Irish Music on Irish Radio Article by Niall Stokes (1 Viewer)

[chickenham]

If you were talking about traditional music you might have a point. It's a part of the national identity many would like protected. It's in fine fettle though.
But is there truly any variety in Boyzone over Take That or U2 over Coldplay?
The homogeneity is systemic.

Yes, U2 over Coldplay; yes Boyzone over Take That, every time. It's not about what you or I think is especially valuable - it's the mindset of the media and the effect that that mindset has on impressionable people. Positive bias.

 

[Anthony]

plus the knock on effect. Hell, you might even go into hmv and hear the Corpo's new album being played.
At the moment too many people (including a lot of people here) unfortunatly still think "oh it's irish, it must be shit".

 

[Pantone247]

I've been thinking, what with State coming and F/N folding, and Aslan winning a Meteor and the choice award not really making a huge splash for SBP (or am I out of the loop on that one)

Does yr average Irish Joe/Josephine in the street really give a shit?

Obviously on a music forum full or musicians/Journalists/musos, you're going to get a reaction, but the other 4.5 million... do they even care if State is Irish and Word is not, or that they look like Delerentos more then Kooks?

 

[dudley]

plus the knock on effect. Hell, you might even go into hmv and hear the Corpo's new album being played.

hahaahahahahahaaaahahahaaaaaa

i'll start turning in my grave now

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Yes, U2 over Coldplay; yes Boyzone over Take That, every time. It's not about what you or I think is especially valuable - it's the mindset of the media and the effect that that mindset has on impressionable people. Positive bias.

Positive bias to what end?
Greater market share for 'Irish' product?
A stronger local music industry to make more Boyzones and Corrs?

Fecking go for it.

 

[Anthony]

hahaahahahahahaaaahahahaaaaaa

i'll start turning in my grave now

Not with that attitude.

 

[taubstumm]

Does yr average Irish Joe/Josephine in the street really give a shit?

probably not - but then when was the last time that *any* music was particularly white-hot?

when did a band last matter, in the wider scheme of things?

the zeitgeist, circa now: iphones, barack obama, blu-ray, the wire, facebook

no music

yes, i know this has nothing to do with the thread

carry on

(p.s. ireland doesn't have a domestic music industry, we're essentially an add-on to the u.k. market, hence no infrastructure or supports - this is always useful to keep in mind)

 

[egg_]

(p.s. ireland doesn't have a domestic music industry, we're essentially an add-on to the u.k. market, hence no infrastructure or supports - this is always useful to keep in mind)

And isn't changing this the real point of a quota? Westlife over Take That isn't going to turn the man in the street a fan of Chokchoi 3K Battery, but it means revenues generated by music in Ireland will be more inclined to stay in the country, and fund a real indigenous music industry. More and better studios, more and better sound engineers, session musicians and piano tuners. Maybe even an actual successful Irish record label. A better infrastructure in the country would good for the kind of music we like as well as the kind of music we hate

 

[taubstumm]

revenues generated by music in Ireland will be more inclined to stay in the country, and fund a real indigenous music industry

but westlife/corrs/u2 aren't 'irish' in the business sense - they're british or american or franco-german, so the revenues don't stay in ireland, even if the music is 'from ireland'. and there's no political will to initiate any comprehensive strategy for prioritising music from ireland (a la sweden, france, canada), so it just goes around in circles. not to say it can't change, but change comes dropping slow, dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings, won't you be my, be my baby, straight outta compton

 

[Lili Marlene]

not to say it can't change, but change comes dropping slow, dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings, won't you be my, be my baby, straight outta compton

a) really profound
b) gibberish
c) buncha unrelated quotes

 

[egg_]

but westlife/corrs/u2 aren't 'irish' in the business sense - they're british or american or franco-german, so the revenues don't stay in ireland, even if the music is 'from ireland'.

If they record in Windmill (as U2 do) or Westland (as The Corrs do) then that's a sizeable injection of cash into the local industry, even if their royalties funnel into some offshore tax haven. I presume that's the logic behind considering a record recorded in the country as "Irish"

As you say, there's no coherent policy so quotas may be futile. Of course, there's no coherent policy for anything much in Ireland is there?

 

[egg_]

Actually, y'know, there is a successful indigenous Irish music industry - there's country'n'Irish and there's trad.

 

[Los Davos]

i wish i had an opinion

 

[Scientician 0.8]

It's not that they should play music just because it's Irish but Irish music of any quality just isn't really played unless the bands are signed to a major label. That is rather shit in my opinion.
Ireland produces and purchases more music than most other nation states but support for our indigenous music is just lip service. Nationalism isn't really that big a deal but I see nothing wrong with regionalism. Someone above made the analogy with food, few of you claiming this is a bad idea would have a problem with locally produced foods. The origin and structure of delivery of cultural products (independent of notions of quality or good and bad) does matter for various reasons stated above by more cogent folk than myself.

There are several bands/artists who post on thumped who should receive radio play. MDR, Stoat, So Cow, Crayonsmith and there are others all create music as good as and better than alot of the meat-and-two-veg Britpop that's the flavour of the month on radio.

 

[Los Davos]

niall stokes is a cock Knocker

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

There should be a quota of 'Niall Stokes Is A Cunt' threads.

30%

 

[Pilchard]

Why the fuck is anyone taking niall stokes seriously? as willie o'reilly noted as quoted above, it was Stokes who brought in this shite in the first place. Of course, radio stations were going to abuse it - look at how they get around Irish language and news quotas. Typical of Stokes and his awful rag to start bleating long after the horse has bolted

 

[Jerry Twig]

At the moment too many people (including a lot of people here) unfortunatly still think "oh it's irish, it must be shit".

That's cos, invariably, it is.

 

[Vinnie]

I think the point people are making is that relatively speaking it's no shitter than any other country

 

[youreonlymassiv]

surely it's about nurturing more than what's shit or not?
Give support and talented would be nurtured here rather than
a) sticking to the day job. (though it looks like mdr would anyway
b) having to go abroad
still a postcolonial state when it comes to music support, it would seem.
It kills me how much cultural credence ireland gets out of it's music, when there is so little real support here. Like the situation in Canada, where indie bands aswell as your (normally funded) classical ensembles can apply for grants - maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't think there is anything like that here. Then again, maybe I'm hurting, cos music network rejected my proposed 32 county tour grant
maebh