<p><strong>Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. </strong><em>Become a </em><a href="https://www.patreon.com/12218634/join">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠<em>⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</em><em><strong>Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! </strong></em>⁠</a><strong> This week:</strong></p><p>→ Enigmatic duo Boards of Canada <a href="https://musically.com/2026/06/01/boards-of-canada-hit-out-at-white-house-over-use-of-their-music/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">have beef with the White House</a>. What on earth is going on?</p><p>→ €55bn: the amount that hedge fund Pershing Square WON’T be paying to buy Universal Music Group, <a href="https://musically.com/2026/06/01/umg-joins-bollore-group-in-rejecting-pershing-square-offer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">because it has rejected the offer</a>.</p><p>→ Last·fm was once so buzzy, a big US media corporation bought it for $280m. 19 years after that acquisition, <a href="https://musically.com/2026/05/28/last%C2%B7fm-goes-independent-19-years-after-280m-cbs-acquisition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">it’s going independent again</a>. </p><p>→ Warner Music Group is on the verge of <a href="https://musically.com/2026/05/28/cookie-chain-crumbl-to-settle-its-socials-lawsuit-with-wmg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">settling its lawsuit with US cookies chain Crumbl</a>. But why <em>are</em> so many brands and retailers getting sued by major labels for their social posts?</p><p>→ Another day, another 17 baffling trends on TikTok made up by young people to confuse older people. <a href="https://musically.com/2026/06/01/suno-is-riding-the-wave-of-tiktoks-new-text-to-song-trend/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">But the ‘text to song’ trend IS both amusing and interesting</a>…</p><p>→ Talking of charts and rankings, a new site called Stream League <a href="https://musically.com/2026/05/28/stream-league-turns-spotifys-new-music-friday-playlist-into-a-fantasy-draft/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">wants to turn music releases into a fantasy-sports-style game</a>…</p><p>→ Do you use Google’s Waze navigation app when driving? Have you always wished that its voice could be a bit more, well, a bit more Jamaican-music-royalty? <a href="https://blog.google/waze/drive-with-ziggy-marley-on-waze/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Well, it’s your lucky day!</a></p><p><strong>And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our </strong><a href="https://www.patreon.com/12218634/join" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠⁠<strong>Patreon Superfans</strong>⁠⁠</a><strong>, Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week&#39;s bonus material:</strong> </p><ul><li><p> Joe tries to persuade Stu, who has never listened to a Boards of Canada album, to play one of them – with the promise of satanism, the occult, biblical allusions, mathematics, numerology, cults, and, by the sound of their new LP, the end of the world itself. </p></li><li><p>Stuart has turned one of his messaging threads into a song; and he and Joe wonder if actually we need to think about music in a whole new way now.</p></li><li><p>Stream League! Does Stu fancy himself as an A&amp;R now? Does he sit back in his black leather chair with his finger steepled, nodding along as he listens to new song? We find out...</p></li></ul><p>===================================</p><p><strong>As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular</strong> – any questions you might have about how the music biz works!</p><p>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠⁠</a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>[email protected]</strong></a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠⁠</a></p><p>See you next week!</p><p>Stuart and Joe</p><p>======</p><p>TPOM online: <a href="http://tpom.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">http://tpom.uk/</a></p><p>Support The Price of Music on Patreon:</p><p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠⁠</a><a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠</a></p><p>Follow Stuart on X - @stuartdredge</p><p>Follow The Price of Music on X - @PriceofMusicpod</p><p>For sponsorship opportunities, please email - <a href="mailto:⁠⁠[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠⁠[email protected]</a></p>