IMRO, the Irish Music Rights Organisation, is a non-profit making society made up of songwriters and publishers who authorise the organisation to act on their behalf and to collect royalties which are due from the broadcast and public performance of the works.

IMRO also collect payments due from public performances at places of entertainment – a categorisation which includes anything from a venue like the Point Depot right down to pubs, discos, hairdressers and boutiques. Indeed any place where music is used to enhance a business or to attract customers is obliged to pay a licence fee to IMRO for the use of the recorded works. In Ireland over 15,000 places of entertainment are licensed by IMRO for this purpose.

Up to recently, IMRO was a subsidiary of the UK-based PRS but from 1 January 1995 it has become a completely independent membership society. Independence was achieved by a postal ballot of PRS members resident in the Republic Of Ireland and more than two-thirds of those members voted by a landslide majority of 95% to 5% for their own membership society in this country.

IMRO are now engaged in a drive to increase membership and are also inviting PRS members resident in Northern Ireland to join. The organisation sees this move as a major step towards increasing the strength of the new society; promoting the needs and rights of their members throughout Ireland and protecting members’ interests in the international arena of copyright protection.

BETTER SERVICE

To songwriters and publishers based in Northern Ireland the appeal of IMRO membership will be obvious. The society has a proven track record of knowing what’s happening on the ground in this country, and of setting up systems which are capable of responding immediately to the needs of members. The PRS is a huge society with a slow-moving, conservative bureaucratic structure in place. In contrast, IMRO can be quick, efficient, responsive and radical where the situation demands it. The logic of the situation is that IMRO members in Ireland – North and South – should get a much better service through the locally-based society.

“We have written to all the PRS members in Ireland and outlined to them in a detailed Question and Answer letter, the advantages of IMRO membership,” says IMRO Chairman and Eurovision winning songwriter Brendan Graham. “We have also tried to address and pre-empt any misgivings or doubts they might harbour. The point about IMRO is that, for the first time ever, Irish songwriters, composers and publishers have a measure of independence and control and we suspect there are enormous reservoirs of revenue that have remained untapped in the past – both at home and abroad.

“Recent economic reports on the music industry and the growing body of evidence from the international success of a wide range of Irish artists point to the enormous pool of talent that there is in Ireland, and the potential that pool of talent could have for revenue and jobs in directly related services, tourism and export sales.”

Let’s keep the momentum going.

• If you are interested in joining the Irish Music Rights Organisation or desire further information, phone Paula McDermott at (01) 661 4844.