UPRAWR Podcast

From 1600s opera houses to stadium tours, Live Nation and billion-dollar concerts, we look at how the live music industry was built. Turns out, promoters have been using the same tricks for hundreds of years: tiered tickets, overpriced drinks, manufactured hype, venue monopolies and huge financial gambles. This is the 400-year story of concert promoting. 

Fueled By Ramen went from a tiny DIY label with basically nomoney to becoming the home of some of the biggest alternative bands of the last 20 years.In this episode, we get into the story behind the label, howthey found bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Paramore, fun. and Twenty One Pilots, the risks they took along the way, and how John Janick went from starting the label as a teenager to eventually running Interscope Records.Some of the stories behind these bands are insane, lets get into it

David Savereux has spent his career at the heart of UK nightlife, taking on the running of Sheffield’s legendary Corporation nightclub at just 21 years old.In this episode, we get into what’s really happening to British nightclubs, why young people aren’t going out like they used to, the true cost of a night out, and how phones, dating apps and changing drinking habits have completely reshaped club culture.David also explains why simply opening the doors isn’t enough anymore, why club nights constantly need new themes and reasons for people to turn up, how alternative culture has changed with a new generation, and what it actually takes to keep an independent nightclub alive.

AEG is one of the most powerful companies in live entertainment, but the story behind it starts far away from concerts, festivals and arenas.In this episode, we look at how billionaire Philip Anschutzbuilt a fortune through oil, railways and telecommunications before turning his attention to sport and live music, creating the company that would become Live Nation’s biggest global rival.We break down the rise of AEG, its ownership of some of theworld’s biggest venues, its acquisition of Goldenvoice, the growth of Coachella, the transformation of the Millennium Dome into The O2, its involvement in Michael Jackson’s This Is It shows, and the creation of AXSThis is the story of AEG, the billionaire behind it, and thebattle to control live music.

Live Nation has grown from a concert promoter into one of the most powerful companies in the global music industryIn this episode, we look back at how it became so dominant, its merger with Ticketmaster, its influence over venues, tours and ticketing, and ask the big question: does Live Nation now have too much control over live music?