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  • 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!

    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!
    2026/09/23
    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: ⁠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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    1 時間 5 分
  • 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!

    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!
    2026/09/16
    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:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠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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    41 分
  • Artists sue Suno! Soft rock! Virtual snarky record-shop clerks! A 16-year old 'song of the summer'! And... chicken ice cream?

    Artists sue Suno! Soft rock! Virtual snarky record-shop clerks! A 16-year old 'song of the summer'! And... chicken ice cream?
    2026/09/09
    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:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠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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    41 分
  • Grand Theft Cliff; Are festivals being cancelled because of the climate crisis?; Gina's Pet Bangers!; SoundCloud sells WAVs and much more

    Grand Theft Cliff; Are festivals being cancelled because of the climate crisis?; Gina's Pet Bangers!; SoundCloud sells WAVs and much more
    2026/09/02
    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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    42 分
  • Should Netflix offer music streaming too? Are YouTube view counts meaningless now? Is music blogging back (inside Spotify?) Which song would you remix? Christian Metal vs KPop Demon Hunters!

    Should Netflix offer music streaming too? Are YouTube view counts meaningless now? Is music blogging back (inside Spotify?) Which song would you remix? Christian Metal vs KPop Demon Hunters!
    2026/08/26
    Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe show their age as they reference 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s pop culture whilst discussing this week's music industry news, including:→ Should Netflix add streaming music to its streaming video? Warner Music Group’s boss thinks so.→ Universal Music Group has signed a high-profile licensing deal with remixing app Hook. So what is Hook, and are fan-made remixes really the next big thing in music then?→ YouTube counts a ‘view’ as soon as a video begins to play, even if you’re just swiping past it in your feed. Does this mean YouTube view counts are now meaningless?→ 35% of the people buying tickets for Ariana Grande’s 10-show run at London’s The O2 were from overseas. But what about the environmental cost? We break it down.→ You can now add notes to your Spotify playlists for the world to read (or not). But is this just a data-harvesting move to make the company’s AI even more powerful?→ TikTok made a vast amount of money last year across Europe, Latin America, Africa and the UK. We break down what it means for musicians…→ Christian metal band sues Netflix over KPop Demon HuntersAnd 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’S PUB FACT involves the 50 top Canadian tracks ranked by streams played OUTSIDE of their homeland. But 40 of them are from just one artist…→ What songs are Stu 'n' Joe itching to remix?→ Is the Spotify Playlist Notes feature going to bring back the glory days of music blogging?→ Stuart finally has another live event lined up for 2026! And it involves masks, capes, and (maybe) grandmas...===================================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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    42 分
  • Artists pressure Andy Burnham over oil; Grammys removes foot from mouth; More popstar football sponsors; and why aren't Berlin clubbers drinking as much?

    Artists pressure Andy Burnham over oil; Grammys removes foot from mouth; More popstar football sponsors; and why aren't Berlin clubbers drinking as much?
    2026/08/19
    Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe revel in an extremely varied week of music biz news (including some more great pop football shirts AND a brand new jingle):→ 200 musicians have written a letter to the UK's new prime minister Andy Burnham. No, it's not to tell him New Order are rubbish. It's a protest against a decision he might be taking soon...→ $121bn. That’s how much recorded-music will be worth globally in 2033 according to the latest industry forecasts – but will it be that big, and why?→ Listeners' Letters – Sarah shares some HOT Port Vale sponsor news; and Stefan has a couple of great questions about streaming fraud and whether innocent artists suffer. Stu investigates (Spoiler: yes, artists suffer).→ It looks like the Grammy Awards are going to quickly reverse-ferret on their ‘Asian Pop’ category plans, after a protest from BTS.→ Spotify is giving AI-generated artists their own special badge on its service. Is this good news for human musicians?→ Fairground is the latest music startup focusing on independent artists and labels. And it’s all about the ‘scenes’... → Why have people stopped drinking quite as much in Berlin clubs? What are they doing instead? Berlin resident Joe has some family-unfriendly suggestions...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 pop football kits: upon discovering that Massive Attack are sponsoring Bohemian Football Club, Joe and Stu have a look at their many other pop sponsorshipsThere’s a huge gap between demand and supply of music podcasts. But do we really need more music chat, and if so, what kind of shows? Joe has invented some potential new music podcast genres, and pitches them to StuWe're entering the end phase of the UK festival season and one thing that has caught our eye this year is the the number of festivals that have lineups consisting only of tribute bands, offering festival vibes, nostalgia, and live music at a fraction of the cost of major mainstream festivals. Our intrepid duo hypothesise why tribute bands are so popular, propose a sausage/cider festival index, and Stu tries to guess the tribute band names that sound almost – but not quite – like the real band.===================================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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    45 分
  • Is the music streaming boom over? Is an AI-song about to become a real hit? Which lower league Welsh football club would YOUR favourite artist sponsor? And much more...

    Is the music streaming boom over? Is an AI-song about to become a real hit? Which lower league Welsh football club would YOUR favourite artist sponsor? And much more...
    2026/08/12
    Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe wade into share prices, EU Law, and German legal judgements... NO WAIT, COME BACK! These are all actually really interesting insights into modern pop music and how it connects with the humans who make it and enjoy it (honest.)Plus, TPOM Superfans get to hear Joe and Stu go deep – some may say too deep – into minor league Welsh football clubs seeking musical sponsorship opportunities. In this week's show:Universal Music Group is worth now than it was at the start of this year, based on its share price, and Spotify wobbled too… so why are people wondering whether music may not be making as much money as it could - and what is Spotify up to with independent labels?Welsh Ardal League South East football club Cwmbran Celtic have some new shirts for sale. Why are we telling you about this? Well, they feature some bands you might know…We need to talk about ‘Rubberz’. No, not erasers and – for our American listeners – not condoms either… it's an (allegedly!!!) AI-generated song that is becoming a cross-over hit.There’s a lot going on with AI-music company Suno at the moment: a big legal ruling in Germany; its latest promises about how much it supports human artistry; and a very unexpected move into… vinyl!Two things that music publications BrooklynVegan, AltPress, Goldmine and Revolver have in common: first, they’re all owned by Live Nation, which many people didn’t realise. And second, “nearly all” their staff have reportedly been laid off. Is this the final nail in the coffin for music journalism?LISTENER LETTERS: after last week's Lock-In look at expensive Discogs records sales, James The Joiner gets in touch about his weirdly and unfortunately mis-pressed Blur LP – so will it be worth LOADS of money or NOT MUCH AT ALL? We investigate.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: Mold Alexandra, Cefn Druids and Mumbles Rangers: what other rock/Welsh football sponsorships would you like to see? Who needs MTV when you can have Green Day TV? Although the lineup of artists featured is, well, quite a lot smaller than traditional music-TV channels…We’ve been talking about prediction-market Kalshi in recent episodes, and it turns out they’re also betting on Spotify’s financial results… [we also check if they were right.]===================================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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    46 分
  • Music streaming fraud – how does it work, who's making millions, and why does it need so much AI music?

    Music streaming fraud – how does it work, who's making millions, and why does it need so much AI music?
    2026/08/05
    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 HarpDove Ellis: BlizzardFlorence + the Machine: Everybody ScreamJade: That’s Showbiz BabyKnats: A Great Day in Newcastle (Joe's tip- listen here!)Kojey Radical: Don’t Look DownNia Archives: Emotional JunglistOlivia Dean: The Art of LovingPaul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon LaneRaye: This Music May Contain HopeSuede: AntidepressantsWar 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.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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    40 分