Chris Schulz: The worst things about being a music fan in 2025

It’s been a bit of an odd year in the music space. 

With the rise of AI music, musicians pulling their work off Spotify in protest of the company and CEO, rising ticket prices, and tours cutting off before they hit New Zealand, it’s been rough for some fans.  

Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to delve into some of the worst things about being a music fan in 2025. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks at b.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
That is Shanghai by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
That's the real version of the song and there is
a good reason we are playing that slightly peculiar sounding
music for you this morning. Chris Shultz, our music reviewer,
is here with the details. And King Gizzard and the
Lizard Wizard were subject to some craziness involving AI and

(00:57):
streaming services this year.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Chris, they really were. Yeah, this is an Australian kind
of psych rock band. They've they've made a lot of
albums and a lot of different genres.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
And they are very they're very unusual but quite cool late.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, and a really cool live experience too. They've they've
toured New Zealand and they toured the world. That that. Yeah,
They've made a lot of music. Though they're known for
releasing four or five albums a year, all of that
until recently was all on Spotify and then they joined
this kind of mas exodus if you like, you know
these artists who have pulled off their music because they're

(01:36):
unhappy with the way the streaming service is being run.
Massive attack have done it locally. The Bats and Tikitan
have done that too. And then what happened was is
that some some someone with a big idea went out
there and asked AI to recreate their music, uploaded that,
and that made it to some of the playlists, the bigger,

(01:58):
more popular playlist on Spotify. And so that's one of
the weird things that have happened or that we've had
to navigate as music fans this year. I think this
is the first year that we've had to sort of say,
you know, we've had to ask a question, is this
music made by humans or is it made by robots?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Sometimes, you know, that line's beginning to blur. We've seen
the Grammys struggling with it. They are trying to work
out the rules. Do we allow artists to admit they're
using AI to enter their songs and give them awards. Yeah.
It's a murky It's a murky world.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
It really is. It really is. So, I mean, that's
a prime example of one of the worst things about
being a music fan in twenty twenty five, especially if
you're a King Gizzard fan. So you went on Spotify,
you were handed something else, but they came up with
a different name, right, like King Lizard and the Wizard
Gizzard or something. This is slightly, slightly it's a slight variation, right, yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Slight variation.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
So look, this is leading to this trend right where
where Spotify is just just getting a bit weird. It
does feel like this year things are beginning to turn
a bit. You know. I've spoken to a lot of
my friends and family who have left the platform because
they're not okay with that. But they're also not okay
with things like iesads but hitting their streaming feeds. They're

(03:23):
not okay with the kind of constant price raises. And
of course, the co founder, Daniuek, was found to have
invested some of his proceeds of Spotify into Wartech, which
it seems to have been the big one that seems
to be why a lot of the artists are pulling
into Spotify. So I do wonder if we're heading next
year into a bit of a world where where things

(03:43):
sort of turn, where Spotify just gets to the point
where people don't kind of want to use it. If
your favorite music's not on there, then why would you
subscribe to it? If you're a massive attack fan and
you can't listen to it, Why would you pay for that?

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah? Yeah, right, Let's walk through the other little points
you've raised on the worst things about being a music
fan in twenty twenty five, and rising concert ticket prices
is right up there.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Well, when you couple that too with the fact that
a lot of our the biggest, the world's biggest acts
aren't coming to New Zealand anymore, that touring exclusively to Australia,
then yes, those those concert ticket prices are up there.
I've paid up to three hundred and fifty dollars for
a concert ticket this year new Pipes. When you add
in flights and accommodation and everything else that's traveling to
Australia entails, then those costs really do get up there.

(04:32):
I just got back on Wednesday from going to see
Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga, and the plane was full
of New Zealanders who had been over. We were all
talking about it. Someone had been to Lady Gaga, someone
had been to the Spilt Milk Festival and was wearing
the hoodie. They sat next to me and we were
talking about that. We're having to eat that at the moment,
and there are changes on the way. The government's vent

(04:53):
and introduced this major events boost to try and entice
those artists back. That's going to take a bit of time,
so that is something we've just had to wear unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay, yeah, I mean we've talked about this before. Hopefully
we're about to see a bit of progress on that front,
but it's certainly been a big punish for a lot
of New Zealand music fans have had to spend so
much money if they want to go and see some
of their favorite acts on these big world tours. What
is the worst view obstruction in your view, Chris, given
you've been given a hard time for being tall. Is

(05:25):
it tall people or is it a sea of smartphones?

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Oh? No, it's the phones. It's definitely the phones for me,
because those you know, when you add your arms up there,
they're you're getting up above seven foot, so you know,
I'm six foot four. If someone's holding up a phone
and AD's sort of just under six foot, that's right
in my sight line Jack iRED percent. The phones drive
me crazy. So that's why I really loved a recent

(05:49):
show actually at Spark Arena, Tool played and they banned
all the phones. They threatened to throw people out, and
no one used them. Everyone stuck to these roles and
it created this really magic atmosphere which I hadn't experienced
probably since back in like twenty ten before everyone had
a smartphone in their pocket and we're filming all the shows.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Is that right? Yeah, they just said don't do it,
and people didn't do it.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
They were pretty threatening about it. They did bring a
voice over the loudspeaker beforehand, and they did say explicitly
you will be instantly expelled. They didn't do that the
first night, and they didn't do it at the festival
that I saw them play in Australia either. It was
specifically that show interesting, and they did have this rule
where you could bring them out for the last song
and film and take photos. Then I'd love to see

(06:33):
more artists do that in twenty six I think that's great.
Like Plan, you're just straddling that line. You're giving people
the best of both wores.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
So I've been to two things. I think I went
to a Childish Gambino show once, and I went to
a Dave Chappelle show at the Comedian in which they
when you came in you had to put your phone
in a little bag and they took it away basically,
and no, you were sealed up. You held onto it,
but you couldn't get it out until the end, you know.
And I loved it. I was all about it. Surely
the reason you go to live to experience live music

(07:02):
is to be present in the moment. And yet, and yet,
the moment the artist comes out, everyone pulls out the phone.
It's like, guys, that isn't the whole reason we're here,
like to get away from those Okay, hey, give us
your We're not going to play it because I think
it's got too many swear words according to Libby Libby
the Pro. But what's your what's your worst song of
twenty twenty five? Just to round out your worst of list?

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Go and if you have to go and listen to it,
go and listen to the Will Smith song Girls. That
is just the shambles of oh, I don't even know
what it is.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Terrible, It is terrible. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, go
and hate listen to that one. We're not going to
play that. We'll pick something that's maybe slightly less controversial
this morning. But thank you so much, Chris, Chris Schultz.
You can find him on his substack. Of course, it's
called boiler Room.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talk z' B from nine am Saturday, or
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