Lack of air-play for our home-grown

In Ireland, our national radio stations have a strange tendency to ignore playing quantities of Irish artists on the air. They fray away from giving air-time to Ireland’s up and coming home-grown artists and instead fill our airwaves with music from across shores like the UK and Unites States. Relations with the US have proved to be an area of great concern for air-play royalty collection agencies such as IMRO and MCPS.

This is definitely an area which could benefit from some government consideration and intervention. IMRO has an average turnover of €38 million, but according to chair Keith Donald; 88% of fees collected go abroad with the rest being issued to Ireland’s home-grown artists. This is due to the Irish radio stations having a tendency to play more American or UK artists’ music on the air rather than local artists, and therefore the royalties being collected for these artists are going to the States and the UK, where these artists are based.

Donald states; “We collect for Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, just the same as the American societies collect for Christy Moore and Eleanor McEvoy,”… “One of our difficulties with the American collection societies is that under legislation brought in years ago, money from the corner store – the mom and pop store – isn’t collected. Unfortunately these stores kept getting bigger until they became supermarkets. So if you go into a Wal-Mart in the States and you hear music – nobody is collecting. Similarly they don’t collect from PBS television or from cinemas or pubs.”
It is pertinent in my opinion that the Irish Government should look into this as a case for concern and make the situation more equitable between Ireland and the US, with proper policies. This is also particularly vital because Irish music has become so increasingly popular in the States.


Words by Laura McGlynn

Image courtesy of imro.ie