The government is neglecting Irish musicians

The music industry is in a state of turmoil. No news there. Record sales are down and there is an air of doom and gloom. And when that sets in, guess who pays? But of course – and this is the important part – it’s the artist.

In the industry power-centres in London, New York and LA, the reaction to the slump is to deny bands and artists the money they need to get off the ground.
With the impact of the internet and the drop in CD sales, clearly there is uncertainty about what the future holds for record companies – but instead of trying to imaginatively shape the entertainment landscape, they seem to be happy to react defensively. The instinct of the guys at the top of the showbiz conglomerates, with the expense accounts and the enormous annual bonuses, is to shore up their own position. And that’s what they’re trying to do.
Record companies are not investing in new talent to the extent that they did five or ten years ago. Now what they want to know is: how little do you need to buy a van, so that you can be shoved out onto the road to slog away on the toilet circuit. What’s more, if they sign you to a record deal, they now want a piece of your live action into the bargain, if they can get it.
The music business was never about altruism – it would be stupid to imagine it could be – but when it was run by people that loved music, there was a sense of everyone being in it together. Not so long ago, artists were at least given time to develop, over two three, even four albums. But now that the business is run by accountants, the credo is much starker: you do the work. And if there’s nothing to show for your hard labour, pronto, then too bad. Next.
Most people in the business accept that – with perhaps the very odd exception – big advances are a thing of the past. The result is that a lot of potentially important talent is struggling to survive. Inevitably, that makes it more challenging for artists – but there is also a window of opportunity in this. Great independent labels are at the heart of what has been achieved over the past thirty years in music, since the punk revolution: now the space is there for them to come even more fully into their own. And that includes Irish labels.
In many ways, Irish artists have been bucking the international trend. More records than ever before are being made here – and lots of them are remarkably good, and not just by local standards. I’m thinking of albums by Republic of Loose, Julie Feeney, Director, Mick Flannery, Fionn Regan, Wallis Bird and plenty more artists like them, who have come through over the past few years, with what are genuinely substantial and in some instances great records.
If you include Northern Ireland, this island is still producing a disproportionate number of internationally successful hit artists. Snow Patrol rank among the biggest rock acts to break through in the US over the past three years and Duke Special – who is a huge talent – has also been threatening big things. The message is, it can still be done.
So where do we go from here? And how do we do it? These are some of the key questions that will be explored at Music Ireland, which takes place at the RDS on October 5 (Schools Day), 6 and 7.
By way of response, here’s one thought. Other areas of the arts are heavily supported by the Arts Council and the Government – but Irish rock music and Irish rock musicians, for years, have been thoroughly neglected.
The only conclusion you can draw is that there is no appreciation of the value of what musicians have contributed to this country, in economic as well as cultural terms, over the years. That contribution has been, and is, immense – and it should now, and without further delay, be reflected in the way in which funds for the arts are disbursed. Rock musicians and pop musicians should get their share.
What is clear from the success of Snow Patrol is that it is not outside the compass of Irish artists still to become hugely successful. But the brilliant new wave of bands and artists that have emerged here – the likes of The Flaws, Dirty Epics (pictured), The Kinetiks and Laura Izibor, who are all featured at Music Ireland (and there’s a lot more where they came from) – will need to think smart and be nimble on their feet to be in a position where they are still making records in ten years time, never mind thirty.
So. It’s time that a real effort was made by the Government, and by the Arts Council, to nurture and support these young artists. There may be a lot of paranoia and uncertainty in the business – but the impulse to make great music is what it’s all about and Irish bands and artists have that in spades.
Now they need fair treatment.