Massive Attack pull music from Spotify in protest; Ticketmaster sued by US government; Lizzo thinks that music videos are dead; More album-filing dilemmas; & people are listening to "My Humps" again?

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. In this week’s multi-faceted episode of The Price of Music our intrepid duo get to grips with...

• Stu’s Big Number is One Hundred Billion Dollars… but who has paid it to whom and should that number actually be bigger?

• Ticketmaster is being sued by the US government for ‘illegal ticket resale tactics’ and deceiving artists and fans - but what will happen now?

• Why have Massive Attack also pulled their music from Spotify everywhere? (and how does it relate to AI drone weapons?)

• And why have hundreds of artists pulled their music from streaming platforms in Israel?

• The Great Album Filing Debate: If Ben Folds is filed under "F" is Ben Folds Five filed under "B"? What about Prince when he was a symbol?

• More AI-artists are finding success – including Steve’s nightmare: an AI-generated Country music album. 

• Artist Lizzo thinks that music videos are dead and that authentic self-videos are key; meanwhile, major research says that "going viral" on social media may not help artists build their fanbases after all. So who is right??

• Stu once again gets excited by Taylor Swift (and this time it’s a cinema-based launch party)

• Why are people suddenly listening to "My Humps" again?

And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans, Steve and Stuart prop themselves at the bar to chat about:

• Which instrument did Steve (reluctantly) learn at school? (And how did he get tricked into learning it again just after he'd given it up?)

• Which nationality of people travels abroad the most to visit music events?

• How does learning an instrument make you a better doctor?

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

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