The UK's fan-led live music revolution: saving grassroots venues & fixing ticket rip-off pricing – with Lord Kevin Brennan and Shain Shapiro

The UK's fan-led live music revolution: saving grassroots venues & fixing ticket rip-off pricing – with Lord Kevin Brennan and Shain Shapiro

From The Price of Music by Music Ally

June 10, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the UK’s live music industry, focusing on grassroots venues and ticket pricing with guests Lord Kevin Brennan and Shain Shapiro.

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.) ** As ever, our ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ Patreon Superfans ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ get the full interviews – with 50% extra conversation! Become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Superfan of the podcast for free – and enjoy the exclusive weekly Lock-in bonus section! ⁠⁠⁠ ** 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…

People in this episode

Guests: Lord Kevin Brennan, Shain Shapiro

Topics covered

  • live music
  • grassroots venues
  • ticket pricing
  • music industry
  • fan experience
  • political advocacy

Keywords

  • live music
  • grassroots venues
  • ticket pricing
  • fan-led review
  • political advocacy
  • music industry
  • local spaces

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Labour, Music Cities Convention, House of Commons, Music Streaming Inquiry

Books & works: This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better

Places: UK, Hull

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