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Month: July 2012

Improving Rules Governing Authors’ Societies and Online Licensing Benefit Creators Worldwide

IMRO welcomes EU proposal for a directive on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online uses in the internal market.

“IMRO is a membership based organisation, owned and governed by its membership and it has consistently set high standards for transparency and accountability to its members and end users who benefit from the public use of copyright music.  IMRO is a leading performing rights organisation, with a monthly royalty distribution schedule, making it one of the most efficient performing rights organisations internationally.  A full and comprehensive guide to IMRO distribution polices is available on the IMRO website https://imro.ie/music-creators/imro-distribution-policies/

IMRO hosted the CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) General Assembly in Dublin in June.  It was at this gathering of international performing rights organisations that IMRO instigated and championed a change to CISAC Professional Rules regarding the frequency of distributions between international collection agencies. We are delighted that due to our actions a new policy has been established which requires all performing rights organisations to raise the frequency of royalty distributions between societies to a minimum of quarterly distributions.  This is good news for music creators throughout the world.” states Victor Finn, IMRO, Chief Executive.

Authors’ societies assist creators in managing and licensing their rights and in collecting and distributing their royalties fairly and efficiently. It is in creators’ interest that their works are widely available on every legal platform. Authors’ societies around the world have been licensing an increasing number of online music services and are constantly seeking solutions to allow them to issue multi-territorial licences for the use of global repertoire, while protecting the economic value of their rights.

“Facilitating the digital distribution of creators’ works is in the best interests of authors and helps promote cultural diversity, said Kenth Muldin, Chair of CISAC Board of Directors.  “The EU initiative will have an impact outside Europe and will be looked at by other countries in developing their domestic rules on collective management. CISAC and its members are willing to work with the Commission and the Parliament to create a useful framework for collective management in the offline and online environment.”

Europe, and especially Western Europe, is the most dynamic and efficient region in terms of collective management of copyright. Royalties collected by authors’ societies on behalf of creators for the use of their works in the region topped 4.6bn EUR (61% of worldwide collections).

 

Gavin James Signs Deal With Believe Records UK

Irish singer / songwriter Gavin James has signed a deal with Believe Records UK. This gifted songwriter who boasts phenomenal songwriting abilities and a golden voice joins Believe’s growing roster including fellow Irish singer/songwriter James Vincent McMorrow. 

He is influenced by artists like Ray Lamontagne and Ray Charles. Gavin James’ manager Edison Waters stated, “We are delighted to have signed Gavin to such a progressive label, Believe is the perfect home for Gavin and we are looking forward to working with Stephen King and his team.” Gavin supports Nouvelle Vague at Cyprus Avenue Fri 20th July /  Dolans Sat 21st July and will play Indiependence Festival 3rd August. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/gavinjamesmusic

 

 

 

 

A Creative Collaboration: Crash Ensemble Music Residence at Project Arts Centre

Two of Ireland’s most exciting companies join forces for a creative collaboration that will push the boundaries of contemporary music.

Project Arts Centre is at the forefront of cutting edge art in Ireland, remaining dedicated to enabling artists to create work of high quality and ambition, and Crash Ensemble are Ireland’s foremost contemporary music ensemble.  Breaking rules is all par for the course for these two organisations, which is why embarking on this partnership is a natural progression of their shared ambition, giving Irish contemporary music a permanent home.

As part of this residency, Crash Ensemble will perform a series of concerts and events at Project Arts Centre over the next two years, bringing adventurous, ground-breaking new music to Irish audiences. The residency will encourage creative enquiry, artist collaboration across art forms and cultivate a new approach to the concert experience.

Kate Ellis, Co-Artistic Director, Crash Ensemble: I am thrilled to welcome Crash Ensemble back to Project Arts Centre, affirming our commitment to presenting an innovative contemporary music programme for our audiences. I have been a fan of Crash Ensemble’s work for many years and I look forward to the superb programmes they are planning and the potential collaborations between this legendary ensemble and the many artists with whom we work. 

Cian O’Brien, Artistic Director, Project Arts Centre: This residency will be officially launched at an event in Project Arts Centre on Friday 31st July and will be followed by a series of intimate early evening events starting this August. Crash Ensemble’s first major concert as part of the residency will take place on the 2nd November 2012 and will feature works written especially for the ensemble by some of the most distinctive creative voices in American and Irish contemporary music in the last 30 years.

