The Price of Music Steve & Stu answer listener's questions: Why do ticket prices vary so much at the same venue? Why are some songwriter credits missing on streaming platforms (and do they still get paid)?
Oct 29, 2025
Steve and Stu dive into intriguing listener questions about the music industry. They explore why ticket prices can differ significantly at the same venue, revealing factors like demand and production costs. A real-world comparison between Maximo Park and Suede highlights this disparity. The duo also tackles the issue of missing songwriter credits on streaming platforms, discussing how gaps in metadata affect payments. Plus, they hint at an exciting upcoming bonus interview with a member of the House of Lords focused on grassroots music sustainability.
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Metadata Causes Royalty Mismatches
- Metadata failures are a long-standing industry problem that prevent correct royalty matching.
- Streaming services often hold unmatched royalties until works can be identified and paid.
Historical Unmatched Royalties Exist
- Unmatched streams created a large historical pool of royalties that couldn't be paid to publishers.
- The US mechanical licensing collective (MLC) tracked hundreds of millions in historical unmatched royalties from services like Spotify and Apple.
Black Box Distribution Bias
- Collecting societies sometimes distribute 'black box' royalties by market-share when matches can't be made.
- That can advantage large publishers and disadvantage independents who may lack clean data.