Month: June 2012

Currently riding the wave of international songwriting success with recent cuts by Professor Green, Avicii and Westlife, RuthAnne Cunningham takes time out from writing and recording her debut album to make a flying visit back to Ireland. Catch a sneak preview of tracks from this album when RuthAnne pops into IMRO for a public interview and live performance later this week.

Date: Friday 13th July
Venue: IMRO, Copyright House, Pembroke Row, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2
Time: 7:00pm

BOOK NOW!    (OPEN TO NON IMRO MEMBERS)

To reserve a place at this event send an email to keith.johnson@nullimro.ie

Limited availability | No admission charge | Booking Essential

Biography

Based between London and LA, Irish-born artist RuthAnne draws on the distinctive energy of those cities to create a dynamic, soulful blend of pop with a rich vocal like no other. The unstoppable singer/songwriter has an impressive line-up of tunes behind her, created for pop-artists including Jojo’s hit single with Billy Steinberg, “Too Little too late,” which skyrocketed from number 66 to number 3 on the Billboard hot 100 chart in just one week in the US in 2007, breaking previous chart records – the biggest leap in Billboard chart history. The platinum smash went on to sell over a million units. And that’s just the jumping off point.

RuthAnne has written songs for chart-topping artists including Katharine McPhee, winner of Finnish pop idol Anna Abreu and winner of South African idol Jody Williams and Australian band Shakaya – and the list goes on. In 2007, RuthAnne had songs on three platinum albums in the US and Europe, and officially became Ireland’s youngest songwriter ever to achieve these honors (she won the Best Pop song Award at the 2007 ASCAP Awards). More stellar cuts and singles written by RuthAnne, including album title track “Turn it up”, album track “My Love”, and hit single “Broken Arrow”, recorded by British platinum-selling popstar Pixie Lott, followed. She then collaborated with Grammy winning producer John Shanks to co-write with Westlife for their recent ‘Greatest Hits’ album.

While she may have been burning brightly behind the scenes, RuthAnne was never content being just a music-industry insider – and now her journey is taking a major turn, into the spotlight.

RuthAnne’s time to shine as a solo artist is now, her undeniable vocal talent, her wildly rich soulful tone is soon to be heard around the world. After honing her skills over the past five years writing for, and collaborating with, many of the UK’s hottest stars and producers, (Leona Lewis, Sugarbabes, Labrinth, Ben Hudson, Ed Drewett, Devlin, X-Factor winning artist Alexander Burke, Cher Lloyd, JLS, Loick Essien, Tinchy Stryder, Professor Green, Westlife, among them), and having worked extensively with many internationally renowned producers (Ron Fair, John Shanks, Julian Bunetta, Jeff Bashker, Red One, Toby Gad, JR Rotem to name a few), RuthAnne is now in Los Angeles putting all of that experience and creativity into writing her own album of infectiously catchy soulful-pop.

Her first artist feature is with Brit rap star Professor Green, on the hook she penned for current single, ‘Remedy’ (June release in UK & across Europe).

She wrote and is featuring on DJ superstar Avicii’s upcoming single “All You Need Is Love” which is set to be a worldwide Summer anthem.

A handful of other exciting features and collaborations in the pipeline whilst working on her debut record.

RuthAnne’s unprecedented foundations in the industry along with her songwriting pedigree and irrepressible ambition, talent and unique vision have marked her a rising star to watch.

http://www.iamruthanne.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ruthannemusic
https://twitter.com/#!/ruthannemusic

CISAC to improve the Professional Rules governing authors’ societies worldwide

At its recent General Assembly in Dublin, CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) unanimously decided to launch a thorough review of its Professional Rules governing authors’ societies worldwide.

The review’s objective is to further strengthen CISAC’s Professional Rules, guaranteeing that authors’ societies continue to operate under the highest and most appropriate standards of governance, business efficiency and financial transparency. The revisions will be presented for approval at the next CISAC General Assembly in Washington DC in June 2013.

Key improvements to be covered by the review of CISAC Professional Rules are:

 Increasing the frequency of distribution of royalties to creators and rights holders. As a first major step in that direction, CISAC General Assembly adopted in June 2012 the principle of a quarterly distribution of royalties between authors’ societies.

 Ensuring better financial transparency through a reinforced and harmonised yearly declaration of societies to CISAC.

 Streamlining the compliance verification process. In order to guarantee that authors’ societies are trusted organisations within the creative sector, CISAC will improve its compliance verification process, while staged and escalating sanctions will be considered for societies which do not comply with CISAC Professional Rules.

“CISAC Professional Rules,” said CISAC Director General Olivier Hinnewinkel, “serve as a sort of code of conduct for authors’ societies internationally and contribute to establishing a fair system for everyone where creators get the benefit from their creations by getting paid for the use of their works – and where users have equal access to the worldwide repertoire.”