Swords Release Video for Chasm

Swords have just released their first official music video for their track Chasm.

The video was directed by Sebastian Escalante who has previously shot live videos for Villagers, Mick Flannery, Wallis Bird, The Ambience Affair, The Man Whom, Halves and The Wiyos. This is Sebastian’s first official music video.

The video was independently produced and references the escapism element of Chasm’s lyrics and creates a violent story of tensions within the band caused by an oppressive and weird manager. It is inspired by some of the work of Stanley Kubrick.

You can check out Swords live in the coming weeks at the following venues:

14 Jul 2012 – Cleeres – Kilkenny

19 Jul 2012 – John Dalys, Mullingar

28 Jul 2012 – Knockanstockan Festival, Wicklow

17 Aug 2012 – The Blind Pig, Limerick

21 Aug 2012 – Kennys, Lahinch

18 Aug 2012 – The Galleon, Kilrush w/ Aileen & Local Special Guests TBA

25 Aug 2012 – McCarthy’s, Dingle w/ Inni-K

26 Aug 2012 – Ballinamore Free Fringe Festival

Japanese Popstars And Duke Special To Headline North-West Digital Festival

Derry’s CultureTECH festival has today announced details of an impressive music lineup including Derry’s own The Japanese Popstars and a free, public performance from Duke Special.

The CultureTECH festival, which takes place at the end of August in Derry-Londonderry, is being billed as a four-day celebration of digital technology, media and music and expects to attract over 500 industry delegates alongside some 8-10,000 members of the public across a conference, film screenings and live music events.

As festival organiser Mark Nagurski explained: “CultureTECH aims to celebrate digital media in all its forms – from how we make new things to how we consume them – and music is at the very heart of that. We are delighted to be able to welcome so many great acts, and given the lineup, expect this to be a huge event.”

In addition to a Friday night headline event featuring The Japanese Popstars (LIVE), Paul Woolford and Psycatron (back to back) and Screendeath, the organisers are planning live music events across the city centre – many of which will be free to attend.

Hometown electronic collective Culture Glitch will open the festival with an event that will be streamed live in New York. The Liverpool Sound City festival, Derry-based record label Smalltown America and hubb.it will host bands and acoustic showcase events across the entire festival. The Dublin Laptop Orchestra will showcase original music made “using lots of laptops, hands, golf controllers, and a wireless router”. And Duke Special will play a free, public gig in the city on the Saturday afternoon.

 CultureTECH will also play host to the debut performance of a unique collaboration between traditional Irish vocalist Grainne Holland and electronic producer Figure of 8. The audiovisual set will be accompanied by surreal visuals and a live string quartet courtesy of Serenity Strings.

The live music lineup and music industry sessions are being sponsored by Seagate, who have been major supporters of the creative industries in the city for many years. Brian Burns from Seagate said: “The creative industries, particularly games and music, are a hugely important growth area for Seagate. As digital content, such as music, video, photos and games, becomes more integrated into everyday life, the idea of static data storage is becoming obsolete.  Today, people want to access, share and secure digital content using dynamic storage solutions that give them the freedom to do business, and to create and interact at any time and anywhere. Seagate is in the business of delivering the advanced digital storage solutions that meet these needs. We’ve also been in Derry for nearly 20 years and have a long-standing association with the creative industries here. With that in mind, we’re enormously excited to be associated with what will undoubtedly be a fantastic event.”

Tickets for many of the music gigs will go on sale this week via the CultureTECH website at www.culturetech.co with prices ranging from £6-£12. Festival passes, currently on sale at £49 (£29 for students), include access to all music events, film screenings, parties and the main conference.

VEDA Returns with a firecracker of an EP

Following a stellar show of support on crowd funding site FUND IT, with Transphibian hitting its target in record time, drag megastar and dance floor queen Veda returns in a haze of glitter with an EP that will define your summer. Featuring Gavin Friday, David Hoyle and Caoimhe Derwin, this four track offering will have you in disco bliss.

Veda’s first outing, the hugely successful ‘Stars Edge’ showcased her talent for writing a delicious euro pop song with a killer dance kick. Written on New York’s notorious Fire Island, she builds on her love for electronic dance music with TRANSPHIBIAN, a feel good summer’s day sound with a thumping disco beat to take you through to night. Packed with humour, attitude, and the trademark of any icon; pain, this is a record to fill any dance floor.

