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| "There is no doubt that the Irish music Industry is chronically under-developed. Even the Government noticed this a year or three back and when a Government notices something it means that it has been noticeable for years (possibly decades) previously. All the 'industry think-tanks' and Arts council / Music Board reports and investigations won't make the slightest bit of difference unless radical change is engineered at the grass roots level. Many of the people responsible for the recent 'official' report on the health of the music business are those who have gotten the music business into such a state in the first place; those who have neglected their position and responsibility, or those who advocate change while simultaneously abandoning the Country to live off other, more profitable, music industries. Grass roots development, whether in GAA, Football, Music or any other field is imperative for the long-term success and growth of any industry, especially a skills-based or creative industry. In the absence of a decent industry in which to operate, those who learn the skills from whatever source (mostly self-taught it has to be said) will eventually get the call to abandon Ireland in the footsteps of U2, Cranberries, Thrills and hundreds like them. The Industry must change and since the Industry is happy with the way things are, we at the grass-roots level must change it for them. However, it is not that simple. Ireland's music industry is an industry in name only. How many major record labels have we got? How many major International publishing houses? Our Industry is a backyard industry, not even a ?Cottage Industry?. This is not totally the fault of the professionals. They do what they are supposed to do: maximise profits while minimising costs. They are, after all, in business. Their shareholders would go ballistic at the idea of losing money to be 'altruistic' or 'generous of spirit' except where it is tax-deductible. And rightly so. The reason our industry is the way it is, in my opinion, is partly as a result of our national inferiority complex that tells us we must follow hot on the heels of the UK - who in turn follow hot on the heels of the US ? in our fashions, fads and musical tastes. We have proved year after year that we have things to offer that these great marketplaces are happy to swallow up, whether it is Riverdance, Father Ted or The Thrills in recent times. Why do we then abandon these exportable commodities? Maybe it is because we currently have no choice. The 'Arts' (and, for the benefit of the politicians reading this, that includes music of *all* types, not just classical and traditional) are deserving of better treatment in legislation than many other realms, as they are our culture and our heritage. Indeed, various elements of legislation, especially taxation, favour musicians and artists in general. However, we see no reason not to extend that to cover developing artists. There is the potential (and I believe 'radical' ideas are necessary) for a 'nursery' system whereby various record labels - for ?IrishUnsigned? are not anti-industry in the slightest - can take a 'nursery label' into their fold, much as football clubs such as Manchester United (the richest Club in the world, not by being uncommercially generous) do with smaller Clubs in smaller, less developed Countries such as, God forbid, Ireland. If a major label had a stake in the health of the local Industry in which they have a 'nursery' label, they would be at least a little bit more likely to give some considerations to the negative impact that some of it's decisions would have. They would also have, for want of a better description, an option on whatever talent came out of their particular business relationship with their local counterpart much as Manchester United have first call on the services of professional footballers who develop in the Irish 'nursery' Club setup. Of course, like in football, there is nothing to stop the 'artists', like the footballer, from simply saying 'No', so it is not an ownership arrangement. In return for its investment and development advice, the major label gets first notice of new talent and, perhaps, reduced cost if they do sign that new talent. Maybe even no cost, depending on their business arrangement. In return for providing this service, Irish labels (small, by necessity, as our marketplace is small) would get two things. First, they would get inward investment in terms of time, money, professional assistance and development. Second, they would get the opportunity to refine their skills in this marketplace, while providing an invaluable service to Major (business-minded) labels. Irish labels, using the entire Irish marketplace as a test-marketing ground, can be used to 'launch' new Acts from the Majors at a fraction of the normal launch costs. A single can chart in Ireland with a budget (excluding production) of less than a thousand Euros. If an act 'sticks' in the Irish buying public's eyes, then they can be launched in the more expensive UK and the prohibitively expensive USA. If they don't make it in Ireland, it?s likely they won't go down too well elsewhere. The Irish audience is very similar to the UK and US in many respects, while being much smaller and much easier to manage and quantify. Market research could not be easier: simply launch your band here, see what happens, change what needs changing and re-launch them elsewhere, having lost only a couple of thousand, not a couple of million. Although this might sound anathema to the 'indie. or 'underground' scene that IrishUnsigned purports to represent, this is because the reader may be under the misunderstanding that IrishUnsigned or grass-roots organisations like it are inherently anti-Industry: we certainly are not, and we know of plenty at this level of existence who are also not inherently anti-Industry. What we do abhor, on the other hand, is the Industry as it currently is: cherry-picking the best talent in all parts of the music industry, leaving us with a laughable, amateurish, under-developed non-entity that is basically one big A+R department for USA and UK labels. We are bettered, exponentially, by Countries like Spain, Sweden, Denmark on dozens of fronts and they don't even have English as a first language - which should be a huge hindrance to them. The Irish music industry is not quite dead. It isn't yet terminal either. However, it is not, despite the success of U2 and huge names like them, in a very healthy state. There are possibly one or two 'big' names in the Industry who are signed to an Irish label. These include 'branch offices' of the major labels such as Sony Ireland etc which have to 'fight' for the promotional budgets of their more powerful counterparts in the UK as they don?t really have an Irish division, just an office etc. We need all that to change. We feel what is needed is a nursery system, similar to the one used in football, coupled with legislation and taxation to promote the grass-roots development of the Industry and, perhaps, as with the "Under-24" rules associated with football transfers at end-of-contract, some guaranteed recompense for those who nurture and develop talent only to see it snatched away when it has the slightest chance of recouping some of their investments. Radical problems call for radical changes and radical solutions. Since, however, all of these 'radical' solutions already exist in various forms in various industries, they are not so radical after all. What needs to be done, though, is very radical. The Government, and everyone on down who has an interest - professional or otherwise - has to radically change the way they think about the Irish music industry. We're not all anti-industry, long-haired, Trotskyites with a hankering for anarchy (although there are plenty of those!). We are concerned observers, concerned professionals, concerned small businessmen, concerned fans and concerned practitioners. Those at the top, on the other hand, are paid to do these things. Which of us is worth more to the next new band being formed in your nearest community center? Ron Healy is co-founder of IrishUnsigned (www.IrishUnsigned.com), which is an information and exposure resource maintained on- and off-line, for the development through information-provision of the Irish music Industry. |
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| ron@irishunsigned.com |
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