The Professional Rules are a binding code of governance, administrative, business, financial and data management principles, first laid down by CISAC in 2007 and adapted to each of the creative repertoires – music, audiovisual, dramatic, literary and visual arts. CISAC Professional Rules aim to streamline relations between authors’ societies, their members and users as well as to provide an assurance of the good governance, credibility, transparency, efficiency and legitimacy of authors’ societies that are members of CISAC.

After five years of implementation, CISAC decided it was time to revisit its Professional Rules in order to maintain high standards of governance and transparency in line with the interests of rights holders, users, governments and the general public, while taking into account the extreme diversity of situations among CISAC members.

About Authors’ societies and CISAC

Authors’ societies exist to ensure that creators’ rights are licensed, collected, managed and distributed fairly. They play a key role in licensing legitimate services and collecting and distributing royalties to creators and rightsholders worldwide. They also promote cultural diversity by facilitating worldwide access to cultural works.

Presided over by legendary singer and songwriter Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees (until his death on May 20, 2012) and internationally recognized visual artist Hervé di Rosa, CISAC – the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers – is the leading worldwide network of authors’ societies protecting and promoting the interests of creators and rights holders. CISAC’s fundamental mission is to enable authors’ societies to seamlessly represent creators across the globe and, in particular, to assist them in ensuring that royalties flow to authors for the use of their works anywhere in the world. To this end, CISAC provides the highest business & technical standards to protect creators’ rights and to support the development of the international network of collective management societies.

With 233 authors’ societies from 122 countries as its members, CISAC indirectly represents around 3 million creators and publishers of artistic works in all genres (music, drama, literature, audiovisual, photography and the visual arts). In 2010, the royalties collected by CISAC’s member societies in their respective national territories topped 7.5bn EUR.

CD Release and June 28 gig at Oh Yeah.

The first graduates have emerged from a special programme, ‘Scratch My Progress’, at the Oh Yeah music centre in Belfast.  These are: Katharine Phillipa, Conor Mason, 20 Second Century and Everyday Superheroes. At the end of this six month course they have each recorded a track for a compilation CD and will celebrate their completion of the pilot scheme with a gig.

This live event takes place at Oh Yeah, 15-21 Gordon Street, Belfast on Friday June 28. The compilation CD will be available on the night and a special guest will also feature.

Scratch My Progress is the first version of a talent development project, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland and promoted by the Citybeat radio station. One acts was chosen from a public vote and the others were selected by an industry panel.

The musicians were then introduced to vocal coaching, PR, photo sessions and meetings with a series of industry professionals. These included a specialist lawyer, a music industry accountant, an executive at Domino Records and a former A&R chief at Virgin Records. They learnt about copyright, film synch and survival skills on tour.

All of the acts have now been profiled by BBC Radio 1 Introducing. Meanwhile Katharine Phillipa appeared with the Ulster Orchestra in a live BBC broadcast from the Ulster Hall on May 22.

Katharine says:

” I think I need a surrogate musical family.  In Northern Ireland, I’ve seen it for sure – in other musicians, BBC Radio Ulster folk, and of course, at the Oh Yeah Centre, which is such a necessary base and nucleus within the music scene. With this kind of nurturing at the onset, a more stable musical growth can occur, just as the opportunity for music to be heard by as many ears as possible deepens.”

More info:

http://www.ohyeahbelfast.com/scratch_my_progress/view/katherine

http://www.ohyeahbelfast.com/scratch_my_progress/view/conor_brown

http://www.ohyeahbelfast.com/scratch_my_progress/view/20_second_century

http://www.ohyeahbelfast.com/scratch_my_progress/view/everyday_superheroes

The second series of Scratch My Progress will be launched in the second half of 2012.

DATE: Monday 9th July
TIME: 7pm
VENUE: IMRO, Copyright House, Pembroke Row, Dublin 2.

Hosted by Phil Udell of State.ie

This event is free of charge but due to limited capacity, booking is essential.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW

Should you wish to reserve a place, please email your name to keith.johnson@nullimro.ie

Paul Williams, Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winning Hall of Fame songwriter. Recognised as one of America’s most prolific and gifted lyricists and composers, Paul’s standards have been recorded by such diverse musical icons as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn, Johnny Mathis, The Carpenters, Luther Vandross, REM, Mel Torme, Anne Murray, Diana Krall, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross. His songs have also found favour with Country legends including Chet Atkins, Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Pride, Crystal Gayle, Lynn Anderson, The Oak Ridge Boys, Diamond Rio and Neil McCoy.

Laura Izibor is a Meteor Music Award winning songwriter and artist and is currently signed to Atlantic Records USA having originally been signed to Jive Records at the age of 17. Her debut album, Let the Truth Be Told, was released in May 2009. The album debuted at number two on the Irish Albums Chart. Her songs have featured on numerous hit TV show, films and adverts such as Grey’s Anatomy, Nanny Diaries, One Three Hill, P.S I Love You, Bones, Tough Love & Hibernian Aviva.

Laura has an EP to be released in late summer 2012, and is currently tracking for her second full-length release to be released in early 2013.
 