The three original tracks on the EP were co-written and produced by Ian Henderson. Gavin Friday features on an incredible cover of I Want To Live which he wrote and recorded. Supermarché features avant garde performer and cult hero David Hoyle of the hugely acclaimed movie, Uncle David and Channel Four’s The Divine David Presents and Rojo Coca Cola features the gorgeous Caoimhe Derwin of Tallulah Does The Hula.

“Veda, Transphibian is epic. Think anthem. Add disco. Tiny trunks. Sharks. Sirens. The promise of love…and just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.” G.C.N. 
 

TRACK LIST

1.    I Want To Live featuring Gavin Friday

2.    Transphibian

3.    Supermarché featuring David Hoyle

4.    Rojo Coca Cola featuring Caoimhe Derwin

Available on iTunes and in-store from Friday, 6th July 2012.

 

FIND VEDA

http://www.facebook.com/veda.lady
https://twitter.com/#!/LadyVeda

 UPCOMING SHOWS

Summer Rites Festival, Victoria Park, London, Sunday, 2nd September 2012

Richard Farrell and The Last Tribe with support from Come On Live Long

Venue: The Sugar Club
Date: 14th July 
Admission: €10 

Richard Farrell and The Last Tribe have been wandering the streets of Dublin looking for a staple diet of funk, blues, electronica, anything to quench their love of music in this small town. They convened together last October to bargain their differences through the simple nature of sound. Over the last eight months they have honed an awesome repetoire of new material which has evolved and pulsated to create their new debut album ‘Lights at Sea’. They draw influences from many areas, front man Richard Farrell ( frontman of History of Harry) travelled to New Orleans and Havana Cuba, mixed with the locals to discover the simple nature of their passion for music, bass player Graham Heaney has been Dublins upstanding funk man, laying the groove for Dublin best funk band, the Candidates for many years and also for the wacky Amazing Few. Drummer Sebastian Jezzi who hails from Argentina brings with him a wizard like mastery behind the drum kit, he has a very peculiar touch, one of the most musical drummers out there. With their talents combined, this make up for a very special band, they have recently hooked up with the Hipdrop  Collective to broaden their horizons, come down to the Sugar Club on Saturday the 14th July for a night to remember.

 www.Hipdrop.com 

The 9th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) kicks off

IAMA promotes excellence in Acoustic Music Performance and Artistry. Acoustic artists in various genres can gain exciting radio and web exposure through this competition. Participating sponsors include New Music Weekly, Loggins Promotion, AirplayAccess.com, NoisyPlanet, SongU, Acoustic Cafe Radio Show, Broadjam, Sonicbids and XM Satellite Radio. 

IAMA is open to all independent artists and labels. Unlike other music industry competitions, IAMA focuses on developing new markets for Acoustic artists, labels and with or without CD releases. Past years’ winners include MaddyRodriguez(Canada), David Francey (Canada), Liz Longley, The Refugees (USA), Kate Lush (Australia), Wayne Southards (USA), Larry Pattis (USA), Omega (Uganda), El McMeen, etc. Last year’s winner went to Canadian folk singer-songwriter Maddy Rodriguez who won the overall grand prize as well as the Best Folk Artist. Maddy hit the charts with her winning song “All The Wasted Time”. 

Win prizes in 8 different categories: Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group/Duo, Folk/Americana/Roots, AAA/Alternative, Instrumental, Open and Country/Bluegrass. There will also be an Overall Grand Prize winner awarded to the top winner worth over US$11,000, which includes radio promotion to over 250 radio stations in US and Canada. Winning songs will be heard on radio! Winners and runner-ups will be featured on our CD compilation. Also, we feature up to 10 different artists get featured and promoted on IAMA website every month, which provides a review, ratings, CD information and more. 

Judging is based on excellence in music performance, songwriting/composition and originality. Winners are selected by a panel of established artists and industry professionals. Winners and finalists of the Awards will be featured in the IAMA website and e-newsletters, read by music press, talent buyers, promoters and other industry insiders. All songs submitted must be submitted must be original and submitted online or via CD, the artist may also perform original material not yet released and written by other songwriters or composers. Cover songs are permitted. Deadline to enter is November 9th.

Information: http://www.inacoustic.com

WDC Micro-Loan Fund for the Creative Industries

 The Western Development Commission has established a dedicated micro-loan fund for the Creative Industries Sector.
 
