As well as a specially commissioned award, the successful group and their management team will also win the opportunity for themselves and the bands from their region to record an album of their songs, recorded and mixed by Ireland’s top producers and engineers.

The professional Music Industry panel at the IYMA’s 2011 will include Willie Kavanagh (MD EMI Records Ireland), Lize Geddes (Friction PR), with special guests to be announced. The day will also include DJ workshops, drum workshops, debating panels and well known guest performers.

The initiative was founded in 2007 with the aim of promoting and encouraging the collaborative work of young musicians aged between 12 and 19 years from across Ireland. Engaging with over 15,000 young people, the IYMAs core aim is to give young musicians and those interested in working in the music business, the opportunity to develop their skills and access the knowledge and advice from Ireland’s most respected music industry professionals.

Each youth club region from across Ireland is currently inviting bands and solo artists to join their local IYMAs team. Young people in each region will select a band or act to represent them at the IYMAs.

In the run up to the IYMA’s, each region will form a ‘management team’, who will work to promote their band or act before they compete at the Dublin finals. Team members will be responsible for all aspects of promotion of their chosen act, from photography to publicity, staging to lighting, sound to styling. This all-inclusive element of the IYMA’s promotes confidence, self-esteem and an understanding of the benefits of teamwork amongst the young participants.