Is the music streaming boom over? Is an AI-song about to become a real hit? Which lower league Welsh football club would YOUR favourite artist sponsor? And much more...

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. This week, Stu and Joe wade into share prices, EU Law, and German legal judgements... NO WAIT, COME BACK! These are all actually really interesting insights into modern pop music and how it connects with the humans who make it and enjoy it (honest.)Plus, TPOM Superfans get to hear Joe and Stu go deep – some may say too deep – into minor league Welsh football clubs seeking musical sponsorship opportunities. In this week's show:Universal Music Group is worth now than it was at the start of this year, based on its share price, and Spotify wobbled too… so why are people wondering whether music may not be making as much money as it could - and what is Spotify up to with independent labels?Welsh Ardal League South East football club Cwmbran Celtic have some new shirts for sale. Why are we telling you about this? Well, they feature some bands you might know…We need to talk about ‘Rubberz’. No, not erasers and – for our American listeners – not condoms either… it's an (allegedly!!!) AI-generated song that is becoming a cross-over hit.There’s a lot going on with AI-music company Suno at the moment: a big legal ruling in Germany; its latest promises about how much it supports human artistry; and a very unexpected move into… vinyl!Two things that music publications BrooklynVegan, AltPress, Goldmine and Revolver have in common: first, they’re all owned by Live Nation, which many people didn’t realise. And second, “nearly all” their staff have reportedly been laid off. Is this the final nail in the coffin for music journalism?LISTENER LETTERS: after last week's Lock-In look at expensive Discogs records sales, James The Joiner gets in touch about his weirdly and unfortunately mis-pressed Blur LP – so will it be worth LOADS of money or NOT MUCH AT ALL? We investigate.And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week's bonus material: Mold Alexandra, Cefn Druids and Mumbles Rangers: what other rock/Welsh football sponsorships would you like to see? Who needs MTV when you can have Green Day TV? Although the lineup of artists featured is, well, quite a lot smaller than traditional music-TV channels…We’ve been talking about prediction-market Kalshi in recent episodes, and it turns out they’re also betting on Spotify’s financial results… [we also check if they were right.]===================================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!Stuart and Joe======TPOM online: ⁠http://tpom.uk/⁠Support The Price of Music on Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠⁠Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredgeFollow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpodFor sponsorship opportunities, please email - ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