This €1m “Access to Finance” initiative for the Creative Industries Sector will make loans available ranging from €5,000 to €25,000 over 1 to 5 years at the EU reference rate for unsecured lending.   The micro-loan fund will operate on a competitive basis with bi-annual calls for applications.  The first “Call for Applications” closes on Friday, 31st August, 2012 at 4pm.
 
It is open to all businesses, both start-up and existing, in the Creative Industries Sector and includes the following sub-sectors: –

Advertising
Architecture
Art/Antiques trade
Crafts
Design
Digital media
Fashion
Internet and software
Music, visual and performing arts
Publishing
Radio and TV broadcasting
Video, film and photography
 
If you feel that this type of funding will help grow your business, and you have the capacity to repay the loan, then you may be interested in applying for a micro-loan.
 
More information is available, and an Application Form can be downloaded, on www.wdc.ie/microfundci
 
The Western Development Commission will be holding a series of Briefing Workshops throughout the region if you wish to find out more about the initiative – see schedule below.
 
Briefing Workshops
 
Monday, 9th July 10am – 12pm
  The Dock, St. George’s Tce.,  Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim
http://www.thedock.ie/getting-here

Monday, 9th July 2pm – 4pm Roscommon Library, Roscommon Town
http://www.yelp.ie/map/roscommon-county-library-roscommon
 
Tuesday, 10th July 10am – 12pm
  Cairnes Building,  CA110 SAC Meeting Room, NUI, Galway
http://www.nuigalway.ie/about-us/contact-us/how-to-find-us.html
 
Tuesday, 10th July 2pm – 4pm Glór Theatre, Causeway Link, Ennis, Co. Clare
http://www.glor.ie/visit/location/
 
Wednesday, 11th  July 11am – 1pm The Model Arts Centre, The Mall, Sligo
 
Thursday, 12th July 11am – 1pm The Training Centre at Mayo County Council
The Mall, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
 
Monday, 16th  July 12pm – 2pm An Grianan Theatre, Port Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
http://www.angrianan.com/about/map.html

ELEVENS Return With “New Beginnings | Third Release In their EP Series

The 3rd EP in the series by the Dublin-based ELEVENS, the musical & visual concept entity created by Martin McCann, Tony Barrett, & Mark Healy. Following the success’ of “Tender To The Touch” and “Torn At The Seams”, the latest 5-track EP includes 3 new studio recorded tracks alongside 2 live takes from their sold out Unitarian Church (Dublin) show last February. Supplementing their acoustic prowess with ukuleles, omnichord, melodica & toy bells amongst other gadgetry, the latest batch of songs display yet another side of the band by changing tone and upping the tempo. ELEVENS gigs have come to be considered ‘events’ on the live music calendar; a truly unique musical experience!

Named after the Finglas Dublin 11 postcode from which they hail, the Dublin-based three piece acoustic band formed in 2009 by Martin McCann and Tony Barrett from two of Dublin’s most prestigious Indie bands (SACK and BRILLIANT TREES). Shortly after Mark Healy (THE JOSEPHS / JERRY FISH & THE MUDBUG CLUB) joined to add some tonal colour to complete the overall sound. What sets ELEVENS apart from the average acoustic setup is their collaborations with photographers and visual artists to incorporate a subtle and complimentary backdrop for ELEVENS’ poignant tales of love lost and found. In todays climate of the harsh and abrasive, ELEVENS have come to soothe the senses with their simple arrangements and unique delivery.

“Torn At The Seams” & “Tender to the Touch”
Previous EPs Out Now on 22 Recordings and available on iTunes

IRISH TIMES Review of the “Torn At The Seams” EP:
“A new-ish Dublin band made up of old-ish musicians from bands such as Sack (Martin McCann), The Brilliant Trees (Tony Barrett) and The Josephs (Mark Healy), Elevens are a combined aural and visual entity who perform selected gigs in Dublin and beyond. We haven’t yet seen what they offer for the eyes, but if the music on this recently released EP is anything to go by we’re talking about summer haze, autumnal bliss, winter calm and spring-loaded steps. Taking it down a notch or three seems to be at the heart of the band, yet there’s an innate dynamism at play that lifts even the quietest of music into an area that persuades you to listen to it. At six tracks, this might not be the full story of Elevens, but for now they’re definitely on the right side of beautiful.” ~ Tony Clayton-Lea / The Ticket (Dec.9th, 2011)

Upcoming ELEVENS Shows
Saturday 7th July / Dublin – Whelans
Thursday 12th July / Limerick – Bourkes

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