Ozzy Osbourne is... back?; Spotify's new tickets-for-fans feature; Does recycled vinyl sound good?; Drake's hit trio of albums; and Badger Badger Badger Badger...

Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. Become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! This week, Producer Joe steps into some big shoes to chat with Stuart about:

• How many streams did Drake’s THREE new albums get since their release on 15 May. But is this a hit comeback or a flop?

• Ozzy Osbourne is back! Wait, you say, isn’t he dead? Well, yes, but he’s the latest late star to be returning in avatar form.

• Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger: which musical nostalgia is now a preserved cultural artifact in the UK?

• Spotify held its Investor Day last week, unveiling some new features including two big pieces of music news: one around ticketing and one around AI.

• Elsewhere in AI music-land, details have leaked out about the new ‘Starstruck’ service that Udio is building with its major-label deals. What can we expect?

• Ed Sheeran is leaving Warner Music Group after 15 years being signed to the company’s Asylum Records imprint. So where might his next recordings home be?

• Techno megastar Richie Hawtin is more than capable of making your nose bleed in a club, but can he help you study or sleep at home? His latest release aims to show he can…

• You can make vinyl out of recycled records now, but does that affect the quality of how they sound? Yes, but no, is the answer...

And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our ⁠⁠Patreon Superfans⁠⁠, Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – and while the barman may have changed, the game's the same... in this week's bonus material:

• What other pieces of musical memory deserve to be preserved? (And Stu reminisces fondly about, erm, The Kersal Massive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uja3W-ibifc)

• Do we actually want to remix our favourite artists using AI? (Joe has a one-word answer)

• Which dead musicians do we want to see as avatars, if any?

• Is Drake any good? Really though, is he?

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As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works!

Email us: ⁠⁠thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠

See you next week!

Stuart and Joe

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