The Irish music industry is in crisis. From where we were in
the 1990's, with several acts like Enya selling in the tens of millions, we
have descended to the point that Iceland is doing better than us with many
bands including Sigur Ros and “Of monsters and Men” getting primetime US TV and
selling in the millions. In the meantime. South Korea spends $300 million
annually promoting its “K-Pop” which even has its own US TV channel.
The disaster that befell Irish music is not just lack of
investment; it is in fact mainly a story of Fianna Fail/Green corruption, which
you can read in the "Ireland
in crisis" book. In any case, we don't have $300 million. Here I'm going
to outline a set of solutions. Some of them are large-scale, but some are
simply related to what it will take on the ground to establish an Irish
presence in the markets that other countries like South Korea have kicked us out of.
First of all, what happened from the mid 1990’s? We do know
that U2 have been allowed to act outside the law with “Record services Ltd” ,
a dissolved company, signing independent
artists and destroying their careers – and we know this as a result of a
successful lawsuit. Another such successful suit allowed us discover that the
chairman of IMRO, a Fianna Fail hack
called Shay Hennessy, whose job was to protect copyright, was involved in
copyright theft on an industrial scale. We know also from an Arts council
report that he colluded with Comhaltas
to privatize all Irish music by assigning copyright to IMRO. The goal was
surely a lucrative sale.
You can find a summary here;
Anatomy of the scam
You can find a summary here;
Anatomy of the scam
It is covered in detail in this book, including an outline in the introduciotn which is available for no charge;
http://www.cambridgescholars.com/ireland-in-crisis-16
http://www.cambridgescholars.com/ireland-in-crisis-16
We only have indirect
evidence for deeper trends; the rise and fall
without trace of “musicians” like Mumba and Westlife who were feted as
early as the 1990’s by organs of the
establishment like the Irish Times and the Scotsman; the fact that even Louis
Walsh, apparently not in the loop, went broke. What is being proposed is that a
nexus of criminals operated with state protection to turn music into a cover
for deeper crime. We will never be able to prove this but here are some hypotheses;
- Big criminal money (pimps, drugs, “property”), washed in plain sight, through bands who “sell” millions (Westlife etc.)
- The “deep state “: message goes out not to allow independent musical artists. This is never put in writing , but civil servants do not follow up complaints, about copyright and company law. Eventually cases are successfully taken in Britain & US by the musicians.
- Ideological: the state does not want emergence of independent voices in areas like music . This fits with neoliberal ideology which attempts to suppress ethnicity.
- US & British record companies benefit from suppression of Irish music.
- Centralisation through IMRO etc allows Fianna Fail to have minute control. So venues & festivals hiring artists who are not in favour can be punished through IMRO with additional fees . The idea is the ultimate sale of all Irish music to someone like Rupert Murdoch.
First of all, a very simple basic example of how it works
here where Irish music needs to sell. Recently we did a gig in the very
prestigious Angelica's in Redwood city
featuring our songs which include Irish lyrics by Sean O Riordain and Nuala ni
Dhomhnaill set to jazz. The owner liked it so much that he asked us back to do
a new production show, premiered at the Edinburgh
festival in 2010, in tribute to the great jazz singer Anita O'Day. That is now a regular gig
That’s what it will take; apparently small gigs done by
hundreds of Irish acts. The state should also support small venues like the
Starry Plough in Berkeley, which has had an Irish dance session every Monday
night for 35 years to which the cream of America's youth come, and the “”Lark
camp” educational summer project. By support, I mean at least sending a
diplomat once to acknowledge the contribution.
However, this should be complemented by the following;
- IMRO is a hopelessly corrupt Fianna Fail gazebo. It should be closed down, with its functions transferred to a well-regulated state institution. IMRO's revenue is around $50 million per year. Much of that is profit. Venues and radio/TV playing quality music could have their “licensing” paid to IMRO reduced by 75% as this money never makes it to the musicians, but rather goes on administration. Even if the income is cut to $25 million, it will still be plenty for the following steps;
- In particular, IMRO's claim that it OWNS all of Irish traditional music, as the arts council report exposed, should be refuted and the property should be held in trust.
