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 musicThe head honcho of Universal Music has thoughts on how AI slop shouldn’t be paid in the same way as human artistsThe state of the UK industry – people are streaming more and spending more on music than everClassic 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: ⁠⁠[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/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacqFollow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠[email protected]