Elon Musk versus the music industry; AI slop vs human artists - who gets paid?; How can YOU make and sell vinyl records?; and all hail the London Metal Ladies

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works – and this week, it’s a Billionaire Special!

• Stu’s big figure has three commas: Beyonce is now worth a billion dollars – the fifth musician to do so, according to Forbes. (Experience being ultra-wealthy by listening to TPOM's extra content for FREE here: https://www.patreon.com/12218634/join)

• Elon Musk versus the music industry: the world’s richest man doesn’t like paying for music

• The head honcho of Universal Music has thoughts on how AI slop shouldn’t be paid in the same way as human artists

• The state of the UK industry – people are streaming more and spending more on music than ever

• Classic label Sun records have been selling records at 1952 prices – so what could you have bought?

• There’s a listener question from Martin Bull, who asks about making a short run of vinyl records: Steve explains how to do it, how pricing can vary a lot – and how to make money doing it.

• (Also check out this earlier episode on physical album sales https://open.spotify.com/episode/40JrxtmsGfZwzPki0HFGzC?si=GQgiojyrTU2Io7XADcHTUA)

•  Spotify has a new feature that lets you see what friends are playing - but why?

• And finally, a rare feel-good internet story: there’s now a “London Metal Ladies” WhatsApp group.

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:

• Rapper La Russel sells $57,000 of records to Superfans in one day, selling albums on a pay-what-you-want basis.

• Steve has a neat idea: what if Bandcamp was a touring festival?

• The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess had Merch Market last week - and how has he become such an interesting and multi-faceted influence in UK music?

• And speaking of artist merchandise: Elton John has released his own zero-alcohol, vegan-friendly sparkling wine (and how does a product like this come about in the first place?)

• Plus, Stu reveals that he’s a Norwich City fan.

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!

Steve and Stuart

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