<p><strong>Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works – and this week, it’s a Billionaire Special!</strong></p><ul><li><p>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&#39;s extra content for FREE here: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/12218634/join" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.patreon.com/12218634/join</a>)</p></li><li><p>Elon Musk versus the music industry: the world’s richest man doesn’t like paying for music</p></li><li><p>The head honcho of Universal Music has thoughts on how AI slop shouldn’t be paid in the same way as human artists</p></li><li><p>The state of the UK industry – people are streaming more and spending more on music than ever</p></li><li><p>Classic label Sun records have been selling records at 1952 prices – so what could you have bought?</p></li><li><p>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.</p></li><li><p>(Also check out this earlier episode on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/40JrxtmsGfZwzPki0HFGzC?si=GQgiojyrTU2Io7XADcHTUA" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">physical album sales</a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/40JrxtmsGfZwzPki0HFGzC?si=GQgiojyrTU2Io7XADcHTUA)" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://open.spotify.com/episode/40JrxtmsGfZwzPki0HFGzC?si=GQgiojyrTU2Io7XADcHTUA)</a></p></li><li><p> Spotify has a new feature that lets you see what friends are playing - but why?</p></li><li><p>And finally, a rare feel-good internet story: there’s now a “London Metal Ladies” WhatsApp group.</p></li></ul><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="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠<strong>Patreon Superfans</strong>⁠⁠</a><strong>, Steve and Stu prop themselves at the bar to chat about:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Rapper La Russel sells $57,000 of records to Superfans in one day, selling albums on a pay-what-you-want basis.</p></li><li><p>Steve has a neat idea: what if Bandcamp was a touring festival?</p></li><li><p>The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess had Merch Market last week - and how has he become such an interesting and multi-faceted influence in UK music?</p></li><li><p>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?)</p></li><li><p>Plus, Stu reveals that he’s a Norwich City fan.</p></li></ul><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="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠</a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong>[email protected]</strong></a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠</a></p><p>See you next week!</p><p>Steve and Stuart</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="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠</a><a href="https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠</a></p><p>Follow Steve on X - @steve_lamacq</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="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠[email protected]</a></p>