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 the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section!⁠⁠
This week...
→ Stu's Big Figure is... £50,000 – and it's been donated by that good egg Sam Fender... but to whom?
→ Music’s latest bitter lawsuit is Twigs versus Twigs. (That’s FKA Twigs versus indie band The Twigs, BTW.) So who really owns the name - and can people really lay claim to band names?
→ Superstar producer Timbaland has collaborated with everyone from Jay-Z to Madonna, but his latest musical partner is not so... real.
→ Grab your stetsons: we have a listener question from Pete Feldon, who wants to know if country music is really the fastest growing genre in the UK?
→ A new website called The Hidden Jams  to help people discover the obscurities in bands’ catalogues (... so what would you recommend?)
→ AI-generated songs have appeared on some people's Spotify profiles. Now the streaming service is doing something about it…
→ Last week, we reported that BTS had 300 million people watching their concert on Netflix... well, let’s just say that was a little exaggerated…
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material:
→ Talking of Patreon superfans, guess who’s joined us on Patreon this month? It’s only Bob Dylan…
→ Steve's been on the road again to the 6Music Festival and elsewhere... and why was he DJing to a mostly-empty room?
→ A new website called Slop Tracker claims to show you how much money AI tracks are “draining away” from human artists. So how much is slop worth?
→ Steve and Stu dig into some of the rankings on The Hidden Jams looking for deep cuts... and some of them are not exactly an overlooked (obscure b-side ‘Mr Brightside’ is number two on The Killers’ table, for instance...)
===================================
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 easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section!⁠
This week... Steve's back from Austin, Texas and has plenty of stories to tell about SXSW. Plus Radiohead, BTS, and, erm, Salt 'n' Pepa – all in this week's TPOM:
→ Radiohead's Ed O’Brien has revealed the band will do ‘20 shows each year: no more, no less’.
→ Steve's fresh (kind of...) back from SXSW in Austin, Texas, and here's what he saw... (plus: his travel nightmare, in full!)
→ Annoyed that Spotify doesn’t really understand you? It’s testing a feature where you can give its algorithm a shove in the right direction…
→ Last week a huge Global Music Report revealed how much money the industry made from recorded music last year. (Spoiler: it was a lot)
→ Good news for artists: the UK government has u-turned on its plan for how AIs can be trained on music.
→ 300 million people (reportedly) watched K-Pop’s biggest stars BTS in their livestreamed comeback
→ Black Music has contributed £24.5bn out of the £30bn made by the UK music industry over the last 30 years.
→ Big Nostalgia Tour Bingo: Salt-n-Pepa, TLC AND En Vogue are hitting the road together…
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material:
→ We hear more about SXSW from Steve, including his band tips...
→ Are Kiss and Tina Turner about to receive the ABBA Voyage treatment?
→ And is the virtual avatar show experience the only way we'll see The Smiths back onstage (and how would they programme Morrissey's grumpy ad-libs?)
→ What did Steve 'n' Stu think of last week's (great!) Picture Parlour interview?
→ Could the 6Music Dads turn into a national community of local gig assistants?
→ Why is Belgium and the Nordics the hot new place for artists to break?
===================================
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 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 Katherine and Ella from ace UK indie band Picture Parlour talk about the stark economic realities of being a touring artist in the modern music industry. They're joined by David Martin from the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), who explains why his organisation is handing out top-up financial support to help artists like Picture Parlour get out on the road.
(As ever, our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠ get the full interview with extra bonus conversation!)
In this episode:
Katherine and Ella explain the huge financial pressures of touring – while inflation has soared, artist fees have remained largely unchanged, and yet ticket prices are kept low to maintain demand.

How Picture Parlour lost approximately £10,000 on a recent support tour, even when trimming their budget by asking fans to help at the venues.

With this in mind, David explains why The FAC is distributing £125,000 to artists to help get them on the road – and how he hopes to put the money to work effectively and fairly.
The band also talk about the reality of a major deal, where the initial financial boost depletes rapidly when paying for tour transport, crew salaries, and accommodation.

They explain how a record deal doesn't provides even a living wage – and that artists often still struggle to pay basic rent while being signed.

There's lots of positive news too! They all talk passionately about why independent venues remain so important (for example: they met in The Castle in Manchester!) and how they're essential melting pots where people can meet and community can thrive,.

Plus the band are excited to go on the road again in support of their newest album.

More on the fabulous Picture Parlour: pictureparlour.co.uk - and get yourself tickets to their tour here https://linktr.ee/pictureparlour.
More on the Featured Artist Coalition’s UK Artist Touring fund, which aims to plug shortfalls and de-risk touring for all types of artists: https://thefac.org/ukatfund
You can apply here – but be quick – the deadline for applications is 23:59pm on Friday 20th March 2026: https://forms.gle/SLvWLASSR9o3nodv8
===================================
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]
===================================
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 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's about to head off to SXSW in Austin, Texas, so we interrupted him as he was packing his suitcases, and grapple with non-league football, buying pieces of your favourite artist, why Tr*mp deliberately annoys artists by using their music, and much more, all in this week's TPOM:
→ How many millions of Instagram views did the Brit Awards got this year – and why is that now An Important Thing?
→ Radiohead and Kesha are the latest artists furious that their music has been used in social-media posts by the US government. But can they do anything about it?
→ Apple Music subscribers will soon know if and how AI has been used in the music they listen to. And is there a huge loophole? (Yes)
→ Good news for UK artists who are struggling with the economics of touring: a new Touring Fund.
→ Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers has a new job as... chairman and part-owner of the world’s oldest football club…
→ A listener question: how does this Dune app, which lets fans buy stakes in the work of artists, work – and will it help artists?
→ Another music / football crossover - but this time it's Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka?
And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar – and Steve's getting the first round in – as they discuss this week's bonus material:
→ Steve went to see the new Britpop play by John Niven, which is about the Oasis vs Blur Battle of Britpop – so was it any good?
→ The UK’s Eurovision entry this year is partially sung in German, mentions ‘roly poly with custard’, and has been described as “Blur covering Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus”. Is it a winner in waiting?
→ Steve is about to fly out to SXSW... so what Steve’s looking forward to and what are his thoughts as SXSW hits its 40th anniversary?
→ The first ‘AI Music Creators Accelerator’ happened last week. What on earth is that?
VARIOUS LINKS:
You can check out the Weekender mix CD – including some really interesting liner note photos – that Steve put together with John Niven here (can anyone find the audio of it anywhere online? We can't!): https://www.discogs.com/release/89176-Various-Weekenders
And Kate, who asked this week's listener question, also shared some bands with under 1000 plays on Spotify, following our discussion a few weeks ago...
True Heads - Public Pressure

Jester - Pamphlets

Glue Smells - TV Moms

Sell With Confidence – Aiming

===================================
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 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?

===================================
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]