IMRO

Music - Its Contribution to Ireland

At the opening of the then MusicBase in Dublin in September 1992, former President Mary Robinson recalled being a teenager in the '60's and hearing Bob Dylan's first protest songs and feeling that someone had captured "that elusive sense of change and alienation at last".

Thirty years later, the change and alienation of the '90's is reflected in the contemporary music of a new generation, among whom are some of Ireland's finest songwriters.

President Robinson showed her support for Irish music on various occasions.

She spoke of "an industry which, over the last ten years, has grown and flourished in this country in an astonishing way. Its success has fed our economy and enhanced our reputation abroad. "

And she has stated that "our reputation as a modem creative country has been immeasurably enhanced by the success of our musicians and their music, " and that "more than in most countries, music prevails as a vibrant and natural part of our self-expression."

Apart altogether from its cultural value, "it's an industry that gives widespread employment and which generates revenue of £100,000,000 a year" , according to Derry O'Brien of the International Services department of An Bord Trachtala (The Irish Trade Board).

According to the American magazine Billboard, in 1992, our leading rock music export, U2, were the year's top concert act in the U.S.A. They attracted 2,168,071 people, who paid $61,258,890 to attend their 67 shows.

But it can take many years before artists manage to break even, never mind make a profit.

U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, has "some horrible memories' of their early days, "touring the world, not all the time in salubrious circumstances. We've been on that autobahn in the rain, with that broken-down van".

Although Chris De Burgh, who worked in London's Covent Garden to finance his early musical activities, began recording in 1972, he says it was not until 1983 -

"after 11 years of being broke" - that he finally got a large royalty cheque.

After ten years as a songwriter, Mick Hanly admitted he would be "looking down a very dark tunnel" , but for his "Past the Point of Rescue" reaching number two on the U.S. country charts for Hal Ketchum.

During those lean years of building a career, it's crucial that songwriters and composers are justly rewarded for their efforts.

The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) has a key role to play in this regard, protecting the rights of those who are morally and legally entitled to payment for the use of their work.

Where copyright music is used in public, a licence is required; although there is a growing awareness and increasing acceptance of this fact, there remains a degree of resistance.

With this in mind, IMRO wishes to clarify the situation.

"This question of the protection of copyright didn't start with IMRO" , explains Hugh Duffy, IMRO's Chief Executive.

"It started as early as 1927 in the first Senate, when Senator WB Yeats walked out and never returned to the Senate again. He was protesting against the Senate's attitude towards copyright and censorship. They wanted to curtail copyright protection to publications in Ireland.

"The fundamental is that we are signatories to the Berne Convention and to the various protocols since it was originally signed. Therefore, we must give the same protection to other countries' creators as we do to our own.

"The people who use music as pail of their money-making activities must realise that the copyright in music is a property as real as motor cars or land, or any other property, and is not something which is for free.

'There have been vast fortunes made out of the exploitation of music as an input to the disco business, the singing pub business, the tourist business. Visitors to Ireland recognise music as being an inherent part of the Irish tourist product and come to see it in its natural environment."

Hugh Duffy stresses the potential employment benefits to be reaped from the expansion of the Irish music industry at home and abroad.

"With Ireland looking for growth in employment, it's worth pointing out that, taking the United States as a model, intellectual property is the only industry that has grown in the U.S. over the last four years.

"It has grown at three times the rate of other industries, including pharmaceuticals and the motor industry and is now the number two export industry out of the USA.

"Because of our high creativity per bead of population, both in the literary and musical spheres, we have a chance as a small country to get in on this explosion in the value to the world economy of intellectual property, arising out of the entertainment industry.

"But we must be seen as a fair member of the club and we must protect other people's rights here. Otherwise, we cannot expect other countries to protect the rights of our performers, whether they be the Dubliners or Chieftains, U2 or Chris De Burgh. "

Ireland, as a signatory to the Berne Convention, is bound to incorporate into its laws, where it does not already have them, all the protection for intellectual property - and it must be based on the principle that other countries are given the same rights in Ireland as Irish citizens.

"We can't expect to get six billion pounds in transfers from the EC over the next five years - largely coming from Germany, France and the U.K - on the one hand, and on the other hand, refuse to pay these people who, by the way, are paying taxes that fund the six billion!" says Hugh Duffy. "There's a double-think here on a massive scale.

For IMRO, legal action is the last resort. We employ a team in the field whose task it is to go around and explain to people their legal and moral obligations to songwriters and composers.

It is only after such attempts have failed, after the expenditure of time and resources - and also attempts by the office-based staff by way of correspondence, the clarification of warnings, and so on - that we do go to court.

And even if we succeed in a legal action, we are never able to recover the vast majority of the costs we've incurred. Those costs don't just disappear into thin air; they're deducted from the earnings of composers and songwriters.

So, if it is thought that IMRO spends too much on administration, costs could be cut considerably if people observed their copyright obligations the way they observe, say, fire regulations."

The Law Reform Commission's report on the law relating to dishonesty has recommended that copyright is a property right indistinguishable from other property rights - and thus falls within the ambit of the new recommendation on dishonesty. So, if one infringes copyright, one is stealing copyright and, logically, would then be committing a crime under any new law relating to dishonesty.

Robert Morgado, Chairman of the Warner Music Group, is a former chief of staff to New York Governor, Hugh Carey, and in 1977 played a part in saving the city from bankruptcy.

Interviewed by "The Los Angeles Times" in November 1991 about the opening up of new international music markets, he said "Changes in technology and copyright protection are providing us with new opportunities.

Five years ago, it wouldn't have made sense for us to try to do business in Asia outside of Japan and Hong Kong. But now, it has become an absolutely relevant and important part of our business."

According to Hugh Duffy, "It should be remembered that, as a country with export boards and other bodies working on our non-intellectual property for 50 years, our songs are the only branded Irish product available worldwide.

You can go into a department store anywhere in the world and you may find some Waterford glass and you may find some Kerrygold. But you can go into any record shop from Alaska to South Australia and you will find 20 to 30 Irish branded products that are distinctly Irish - and the music industry did that with virtually no support from state authorities."

"Copyright and Neighbouring rights form the foundation of intellectual creativity and the propagation of culture. Protection of these rights guarantees the maintenance and development of creativity and cultural diversity to the benefit of authors, of performers, of cultural industries, of consumers and ultimately of society at large." ("Copyright and Neighbouring Rights in the European Community", published by the Commission of the European Communities 1991).

"From a cursory examination of statistics, we're confident that Ireland benefits substantially from this international system, in that we receive significantly more royalties from abroad than we actually send out." says IMRO's Director of Services, Eamon Shackleton.

"While music is but one aspect of a discotheque, it is the fundamental component which allows the proprietor attract custom and generate profit … We have established that, if anything, the contribution of the music creators in this substantial industry is under-valued." ("Report on Discotheques in the Irish Hotel Industry", Simpson Xavier Horwath Consulting).

For such a vital component, the level of IMRO tariffs gives exceptionally good value for money. IMRO tariffs are calculated to represent .41% of total revenue, 1.02% of admissions revenue and by way of comparison, 3.7% of labour costs.

"Despite the fact that music is an indispensable part of the disco operation, the cost of it is ludicrously minimal." asserts Hugh Duffy.

"There are a number of premises in the city of Dublin which, before they got into the live music business, were not making money. The introduction of live music meant the difference between failure and success.

An example is late night at the Olympia. The Gaiety has opened a late night music bar. So has the Riverside Theatre. It seems to be the formula to arrive at commercial success. All you have to do is have a premises, have a licence and have music.

There is no other business in which the cost of sales is a half percent of the selling price."