Sep 9th | Is dynamic pricing good for fans? Plus: Streaming fraud updates & the state of UK's live scene

Hey Y’all! 

Have you heard about the US’s first charged case of streaming fraud?

We’re going to get you all the juicy details below—believe me this story is as wild as it is concerning—but before we tell you all about it, I need to ask you all for another favor.

Last week I asked longtime readers of Indie Insider to share our newsletter with one other friend, colleague, boss, family member, etc. who you think would enjoy getting the week’s three most important music headlines delivered to their inbox or LinkedIn. This week, I’m hoping that you can take a second and drop a comment or send a reply with the music business story that you’ve been following most closely. It can be something we’ve covered, or something I’ve never even mentioned! I just want to know which topics are the most important to you and your involvement in the music industry.

Alright onto the news!

US man charged in music streaming fraud scheme that involved botted streams, AI music, and cost real artists over $10 M in royalties

A North Carolina based musician and fraudster—one Michael Smith—was charged with wire fraud in a scheme involving botted music. Smith rigged cloud computing services with fake email addresses and multiple family plans to rack up millions of dollars in streaming royalties, resulting in increased scrutiny from the The Mechanical Licensing Collective , and ultimately, his arrest. 

To facilitate his scheme, Smith turned to AI music in order to create the amount of musical output needed in order to generate that kind of revenue.

Industry veterans and longtime readers know how artificially inflating your streams harms other artists and rights-holders. Because the payment system in place for streaming is based on a pro-raita royalty pool, when artists earn royalty revenue fraudulently, they are taking money away from other artists whose streaming activity is authentic.

The wildest part about this story for me is how it combines the most dystopian aspects of technology in music and pulls them all together to craft and sickening narrative. It’s estimated that streaming fraud pulls $2B from legitimate artists. It’s nice to see the justice system finally getting involved in the obvious fraud present in the music industry. Short of legal action, I’m not sure what else can curb botted streaming. For years it was treated with impunity.

Live music rebounds in the UK even while small venues continue to struggle.

A new report from trade group, LIVE (Live music Industry Venues and Entertainment) , estimates that the UK’s live-music industry hit £6B this year, even while 126 small venues closed their doors in the past 365 days. 

These numbers represent a 17% YoY growth of the economic impact of live music on the UK’s economy. Not only has the industry grown this year or even post-covid, but its economic impact has also grown 39% since 2019, the year prior to the pandemic.

 This report should be great news for the UK music industry, but it’s been overshadowed by the small venue crisis in the country. An average of two small venues have close each week in the UK. It’s hard to imagine a solution for this problem, as most of the crisis appears to be market drive. 

The UK is considering reducing the value added tax on concert tickets, but at this stage it’s only a proposal. Even if it were to go through, it’s not clear how much it would help. It probably would make the UK more competitive with other European countries, but the new numbers from LIVE suggest that perhaps fans are just less interested in seeing small acts and are more interested in spending more money on established artists.

Up for debate: The Economist argues fans should welcome price gauging

The Oasis reunion tour reignited the debate around dynamic ticket pricing in the music industry. Upon announcement, the tour quickly turned into a scramble for tickets as fans found themselves at the mercy of algorithm-driven prices. GA tickets, originally priced at £135, skyrocketed to £335 within hours as demand surged.

The backlash from fans led to a government investigation, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowing to address the soaring costs. But the conversation around dynamic pricing in the music industry is complex. While fans naturally feel frustrated by price hikes, some argue that dynamic pricing helps ensure that tickets land in the hands of the most dedicated—those willing to pay a premium for the experience. If Oasis tickets had been priced at a nostalgic £20, scalpers would’ve swooped in, or casual buyers might’ve grabbed tickets only to decide last-minute they weren’t all that interested.

Dynamic pricing reflects a larger economic reality—live music is now one of the few avenues where artists can generate significant revenue. For independent artists and smaller venues, though, this model presents a different challenge. Should these acts, too, adopt dynamic pricing? Indie acts don’t have the same global draw as Oasis, but it might be wise to for some smaller venues to leverage dynamic pricing strategies to increase their margins.

Alright, that’s all I have for today. Like usual, Indie Insider is powered by Habitat Financial , the best royalty processor on the market no matter how simple (or complex) your catalog and royalty situation might be.

Until next week!

Cal