The Message

We are on the countdown now to The Music Show and every nerve is jangling. I mean this in a positive sense. There is a feeling of mounting excitement here in camp HP, as the elements of what is a huge jigsaw that we have been working on for 18 months now fall into place.

It is going to be a pulsating weekend. This much we know. But in terms of what we can pull off, there is still a lot to play for. People are working around the clock to ensure that it rocks throughout the weekend in every respect. Keep a close eye on hotpress.com for updates. There will be plenty of them over the coming two weeks.
The Music Show takes place against a dramatic backdrop. The music industry is going through a period of great uncertainty. Everyone is scrabbling. No-one can confidently look forward and say that they know how the business is going to develop over the next five years or what it will look like in the future. Will it settle down, in the new digital dispensation, into a reliable pattern that protects the jobs and the livelihoods of artists and others in the industry? Or will the process of rapid-fire change continue to run at its present break-neck pace?
There are a number of key issues of which everyone needs to be aware right now. The most obvious relates to the impact of the internet on the consumption of music. The ubiquity of the digital transmission of music, and the extent to which audiences – or fans – take it for granted, has profoundly changed the entire apparatus of what we used to call the record business. It is a work in progress, of course, but there is no denying that the changes are fundamental.
In particular, the ease with which music is copied and shared in the digital world has devastated the historic revenue streams from which artists, record companies and publishing companies alike, to a large extent, earned their crust. Some people insist that there is no way back, that the vast majority of young people are no longer willing to pay for the music that they access online. Others argue, similarly, that the resources available to those who are predisposed to make music available free, irrespective of the wishes of the artist, or of any related copyright issues, are so powerful that it is inconceivable that any obstacle can be successfully mounted which might turn the tide.
The contrary view is that an artist has a fundamental right to be paid for his or her endeavours, and that the system of copyright can and should be effectively enforced in the digital world – just as it has been for years in the context of physical cultural products, including music, movies, books, games, visuals and indeed all forms of media.
These issues will be discussed in detail at The Music Show – including a focus on the kind of divvy that is happening from the exploitation of music catalogue in the digital arena.
Panels and debates will also explore the various mechanisms musicians, artists and bands can now adopt in order to get their records made and into the marketplace in a way that delivers an effective return. They will examine the issue of convergence – between record companies and live music promoters, for example – and ask if this is a good thing for the artists.
They will reflect on 360º deals and what they mean for emerging artists. They will look at the role of music publishers – and their take from digital exploitation. And they will identify the different strategies open to artists who are determined to earn their living from music, in this utterly changed world.
If all of that sounds enormously serious, then fear not. There is a huge amount of fun involved, plenty of great yarns, and humour in abundance over the course of the weekend. There is also a cornucopia of wonderful music. From the masterclasses and public interviews with leading figures like Brendan Graham – who will do what promises to be a superb presentation on songwriting – the extraordinary Donal Lunny, Eric Bell, Jonathan Mover and more, one of the most inspiring aspects of The Music Show is the sharing of knowledge and skills, the fact that the experience of the ages is being passed on to curious and ambitious younger musicians and artists.
The commitment of President Michael D. Higgins to speak at the show is a measure of how important all of this is to the country at large. As a former Minister for the Arts, and as a practicing poet and writer, his knowledge of the area is deep. We are honoured that he has agreed to contribute his wisdom to our deliberations.
It is a weekend over which fascinating new possibilities and opportunities will also be unveiled. The debut of Kevin Godley and Andy Wood’s WholeWorldBand App is especially promising in this regard. In innumerable ways, Ireland has proven itself to be a place where creativity flourishes. However, if we are to maximise the benefits of this over the next decade or two, in terms of work, jobs and economic value, it is vital that we align our way with words, music and images with technological innovation.
Kevin Godley is a rock ’n’ roll visionary, a man of boundless enthusiasm and just enough craziness to transform dreams into reality. Turning an idea like the WholeWorldBand App into a functioning digital product is one of those achievements that makes you realise: the possibilities are endless, we just need to explore them with courage. If you want to see this amazing creation in action, the crew will be there throughout the weekend of the show.
There will, of course, be much more to see and experience in the technological sphere, with workshops and classes in recording techniques, the latest in cutting edge equipment and much else on display.
One of the things that strikes visitors to Dublin – and it is replicated elsewhere in Ireland – is the number of people walking around the city-centre streets carrying guitars and other instruments. This, of course, is at the heart of the great musical adventure we have all embarked on as a society.
The ability to get up and sing a song at a party; to take up an instrument or sit down at the piano and play; the desire to progress as a musician to the point where you are ready to step out in front of a crowd at a live gig – all of these leanings spring from the same well. The impulse to make music – to craft a fine noise – is a powerful one and Irish people have it in abundance.
The instruments on which we evoke the sounds are an essential part of the mystery and the challenge. The timbre of one guitar rather than another. The raw potential of a drum kit waiting to be attacked. The shining beauty of a saxophone, anticipating the first contact with lips. The extraordinary multiplicity of evocative possibilities opened up by effects and computer software, unimaginable even ten years ago. It is a world, in which there are other micro-worlds, each of them redolent with possibility.
Well, there is no better opportunity to immerse yourself in any and every aspect of that wonderfully dynamic universe of sound than at The Music Show. It is a place for fans. It is a place for musicians. It is a place for songwriters. It is a place for composers.
And, finally, it is a place for anyone who believes that this small country on the periphery of Europe that we call Ireland has the potential to achieve – or rather to continue to achieve – great and wondrous things in the field of music, of art and of culture over the next ten years and more.
We’ll see you there.