INDEPENDENCE DAY IS NEAR

YOU MAY have been under the impression that the Republic of Ireland enjoys the status of a sovereign, independent state within the EC. That’s what most people think. But in many ways this is not so. Vestiges of our subservience to Britain still exist. Some of them are trivial. Others are less so. As far as Irish musicians – in particular Irish songwriters and composers – are concerned, our involvement with the British-based PRS offers a case in point.

Set up in 1914, the PRS is in its own words ‘the association of composers, lyricists and publishers for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland’. Now it was understandable in 1914 that the one society would cover the two territories, given that Ireland in its entirety was then a part of the British Empire. And over the years the PRS delivered an important service to Irish songwriters and composers, providing the mechanism whereby at least some of the royalties due on public performances of their material all over the world, whether in terms of live work or radio and television ‘plays’, could be collected and remitted to each individual member. But this is 1993 and so much has changed that the ancillary status of the Republic of Ireland in copyright matters no longer makes any sense at all.

Ireland is now widely recognised as one of the world’s primary talent sources, with up to a hundred artists currently signed to international record deals, among them some of the biggest acts in the world, including U2, Enya, Van Morrison, Chris de Burgh, Sinéad O’Connor and many more. Among European countries, only the United Kingdom itself can rival Ireland’s record in the Eurovision Song Contest, which has been won by Irish artists for the past two years. And increasingly, this country is becoming a source of film soundtrack music for major international productions, with Enya, The Chieftains, U2, Gavin Friday, Donal Lunny, Bill Whelan, Padrick Cassidy, Clannad and others supplying both theme music and finished tracks to a wide range of film projects.

The balance of power has shifted considerably, therefore, with Irish writers asserting their independence across the world, in no uncertain terms. To put it bluntly, that independence should be reflected in the structures whereby royalties are collected for and delivered to Irish writers.

This is currently a live issue. Increasingly over the past ten

years, composers, songwriters and publishers here have felt the ancillary status accorded us by the PRS to be against the best interests of the Irish industry. The initial pressure to respect Ireland’s independent status resulted in the establishment in 1988 of the Irish Music Rights Organisation, or IMRO as the organisation has become known, which has operated since then as the licencing and collecting arm of PRS in Ireland.

The establishment of IMRO and the local knowledge which the IMRO board and staff have brought to copyright matters here has been good for business. Between 1988 and 1992, the revenues collected by the PRS here have increased from just under IR£2.55 million to IR£5.7 million. That in itself makes a strong case for independence – quite simply an operation with roots here and employing Irish staff will tend to provide a far better service on behalf of all composers and writers whose works are ‘used’ in Ireland.

The same, however, applies to the way in which Irish writers’ interests might be served abroad. Most people would acknowledge that IMRO have done a very thorough and professional job in terms of tracking venues of different kinds where music is played – bars, discos, shopping centres, supermarkets and so on – and bringing them into the royalty-paying net. The same job has yet to be done, however, in relation to places where Irish music is the central staple ingredient, all over the world. And the PRS has neither the inclination nor the expertise to do it. There are Irish bars littered throughout Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and increasingly Europe. At the moment little or none of the copyright payments due from this particular exploitation of Irish repertoire makes its way back to Irish composers. There are those who feel that IMRO might increase annual revenues accruing directly to Irish writers and composers by over £1 million from this source alone.

In a similar vein, there is an issue concerning the treatment of what are known in the business as ‘Trad. Arr’ compositions – traditional tunes, as arranged by a contemporary musician, composer or group. For a country with a thriving folk and traditional scene like Ireland, this is potentially a substantial source of income. However, in general the PRS have refused to pay more than a miserly two-twelfths of the total royalty payment to those responsible for arrangements of traditional tunes. The balance of ten-twelfths goes into the PRS ‘kitty’ and is distributed in one of the society’s somewhat obscure general disbursements, and very little of it makes its way here.

Other societies around the world pay the full royalty on these compositions, Gema in Germany being a case in point. This is the model which IMRO would follow, thus guaranteeing a substantial additional – and rightful – benefit to Irish composers and arrangers.

And on a separate but no less important issue, the PRS currently holds on to revenues coming in from foreign societies for six months at a minimum, stockpiling cash and accruing interest on it, at the expense of the individual composer, when this money – which is clearly broken down on a per title basis – could easily be paid immediately. Again, immediate payment is a pro-writer policy which IMRO could put into effect.

It is well known that there is a great deal of dissatisfaction

among PRS members here about the way in which the society operates. As a member myself, I can vouch that I have my own limited but still very revealing experience of administrative cock-ups and strange decisions. And the PRS has hardly covered itself in glory recently with the loss of no less than eight, and probably as much as twelve, million pounds of members’ money on its abortive PROMS scheme.

I wonder, for example, why only 11% of distributable income generated from Irish sources is currently ‘earned’ by PRS members resident in Ireland – in a country with such a thriving music culture and a live scene that’s arguably more vibrant than any other in Europe, 25% might represent a more realistic figure. But this is not the time for cheap point-scoring or poring relentlessly over bottom lines. This is an issue of principle.

As long as there is no Irish society, there will be no one representing effectively the interests of Irish composers, writers and publishers internationally. But it goes deeper than even that central consideration. The PRS may like it or lump it but Ireland is a sovereign state and as such there is a fundamental entitlement to act as such in matters of national and international interest.

IMRO has been negotiating for its independence over the past couple of years and seemed to be on the verge of an historic agreement a couple of months ago. Now however, in a move which is clearly designed to frustrate the IMRO initiative, and to hold onto the revenues generated in Ireland as PRS income for disbursement by the PRS at its own leisure, the Society has attempted to stipulate that the setting up of an independent Irish society would have to be supported by two-thirds of PRS members resident in Ireland. On the one hand this ploy smacks of colonialism, at its most arrogant and condescending. On the other it is fundamentally undemocratic, and seems somewhat rich, coming from an organisation whose own board was elected at its AGM in July of this year on the basis of a feeble 20% response.

If a vote is required, then 51% of those who vote – however large or small the numbers – should be enough for a decision, and any other dictat from the PRS should be rejected immediately. However, maybe the controversy set in motion by this presumptuous stipulation – about which IMRO had not been informed beforehand, according to board members – will have the beneficial effect of focussing Irish members’ minds on the issue in earnest.

We need an Irish-based, Irish-run society dedicated to acting in the best interests of its Irish members. The long-term benefits, from grass-roots level up can, and I believe will, be enormous. It is up to us all to make it happen.