Your easy weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works.
This week: two very special guests talk about how to actually make important change happen in the UK’s live industry at grassroots level, and improve the live music fan's experience: we welcome back Lord Kevin Brennan of Canton, Labour member of the House of Lords and a recording musician himself.
We also speak to Shain Shapiro, who amongst other things is author of This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better. (They are both speaking about this on 10th June at the Music Cities Convention in Hull, FYI.)
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We talk about the important stuff that fans care about: surge ticket pricing, local grassroots venues, music fan associations and more – and it’s all built on the results of the UK’s Fan–led Review of Live and Electronic Music, the House of Commons committee special report that Lord Brennan oversaw. He explains what he learned and what can – and should – be done next.
Then Shain explains why live music must be treated as a "vital public good" – i.e. just like libraries or the NHS – and how people like you can build real political heft, in order to save their struggling local spaces.
Lord Brennan reflects on his past work with the Music Streaming Inquiry, examining how parliamentary reports can ripple out to create real-world impact for creators, even when they don’t instantly become law.
Essential learnings from the live fans' report: From transport and safety to fair ticketing, Lord Brennan boils down the core pillars that everyday music lovers actually care about.
The surge pricing backlash: The data doesn't lie – fans are united in their hatred of dynamic ticket surging. We discuss the urgent need for primary market transparency and why standard "free-market" arguments don't apply to the emotional experience of a gig.
Shain Shapiro breaks down how society has prioritised the passive consumption of music (the noun) while deprioritising community participation (the verb), leading to the isolation of modern music fans.
Why you should know your ward councillor. Shain outlines how forming local "Music Fan Associations" can force local councils to unlock underutilised property and rethink how spaces are used.
The 24-Hour Dictators: Both guests flex their imaginary emergency powers to fix the ecosystem, including slashing VAT on tickets, restructuring property business rates, and mandating grassroots funding.
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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