Radio's Gone Ga Ga In Ireland

By Joe Kavanagh

In spite of its reputation as a musical land, the reality is that, much of the time, Ireland's musicians survive in spite of the actions of the government and a good deal of the media, not because of it. From the impenetrable concentric rings of nepotism, to anemic media support and an outdated industry which is one of the few entities that has remained entirely unchanged on the island during the last 30 years; the sad reality is that most Irish musicians are faced with myriad obstacles and little or no assistance from any quarters. Even when laws are passed to assist the development of domestic musicians, they are routinely ignored or abused. It was left to, Niall Stokes, editor of Ireland's most popular music publication, Hot Press, to recently reveal what every musician on the island has suspected for the past decade: the powers that be in Irish national radio enjoy a relationship with Irish musicians that borders upon hostile.

Stokes recounted a time in the early 90s when he and a group of other like-minded industry insiders fought long and hard to get a law that would compel Irish radio stations to play a certain quota of music by Irish musicians, even going so far as taking the matter to those at the very top of the European Union's legal system. After much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth, a law was passed commanding Irish radio stations to commit 30% of their airtime to Irish artists. Given the fact that such quotas are common practice in other countries and, more often that not, actually embraced by those affected by it, it was imagined that this move would create the type of environment that would nurture and enhance the abundance of raw musical talent apparent on the island.

Such idealistic aspirations have since been cruelly dashed upon the rocks of bureaucracy, with those at them helm of Irish radio featuring heavily as the sirens that called them ashore. Given their hostility to the move, it comes as little surprise that the biggest radio stations in Ireland are in reality playing little more than the 3% that they did when Stokes and company first set their stall over a decade ago. It gets worse as, according to reports, many Irish radio stations are now applying the so-called "granny-rule", in order to reach, or even approach this quota. For those of you unfamiliar with a rule that was once used to great and controversial effect to recruit players for Ireland's national soccer team, it essentially means that having Irish lineage is enough to qualify you as Irish. Under such cynical parameters, radio stations simply search for some tenuous Irish link with international acts that allows them to be reclassified as Irish. So it is that bands like Oasis, The Smiths, The Smashing Pumpkins (Billy Corgan claims Irish ancestry) and Foo Fighters (ditto Dave Grohl) can all be classified as "Irish" in order to meet the quota. If this sounds a little ridiculous to the average sentient being, then it gets better because even such liberal latitude was not enough for others who insisted that an album could also be classified as Irish if it any part of its production was carried out in Ireland. This means that albums from bands like Bloc Party, Muse, Bonnie Raitt and REM's latest, Accelerate, all now fit the criteria necessary to be declared Irish music, by some in Irish radio. Even Kylie Minogue's latest album, X, qualifies her as an Irish act purely because the album was mixed in Ireland, mind you the name would probably have sufficed even without her other credentials. Much of the blame for such a systematic failure lies at the feet of those behind the scenes at the biggest stations in Ireland who have so cynically attempted to subvert the spirit of the quota and decried it as untenable. According to them, the public does not want to hear the latest in Irish music and forcing stations to play the music of local bands would ultimately do untold damage to the radio industry, although little or no proof is ever provided to back up such assertions .

The vast majority of support for Irish bands has come from the smaller regional stations who are more open to change and certainly more willing to give local acts at least a puncher's chance. Ignoring the ivory tower attitude of bigger stations, these regional outfits have enjoyed positive ratings and built a sense of public ownership with local bands. Radio stations like Dublin's Phantom FM and Spin FM, Cork's Red FM and Waterford's Beat FM are now the backbone of the Irish music industry, giving invaluable exposure to Irish acts that haven't a hope of cracking the play lists of the country's bigger stations. On even smaller stations, deejays like Dublin South FM's Brendan Hickey or Anna Livia FM's Aoife McElwain (both of whom have their own podcasts), seemingly devote every waking hour of their day supporting Irish acts. As further illustration, in addition to adding a liberal sprinkle of Irish rock music during every hour of transmission, all of the aforementioned stations have weekly shows dedicated solely to playing the latest music from emerging Irish acts. As of the last several years, Ireland's two biggest stations, 2FM and Today FM do not have any such show, which speaks volumes about how they view contemporary Irish rock music. For sure, these stations do have deejays like Dan Hegarty and Larry Gogan and others, who genuinely are committed to promoting Irish bands but they cannot move mountains by themselves, given the fact that the former is on late at night while the latter is on for one hour all week.

Virtually every country in the world has a quota system and, unlike their Irish counterparts, radio stations in most countries are proud to support their domestic music scenes, conscious of just how important a part they have to play in the nurturing of talent. In contrast to the whining of Irish radio stalwarts, in other countries the deejays and programmers actually back their domestic scenes with verve, zeal and a sense of pride. Acts in these countries can build strong domestic fanbases, which serve as their bread and butter, allowing them to use the momentum to push themselves into markets abroad. Since the highly-innovative Super Extra Bonus Party's self-titled album deservedly won the Choice Music Prize -supposedly making it the most critically-acclaimed domestic album of the year - I have not heard them on primetime Irish national radio once.

This week, Ireland's Top 100 Albums Chart contains 17 Irish entries. Eliminating albums that are either 'Best of', re-releases or Westlife, you have a grand total of three Irish albums that have been released within the past year and could be considered 'contemporary', which, sadly, corresponds almost exactly with the percentage of airplay Irish contemporary music receives. Likewise, Irish radio stations played Snow Patrol's songs only after the band broke in the UK, which essentially says that those who set the programming for Irish radio did not believe the band was any good until the UK market told them so. To put it bluntly, the behavior of the big guns in the Irish radio industry sends out a clear message that they have absolutely no confidence in the Irish contemporary music. Given the indisputable fact that the current crop of Irish acts is without a doubt the most talented and diverse that the country has ever seen, that is a particularly sad and deeply troubling statement. Irish radio's biggest players are not only failing to assist contemporary Irish music, they appear determined to play a lead role in its destruction.