The conclusion to MIX 05 saw HOTPRESS Assistant Editor STUART CLARK chairing a panel that included new acts and experienced industry practitioners as they took a long hard look at the primary obstacles that face emerging artists in an age of downloads, ringtones, shrinking record company advances, the squeezing of CD prices and massive competition. JACKIE HAYDEN was there, assiduously taking notes. Below is a summary of the key points made by the various contributors, on what turned out to be a challenging and stimulating occasion.
PHOTOS CATHAL DAWSON

THE INDEPENDENT ROUTE

The vast majority of current Irish acts have adopted a somewhat maverick approach to their music careers in that many of them fund, record, release and market their own recordings. But what drives this spirit of independence and what difficulties does it present for the emergent artist?

SHAZ OYE: I looked at the approach of people who went before me and who had made it work in Ireland, people like Damien Rice, Juliet Turner and David Gray. I looked at how they circumvented the obstacles in their way and worked around the established framework. And it’s not only happening in Ireland. It’s great to see a maverick talent like Antony and The Johnsons winning the Mercury Prize and doing really well now, especially since he’d been at it for a long while. Usually the tendency is to go for the newest or the youngest, so this was a great change from that. But if you want it, you have to go out and get it.

RICHIE McDONOGH: Each artist who strives to reach their own audience in their own way could be described as maverick. When I first heard Antony and The Johnsons I told the head of Mercury Records that I thought they were amazing and he said, “but what kid is going to aspire to be a fat bloke who wants to be a woman?” But there is an audience for the music – and that should encourage others to do what they believe in.

JULIE FEENEY: I did everything myself for my own album, including playing nearly all of the instruments because I got no money from anybody. It’s incredibly difficult and it’s a big risk, and I’m not the most practical person in the world, but it had to done. It becomes a full-time thing, but I think it’s a better way of using your energy, to get on with it and do it yourself, instead of waiting around for somebody else to do it all for you. Apart from any other advantage, it gives you great freedom and it’s great fun. Every day you should do at least two things to advance yourself. It’s important not to be fearful, not to avoid approaching somebody who might be able to help you. That way you’re always moving forward. It’s a great learning process, you’re in control and you’ve nobody else to answer to. I’m having a blast right now.

PETER AIKEN: The Irish music scene is maverick in all kinds of ways. For instance, 50 Cent is bigger in Dublin than he is in LA! But hip-hop is not as big in Belfast. We’ve promoted Aslan and Christy Moore at The Point, Damien Rice and The Frames could also sell out The Point, but not that many local acts get to that level.

DUAN STOKES: You have to remember that Ireland has about the same population as Greater Manchester – but we do produce an extraordinary number of talented music people. Perhaps our great tradition of storytelling explains why so many of our artists are in the singer-songwriter genre. There’s an acceptance now that musicians must be prepared to take risks and Julie Feeney’s album is a great example of that. It’s not one that will jump onto a radio station’s playlist, but it will stand up on the international market, just as Antony and The Johnsons does. Today people are more open to that type of maverick approach than they were when record companies were just looking for the next U2 and you had to be a guitar band.

KIERAN McGEARY: 30% of the music played on Beat FM has to be Irish music, so the increased number of Irish releases can only make it easier to reach that quota, which is a good thing. But it tends to come in waves. Sometimes we get a lot of records we can play and at other times there are fewer of them.

THE HOLY GRAIL OF AIRPLAY

Common sense, backed by current music industry thinking, maintains that before people get into an artist or a record – or even a particular style of music – they first have to hear it, and radio, despite the increasing number of free samplers with magazines and free downloads, is still the main medium through which we first hear new music. Not surprisingly therefore, the competition for airplay is more intense than ever, while commercial radio stations have to balance whatever support they want to give new music with the need to pay the bills.

KIERAN McGEARY: Beat FM is a commercial station and we’ve been criticised for pandering too much to top 40 listeners. So it’s very hard for an act to be maverick in that sort of environment. If you want to make it, you need to get airplay, and the more extreme you are the more difficult that is. Somebody like Tara Blaise, who has a mainstream sound, we have played her consistently – whereas the unsigned acts and demos go into our weekend shows. It’s unlikely that we’d ever put a demo on daytime in what is an increasingly competitive marketplace where we’re up against more and more radio stations – not to mention iPods, digital radio stations and other challenges.

SHAZ OYE: Obviously radio airplay helps to put bums on seats. For me, the holy grail isn’t getting a big record deal, it’s getting airplay. So I did a radio tour last autumn and did a live set on lots of stations all over the country, starting with Rattlebag on Radio 1. It’s down to building relationships with key people and proving not only that you have the talent but that you’re reliable, that you’re worth interviewing because you have something to say and that you’re prepared to make the effort. Radio stations outside Dublin are delighted if you’re prepared to take the trouble to call in on them, rather than taking the lazy option of just doing the interview on the phone.

THE DISTRIBUTION PROBLEM

But no matter how many times music fans read about a band or artist, or hear a piece of music they like on radio, they must be able to buy it with some reasonable degree of convenience. The internet is now a fundamental, if not downright essential, part of that distribution process, while conventional distribution through shops is still a key channel. But if you’re going it alone, how do you handle the problem of making your records accessible to the public?

JULIE FEENEY: It’s hugely time-consuming at the beginning, having to ring so many shops and trying to persuade them to take a copy or two, but when you get a deal with a distribution company, that part of it becomes a bit easier – although, for obvious reasons, your earnings per copy are far less. But you have to do it. You have to try to get your records available everywhere you can and by any means the public might be able to buy them. There’s hardly much point in making the record in the first place if people can’t buy it.

SHAZ OYE: The move from hard-copy CDs to downloads via the internet opens up a whole new galaxy of opportunities for artists like Julie and myself. You are literally able to market your records to the entire world, or at least to as many people in it as know about you. From observations at gigs, I reckon I straddle two generations, those who want to buy CDs because they like to have something solid in their hands, and the younger generation who are at home with the new technology, who may never go to a record shop and who get all their music online. So I have to investigate all of the possibilities when it comes to distribution.

THE MEDIA

The increasing number of records being released on the Irish market means that it’s arguably harder than ever to get the exposure you need, especially if you’re going it alone.

JULIE FEENEY: Yes, I found it really hard, ringing people up myself, having to explain who I was, making a fool of myself now and then, having to ring people back and so on. But I gradually discovered that people were willing to be helpful and I was delighted in the end with the support I got. The good news is that it gets a little easier as you go on, as there’s an increasing chance, the next time, that they might at least have heard of you.

KIERAN McGEARY: I think that kind of persistence pays off. But anyone who contacts us has to appreciate that a radio station is literally receiving hundreds of records every week. It’s a full time job trying to keep track of them all and to separate the very good material from the material that might not be so good, even for technical reasons. Artists should be inventive in the way they try to publicise themselves. Radio stations are more likely to give you support if your record is going to be available to their listeners to pick up.

 

The above is an excerpt from the Panel Discussion that concluded MIX 05. The discussion can be seen in full in the HOTPRESS Yearbook 2006, available in all good stores or online here.The range of topics covered in the MIX 05 Panel Discussion were as follows:

The Independent Route, The Holy Grail of Airplay, The Distribution Problem, The Media, The Role of the Publicist, Where Gigging Fits In, The Management Crisis, Getting the International Deal, The Internet and The Digital Radio Future.

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