- All the theft done by IMRO and its companion MCPS should be reimbursed to the musicians. Between 1999 and 2003, the Gardai collected much evidence on IMRO and only a blatant interference with the DPP prevented their being prosecuted. The case was resolved in 2010 in US federal court instead but the musicians cannot enforce the verdict for lack of funds and it is in Ireland's interest that the state should help them do so perhaps through the WTO;
- The state should emulate the French and introduce an “intermittent” system. This would mean that, instead of going on the dole and trying to hide their gigs, full-time artist/musicians who do over 50 concerts a year at state-recognized venues should get a grant;
- The state should reimburse all the musicians who had their CD's illegally licensed through an enterprise Ireland trade stand in midem in France at 1998. That will pay many outstanding bills, as we found through our successful federal court action that the sales through Walmart in particular were in the millions;
- The state should return the copyrights taken by IMRO to the musicians
- The state should return the money due to musicians from U2's use of dissolved “distribution” companies like Record services Ltd to destroy independent labels. This was done with FF connivance, and while we won a lawsuit against U2 on this, Paul Appleby refused to act even after we met him one-on-one at his request in 2006;
- The state should investigate the use of fake tune titles in Irish by IMRO – the Gardai believed this indicated massive fraud as these could launder money;
- The state should use existing media like the “Today's Ireland” program in the USA to introduce the American public to quality Irish music, not bad country music as now;
- The state should stop the FF dominance of the festivals that Ireland will get every year like Celtic connections and Lorient and ensure new bands get a break there
- If there is any grant money for tours in the USA, it would best be used by ensuring safe transport and accommodation.
After that, leave it up to the market; many Irish musicians
are in my experience very hard-working and able. Under FF, they experienced
nothing but state collusion with criminals.
Seán Ó Nualláin Lunasa 2014
(please note part of this was mailed to the Taoiseach and posted elsewhere)
PS A similar analysis might work on the destruction of native Irish initiative in academia, with the people behind SFI/PRTLI destroying many good initiatives
After all, why have good science and other scholarship be produced free by native Irish if you can have expensive and inferior material done by foreigners living off the Irish taxpayer?
It buttresses one's opinion to consider that DCU's head was a director of the British-American Business Counci, currently governed by such luminaries as James Murdoch;
http://www.babc.org/about/boards.php
http://universitywatchdog.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/affiars-of-the-nation-dcus-president/
We do not need any of these parasites.
PPS Remarkably, this infamous comment made at commencement/conferring in 2005 is now hard to find;
'"Ireland's native population could be in a minority by the middle of this century, the president of Dublin City University (DCU) will claim today. But large-scale immigration is still essential if we are to remain prosperous, Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski will say.
Unpublished UK-based research, which he does not identify, has indicated that by 2050, Ireland's population will consist of a multicultural and multiethnic mix in which the indigenous Irish will form a minority.
He says this is based on some demographic projections which also suggest that people of Chinese origin may form the largest of the new ethnic groups.
"Whether this turns out to be an accurate prediction or not, we have to prepare for a very different kind of society," he says.
"It needs to be a planned process to ensure our skills needs are being met . . . a very substantial increase in population will be needed over a long period of time.
"And I don't think people have quite realised this yet."
In a speech to be delivered at a conferring ceremony in DCU later today, Prof von Prondzynski will also argue that any attempt to stop migration here will lead to a significant decline in the Irish economy, and a return to Ireland's peripheral status in Europe.
This is because a major population expansion is needed for the next wave of economic growth.
Universities have a particular obligation to prepare the country for the increasingly multicultural nature of Irish society, he believes.
Inter-cultural studies and research should be prioritised, while care needs to be taken to ensure the "new Irish" gain equal access to higher education.
Universities should also be "active contributors" to anti-racism policies, and should offer support to industry and to Government agencies in this regard.
However, Prof von Prondzynski will stress that they should maintain an interest in, and support for, Irish traditional culture as part of this development.
"Ireland as a multicultural society will be able to make a particularly valuable contribution to the new Europe, and will be able to continue to lead as a country in which high-value innovation takes place and strong community values are espoused."
Although the immigration issue is a difficult one for the Government, recently introduced measures - such as increased restrictions on citizenship - are frequently counterproductive, the professor said yesterday.
"People are nervous about immigration. But immigration is almost always a good thing. People think immigrants come here and take jobs, but the opposite is true. They will come and create jobs."
http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/5233563?view=Eircomnet'
If anyone thinks i am being paranoid about the disappearance of this from most of the web, try this on any search engine (it i about P's attempt to destroy academic freedom and tenure in Ireland)
Cahill -v- DCU, [2009] IESC 80 (2009)
Now try
Cahill -v- DCU, [2009] 80 (2009)
This is expensive hacking.......the supreme court story embarrasses them
So here are a few sites that still preserve the other story;
http://www.thephora.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-1904.html
http://thumped.com/bbs/threads/2050-chinese-outnumber-irish-in-ireland.22177/
http://www.politics.ie/forum/health-social-affairs/211684-forces-lined-up-make-irish-minority-their-homeland-33.html
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24775395.html
PPS Yes, it is moderate rant mode
As Scotland prepares to leave the UK within 17 years of Ireland recognizing it, we can look at indepndemce for ourselves
First, we can pay for ourselves by getting tid of corruption paid for by taxpayers as above, We can then look at the 800+ boards that cost us so much. Surely we can start by having our 2 competition bodies compete to produce a winner or MAD (mutual assured destruction)?
http://www.competitiveness.ie/newsevents/news/title,10698,en.php
http://www.tca.ie/
PPPS (20150
The following means that the ONLY Irish roots musician seeming to make a living was actually, as Mel and I suspected, a front
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/sharon-shannon-and-manager-ordered-to-pay-bank-520-000-1.2081461
SS was still getting all the prestige gigs like Lorient through Dunford.
AR's in brief
1. nationalize IMRO;
2. Cut IMRO tariffs 50% and eliminate them for folk music;
3. Expand aos dana to include all quality musicians doing 50 or more gigs a year
PS A similar analysis might work on the destruction of native Irish initiative in academia, with the people behind SFI/PRTLI destroying many good initiatives
After all, why have good science and other scholarship be produced free by native Irish if you can have expensive and inferior material done by foreigners living off the Irish taxpayer?
It buttresses one's opinion to consider that DCU's head was a director of the British-American Business Counci, currently governed by such luminaries as James Murdoch;
http://www.babc.org/about/boards.php
http://universitywatchdog.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/affiars-of-the-nation-dcus-president/
We do not need any of these parasites.
PPS Remarkably, this infamous comment made at commencement/conferring in 2005 is now hard to find;
'"Ireland's native population could be in a minority by the middle of this century, the president of Dublin City University (DCU) will claim today. But large-scale immigration is still essential if we are to remain prosperous, Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski will say.
Unpublished UK-based research, which he does not identify, has indicated that by 2050, Ireland's population will consist of a multicultural and multiethnic mix in which the indigenous Irish will form a minority.
He says this is based on some demographic projections which also suggest that people of Chinese origin may form the largest of the new ethnic groups.
"Whether this turns out to be an accurate prediction or not, we have to prepare for a very different kind of society," he says.
"It needs to be a planned process to ensure our skills needs are being met . . . a very substantial increase in population will be needed over a long period of time.
"And I don't think people have quite realised this yet."
In a speech to be delivered at a conferring ceremony in DCU later today, Prof von Prondzynski will also argue that any attempt to stop migration here will lead to a significant decline in the Irish economy, and a return to Ireland's peripheral status in Europe.
This is because a major population expansion is needed for the next wave of economic growth.
Universities have a particular obligation to prepare the country for the increasingly multicultural nature of Irish society, he believes.
Inter-cultural studies and research should be prioritised, while care needs to be taken to ensure the "new Irish" gain equal access to higher education.
Universities should also be "active contributors" to anti-racism policies, and should offer support to industry and to Government agencies in this regard.
However, Prof von Prondzynski will stress that they should maintain an interest in, and support for, Irish traditional culture as part of this development.
"Ireland as a multicultural society will be able to make a particularly valuable contribution to the new Europe, and will be able to continue to lead as a country in which high-value innovation takes place and strong community values are espoused."
Although the immigration issue is a difficult one for the Government, recently introduced measures - such as increased restrictions on citizenship - are frequently counterproductive, the professor said yesterday.
"People are nervous about immigration. But immigration is almost always a good thing. People think immigrants come here and take jobs, but the opposite is true. They will come and create jobs."
http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/5233563?view=Eircomnet'
If anyone thinks i am being paranoid about the disappearance of this from most of the web, try this on any search engine (it i about P's attempt to destroy academic freedom and tenure in Ireland)
Cahill -v- DCU, [2009] IESC 80 (2009)
Now try
Cahill -v- DCU, [2009] 80 (2009)
This is expensive hacking.......the supreme court story embarrasses them
So here are a few sites that still preserve the other story;
http://www.thephora.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-1904.html
http://thumped.com/bbs/threads/2050-chinese-outnumber-irish-in-ireland.22177/
http://www.politics.ie/forum/health-social-affairs/211684-forces-lined-up-make-irish-minority-their-homeland-33.html
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24775395.html
PPS Yes, it is moderate rant mode
As Scotland prepares to leave the UK within 17 years of Ireland recognizing it, we can look at indepndemce for ourselves
First, we can pay for ourselves by getting tid of corruption paid for by taxpayers as above, We can then look at the 800+ boards that cost us so much. Surely we can start by having our 2 competition bodies compete to produce a winner or MAD (mutual assured destruction)?
http://www.competitiveness.ie/newsevents/news/title,10698,en.php
http://www.tca.ie/
PPPS (20150
The following means that the ONLY Irish roots musician seeming to make a living was actually, as Mel and I suspected, a front
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/sharon-shannon-and-manager-ordered-to-pay-bank-520-000-1.2081461
SS was still getting all the prestige gigs like Lorient through Dunford.
AR's in brief
1. nationalize IMRO;
2. Cut IMRO tariffs 50% and eliminate them for folk music;
3. Expand aos dana to include all quality musicians doing 50 or more gigs a year
