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 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]

Your 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 dig into the charts – and take a look at a load of data that’s been released about singles, albums and streams:
Do you know Japanese rock band Mrs Green Apple? They were the 13th biggest artist in the world last year. (Bigger than Eminem, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber)

The Fleetwood Mac chart syndrome: why are there so many old bands in the albums chart?

And why are there so few bands in the Top 30 singles?

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean are number one – but why has it taken 35 weeks after its release to reach the top spot?

And in non-chart news: it’s been dragging on for a while… but now EU regulators have approved Universal’s deal to buy independent music firm Downtown Music. So what happens next? And why are so many people still so angry?

Another children’s music superstar for Stu and Steve to discuss: behold, it’s The Wiggles!

How to get tickets into the hands of fans, not touts,

Streaming full songs inside of TikTok (kind of...).

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:
Gold discs: how much are they worth - and why does Steve have more of them than he knows what to do with? (and who did he give his Stone Roses gold disc to?)

Why is Zara Larsson battling a Wikipedia editor about her Wikipedia photo?

(And what vital – and incorrect – info did Steve wrestle with Wikipedia over?)

The live music landscape is changing fast: artists are now playing sold-out multi-night residencies at big venues – so is there growing appetite for arena gigs? 

You can use AI powered apps to make your own remixes – but do you even want to?

===================================
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 weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works: don't forget - you can become a ⁠⁠Superfan of the podcast for free – and access an extra 20 mins of show each week!⁠
This week, it's time for another interview with one of the people who make it all happen. Steve speaks to Niamh Byrne, who managed Blur, Elastica, and Turin Brakes, before founding Eleven management, which works with artists like Damon Albarn and Gorillaz – and she’s also the chair of the Music Managers Forum, the global organisation that represents music managers.
So... she is a great person to ask: what's it like being a manager today – and how is the role changing?
(As ever, our Patreon Superfans⁠⁠ get a bit extra - you’ll hear the full unedited interview, including Niamh’s thoughts on AI and the future of management.)
Niamh explains to Steve how:
Great management is built on trust and vision — artists need operational backing while they create, and managers must hold the long-term destination and strategy.

The manager role has expanded significantly — managers now carry much of the execution workload that labels historically handled.

How labels are still important — even though managers can now replicate many label functions, access to capital keeps traditional deals relevant.

Manager-led campaigns are increasingly viable — teams can now run marketing, digital, data and fan strategy directly (as with upcoming Gorillaz releases).

Managers are undervalued — despite delivering end-to-end commercial and operational value, compensation models often still reflect a “deal-maker only” role

Adaptability is now a survival skill — with more release paths and tools available, managers must continuously evolve and build flexible, independent-capable business models.

You can read Music Ally’s full report on the chat here too: https://musically.com/2026/01/26/today-managers-could-probably-do-everything-but-funding-is-really-difficult

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