Industry Spat Breaks Out Over Irish Airplay Bill

Music
15 Dec 16

Leading Irish promoter Pat Egan has reacted angrily to a tweet by Gilded ALM’s Dave O’Grady. Egan is one of the leading lights in the Right To Airplay Campaign, which is seeking greater airplay for Irish music on all Irish radio stations.

Labour TD Willie Penrose (pictured above) has been trying to get legislation through the Dail which would see more Irish music on the radio and, according to him, save jobs in the process.

His efforts to promote Irish music have led to divisions within the industry.

Gilded ALM's Dave O'Grady posted a Tweet - now deleted - in response to the bill, saying:

"The current bill for Irish radio play being presented to the Dail is one of the most clueless things I've ever seen or read. It's RUBBISH."
— Dave O'Grady (@daveGildedALM)

Mr. O'Grady received a backlash from Pat Egan, who wrote this letter in response.

To Dave O’Grady, Independent Marketing Group, Gilded ALM

Dave,

In response to your earlier tweet, you really should inform yourself before going public with misinformed remarks. Your statement to the journal.ie is total bullshit.

No-one is asking for 40% Irish music all day, every day. No one is asking the commercial sector to abandon its air play policy. No-one is expecting 40% airplay.

What we are expecting is a right to a meaningful presence on prime time Radio for new Irish produced music: Pop, Rock, Rap, Trad, Folk, Country and Opera. We want an opportunity to build a platform to develop new Irish talent and don’t dare tell me locally produced Irish music is not good enough.

The BAI has single-handedly destroyed the local music industry by its failure to regulate the commercial sector as defined in Section 66 in the Broadcasting Act.

The days of multi-national record companies determining what is played on Irish radio needs to be brought to an end. If the nations legislators neglect to support fair play for Irish produced music, they are failing in their duty as representatives to protect the rights of every young Irish person with an ambition in music.

Pat Egan
The Right to Airplay

Longford-Westmeath TD Penrose, whose Bill went before the Dail yesterday, said that it seeks a quota of 40% airtime for Irish music.

The Bill lacks the support of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and is expected to fail.

According to thejournal.ie, Mr. Penrose had previously said: "Thousands of the finest Irish musicians are being excluded from our airwaves simply because we have allowed ourselves to be steered by musical trends and fashions constructed primarily in the US and Great Britain."