Biographies

Paul Williams

Paul Williams is an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winning Hall of Fame songwriter. He is a recipient of The National Music Publishers President’s Award and is President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).

Recognised as one of America’s most prolific and gifted lyricists and composers, Paul’s standards have been recorded by such diverse musical icons as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn, Johnny Mathis, The Carpenters, Luther Vandross, REM, Mel Torme, Anne Murray, Diana Krall, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross. His songs have also found favour with Country legends including Chet Atkins, Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Pride, Crystal Gayle, Lynn Anderson, The Oak Ridge Boys, Diamond Rio and Neil McCoy.

When asked which song is his favorite, Paul is quick to respond, “That’s easy! It’s “The Rainbow Connection”. It’s a thrill to hear my words interpreted by such inimitable talents as Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks, Sarah McLachlan, Judy Collins, Jason Mraz and Kermit the Frog!” “The Rainbow Connection”, from the children’s classic The “Muppet Movie”, is one of two Paul Williams’ songs that grace the American Film Institute’s list of the top movie songs of all time; the second, “Evergreen” is from the award winning Streisand/Kristofferson remake of A Star Is Born. Additional song scores include the cult favorites Phantom of the Paradise and Ishtar, as well as “The Muppet Christmas Carol”, “Bugsy Malone.”, and Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas, the latter of which has now been adapted for the stage. His recent work has remained wonderfully diverse, from creating and writing the songs and story for Disney’s A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa, to writing with the Scissor Sisters, to penning the music and lyrics for Garry Marshall’s theatrical sensation Happy Days.

Although most people came to know the witty Mr. Williams as one of Johnny Carson’s recurring favorites on The Tonight Show, or as an actor in dozens of films, television comedies and dramas, it is his musical legacy that continues to inspire. “We’ve Only Just Begun”, “Rainy Days And Mondays”, “You and Me Against The World”, “Just An Old Fashioned Love Song”,”Let Me Be The One” all remain pop classics and are performed by Paul in venues from New York to the Philippines.

Publicly lauded for his work as a songwriter, performer, actor and humanitarian, Paul predicts he’ll be remembered for playing Little Enos in the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy and for his lyrics to “The Love Boat” theme, although it is the lyrics from Bugsy Malone, recast for a recent Coke commercial, that aptly sum up his philosophy: “You give a little love and it all comes back to you; You’re gonna’ be remembered for the things that you say and do”. As a devoted husband to writer Mariana Williams and proud father, Paul considers his son Cole, and daughter Sarah, to be his best work.

Laura Izibor

The foundation begins with soul,” explains 25-year-old singer/songwriter/producer Laura Izibor of her passionate, piano-guided songs. On her debut album, Izibor continued the lineage set out by artists like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott; artists who combine a reverence for the traditions of early R&B with a thoroughly modern sensibility. After one listen to the powerful, honey-tinged vocals on Let The Truth Be Told, one thing is for sure. For Laura Izibor, it’s got to be real.

Born to a working class family in Dublin, Ireland, Izibor admits she didn’t grow up in a musical household. “My mother raised five kids on her own, so there wasn’t much time to buy records – it wasn’t that kind of home. I found myself fancying music at about 13.” Once the love for musicians like Stevie Wonder, Candi Stanton, and Roberta Flack took hold, she was smitten for good. “One door opened to the next – first I discovered Marvin Gaye, and then Otis Redding, and I just fell in love with soul music.”

At the age of 15, Izibor won a prestigious national performance competition, the “2FM Song Contest.” At 17, she started work on her debut album, taking the time to really hone her songs. Let The Truth Be Told was recorded over the course of four years in a diverse range of cities: New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Dublin among them. Laura also performed live constantly during this period, finding her true home onstage. Having performed several sold-out shows in Ireland, and opened for acts including James Brown, Angie Stone, and The Roots, she’s earned the affectionate moniker “The Soul of Ireland” from the folks back home.

Laura released her fully self-penned and co-produced debut album Let The Truth Be Told in 2009. “The title felt like a strong, almost biblical statement,” she explains. “I wrote this album because it’s my truth. It’s a sincere record and it has a feel of survival in it as well.” Izibor resisted the urge to feature established artists on various tracks, instead creating a revealing, and very personal, document of this moment in her life. “I didn’t want to be anybody’s protégé,” she says. “It was very tempting to put in the reinforcements, but for my debut album I wanted it to be 100% from me.”

The songs are ripe with authenticity, from the sassy, soulful album opener, “Shine,” to the magnificent and deeply personal “If Tonight Is My Last,” to the anthemic and inspirational “Mmm,” which colored the soundtrack of Step Up 2: The Streets. With her tracks also featured on Grey’s Anatomy, The Hills, and The Nanny Diaries, Izibor has found that airing her heartfelt take on life and love has translated to the hopes and struggles of various characters, as well as to the people at home watching them. “I hope people take away a sense of honesty and realness when listening to my music. They’re just songs written from a really sincere place, and hopefully people can connect to it on some level and relate their own lives to it as well.”