 
→ The UK has a new prime minister, he’s a New Order stan, and one of his first moves was focused on helping grassroots music venues and clubs…
→ What’s the latest big music trend in Mexico? It's erm, emo…
→ Live Nation wants YOU to become a festival promoter. But happily for your stress levels and financial standing, this is just for pretend on Roblox.
→ AND FINALLY… KPop Shark Heroes!
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:
Stuart has a new favourite music wearable: a Game Boy-inspired digital music player on Kickstarter.

It's time for a Little Grandad Update!

Discogs and crazy vinyl prices: which 00's band has the highest-priced record sold on Discogs so far this year?

https://www.discogs.com/digs/collecting/the-most-valuable-records-sold-on-discogs-in-2026-so-far/

===================================
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!
Stuart and Joe
======
TPOM online: ⁠http://tpom.uk/⁠
Support The Price of Music on Patreon:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠⁠
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. This week, Stu and Joe are back from two weeks' holiday in Rhyl – and immediately hop into a golf cart along with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to go through this week's music biz news:
→ More than 50%(!) of all new music being uploaded to streaming services is now AI-generated. How might the music industry respond to this? With... a system of labels (not the record kind…)
→ Stu's Big Number is 1.124 billion... but which mega-song does it relate to? (If you’re a parent, you’ll know it only too well…)
→ Someone's leaked the code of Suno, the biggest AI-music service, and they claim they know what it trained its models on...
→ The latest startup hoping to help artists make some money directly from their biggest fans is Lume, and it’s got Lorde’s backing
→ Lorde has also been giving a right Royals bashing to Meta and Spotify... but why?
→ Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael’ got a mixed response from critics (OK, they thought it was rubbish). But at the box-office it’s a huge hit: to the tune of ONE BILLION dollars…
→ The Rolling Stones (collective age of their three founder members: 243) are now on Roblox, the platform famously used by children. But is this a surprisingly good fit?
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:
→ Following the last episode featuring plastic bottles being turned into Ed Sheeran Records – could Ed Sheeran records be turned back into plastic bottles?
→ A recap on the World Cup half-time extravaganza: Madonna! Ronaldo/Ronaldinho! Muppets! Bieber! Vuvuzelas! BTS!
→ Stuart rhapsodises about seeing the Beta Band live, including some epic four-man bongo wigouts
→ Good overlooked deep-cut World Cup songs, including  Chin Up by The Rhythm Method (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KqmUtU1QEM)
===================================
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!
Stuart and Joe
======
TPOM online: ⁠http://tpom.uk/⁠
Support The Price of Music on Patreon:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠⁠
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. This week, Stu and Joe are still on their summer holidays in Rhyl, but before they packed their bags, they had a chat with the team behind EcoRecord. It's a PVC-free, injection-moulded alternative to the traditional vinyl record, which cuts factory energy use by up to 85%, and swaps PVC for recyclable PET plastic. Recently, artists like Coldplay and Lorde have released versions of their albums using the process.
We chatted to Sven Deutschmann, CEO of record manufacturer Sonopress, about what he's learned over the last two years of production, whether the records sound as good as traditional vinyl, how Coldplay have switched all of their back catalogue from PVC to PET, and if most records will be made this way in the future. (Plus, Joe gets very excited by some gold and silver coloured records.)
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:
Ecological vinyl roundup: what other types of ecologically-friendly records are there anyway; and how big a difference can these records make?

A Little Grandad Update - the band are playing Sŵn, and it got Joe and Stu talking about...

Band names!: which are are the good bands with bad band names, and bad bands with good band names? Are there any good bands with good names? Band names discussed include: Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Teardrop Explodes and Nickelback!

===================================
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!
Stuart and Joe
======
TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/
Support The Price of Music on Patreon:
⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠
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. This week, Stu and Joe get ready for their summer holidays and punt a beachball at this week's music biz news:
How much has controversial secondary-ticketing firm StubHub has just been fined in the UK for illegal ‘drip pricing’? (Also, what is that?)
The news seems bit AI-heavy this week, but it's actually all about artists:
→ 31 groups representing artists and managers have written an open letter about AI music… but it’s not AI companies who it’s addressed to…
→ AI-music company Suno is giving some money to musicians at last! But there are some strings attached…
→ Meanwhile, streaming service Tidal isn’t giving ANY money to wholly AI-generated music, according to its new policies on this area.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS?
→ James Blake has been making friends in the world of music journalism. Hasn’t he? Oh.
→ And talking of good causes, more than 200 artists have signed an open letter calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. So who’s signing, and what exactly do they want? (and there is some new advice on how we as music fans can reduce the impact our streaming has on the planet.)
AND FINALLY…
→ Recommendations of classic, influential hip-hop bangers from a maker of fizzy, lemonade-adjacent drinks.
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:
Can you make money by investing on things mentioned in a Kraftwerk song?

A Little Grandad Update - a segment that now has its own jingle!

In a section recorded before England get knocked out on penalties / gloriously proceed on penalties against DR Congo, Stu and joe take a look at the successful use of the much-mocked 'hydration break' as a massive singalong

They also venture further into the Official FIFA World Cup Album™ and dare to ask the question: who is iShowSpeed anyway, and why does he have a song?

Assorted football songs discussed:

IShowSpeed - World Cup (Champions) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrY1THC_NQE&list=OLAK5uy_nsOacWtSBM2kV8c_yjosYwk3hQq1A7-JY&index=19

Alejandro Fernández - Mi Mexico Lindo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk-8wMflT34

Belle and Sebastian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8riNobpEyg 

Peter Beardsley doing the John Barnes rap from "World In Motion" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPh63Y6sSKA
===================================
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!
Stuart and Joe
======
TPOM online: http://tpom.uk/
Support The Price of Music on Patreon:
⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠
Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge
Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod
For sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠joe@musically.com