Ghosts Of Music Past

By Joe Kavanagh

Given the revolutionary changes that the music industry has undergone in the past few years, there is little doubt that 2008 will be a watershed year for virtually everyone associated with music business, be they labels, acts or promoters. Made flaccid by 50 years of self-indulgent behavior, the industry is now running scared and its paranoia is in no way unfounded. It is not too much of an exaggeration to posit that the basic structures of the recording industry remained essentially unchanged between the arrival of the recordable cylinder in the late nineteenth century and the advent of the compact disc just over two decades ago. Initially, there were literally hundreds, if not thousands, of little companies that released the work of those artists in their immediate geographical area, but as the industry grew exponentially in the 1950s, bringing with it strange new concepts like 'teenagers' and 'pop culture', savvy companies realized the vast amount of monies to be made with this growing mass production. In time, larger labels bought up all those around them, while others soon became extinct, leading to a point in the 1990s when just five major label giants were responsible for over 70% of all the music that was purchased around the globe, giving them unprecedented power to effectively dictate and control what the vast majority of the public listened to.

Then along came the internet. Initially, the majors were welcoming of this new medium, viewing it as yet another vehicle to make them more money, little knowing that this vehicle would eventually drive them to the edge of a precipice from where there appears to be no escape. Continuing a trend that began before the turn of the millennium, music sales dropped by another 40% last year, leading to a situation which Tim Clark, former managing director of Island Records, recently described as "cataclysmic". Clark was also quick to point out that the greed and profligacy of the industry has failed to serve either the public or artists in a satisfactory manner, meaning that few will mourn their imminent demise, if or when it does come to fruition. Ireland, naturally, differs little in the fact that file sharing has provoked the decimation of the recording industry but there are other mitigating factors in the Irish industry exacerbating this terminal malaise.

The last decade or so has seen contemporary Irish music enjoy its most creative spell since the dawn of recorded music but for a prolonged period spanning the late 70s to the late 90s, most international observers somewhat justifiably denigrated Irish bands for sounding "too Irish". Although there were occasional gems along the way, the Irish rock scene was generally a rather dour place with a host of somewhat dreary bands suffering from a determinedly parochial sound, which had little chance of achieving success outside of the 32 counties. Those few acts that did make it abroad often found themselves playing to a partisan crowd, drawn almost exclusively from the Irish diaspora, leading to a situation where record companies were happy to pass the entire island of as a musical backwater.

In recent years, this has all changed as Irish bands have diversified like never before to the point where the very notion of sounding too Irish has been all but obliterated. There is the smooth soul of Republic Of Loose, a genuinely compelling hip hop act in Messiah J & The Expert, electronica from Super Extra Bonus Party and a host of other top quality acts playing virtually every permutation of rock music that you could imagine. Having spent a lot of time in the UK playing with and viewing some of the supposed best of the acts that the UK has to offer, I can honestly say that this new wave of Irish bands could comfortably hold their own against their UK counterparts, if given the opportunity but the key phrase lies in the words: "if given the opportunity." In reality, most Irish bands never get the opportunity to play abroad but the problem does not lie overseas. The sad fact is that the Irish music industry has been eating and choking its own for some time now.

For me, the first finger of blame should be pointed squarely at the Irish media who - aside from a few dozen dedicated souls - have essentially turned their collective backs on the creative well that has sprung up in the past decade or so. For every deejay and journalist who takes time to go to gigs or listen to demos, there are dozens who are more concerned with a pay check than anything to do with music.

Even the broadcasting law passed compelling stations to play a certain amount of home grown music has been made a mockery of as stations made up the numbers by playing more records by U2, Westlife and The Corrs. Additionally, I have never, ever seen a case where the Irish music media has jumped behind an act and said: "This band are going to be huge, go out and see them yesterday." Like them or loathe them but the UK media will throw all their weight and reputation behind an act virtually on a weekly basis. So what if the band fails to live up to the hype only a few weeks later? At least they had their shot and were given the publicity that is the cornerstone of any act that is remotely ambitious. With just a few notable exceptions, the Irish media generally takes its lead from the UK or US media, afraid to back their own for whatever reason, little realizing that such a tactic engenders in the public a deep-seated sense that there is nothing worth listening to in the Irish scene. The UK media may build bands up only to knock them down but at least they get the building phase done.

Another problem that utterly dogs the Irish music industry is the problem of nepotism. In US and UK, markets utterly unfazed by sentiment, the best bands will almost always get their shot if they are good enough. Industry types in these and other places are more worried about making money than friends, yet in Ireland this is certainly not the case. Too often, a band gets to play a certain festival or stage because of who they know rather than what they are. This may not be too bad in and of itself but consider the fact that there are often scouts from around the world at these events, who then go back to their respective companies after seeing these acts, certain that this is the best that Ireland has to offer, creating a syllogism that broadly states: All Irish bands are s**t, therefore if a band is Irish then it has to be s**t. Not exactly the most beneficial culture to have surrounding our music. Bands need hype, it is their lifeblood and the Irish media is failing them abysmally.

The Irish music industry also seems to have utterly ignored the economic and social changes that have surged across Ireland behind the claws of the Celtic Tiger. Young people have more disposable income to spend on merchandise, music or gigs than ever before, while people are now buying records and attending gigs until far older than in times gone by, yet the market remains entirely unchanged from what it was 15 years ago. The old industry excuse used to be that Ireland was too small a market to warrant any major investment but now that it has changed immeasurably, the industry still refuses to change from the plan they have had since the advent of Dicky Rock. What is the excuse now?

If this trend continues then it will undoubtedly be looked back on as an abject failure to capitalize on what is to all intents and purposes a golden age for Irish bands.