The Government's blind spot in refusing to fund the Irish music business like any other industry is stifling the careers of young musicians, according to this week's reports from the Music Board of Ireland. Brian Boyd reports

'To some extent, music is a hidden industry with understanding of its structure and complexities the preserve of the few", says one of two new reports on the Irish music industry published this week. The few may be an underestimation. Given the number of music labels - both major and indie, publishing companies, booking agents, A&R personnel, songwriters, agents, managers, merchandising outlets, ticket booking facilities, road managers, lighting crew, sound crew and the odd "spiritual adviser/personal trainer/nutrionist" that exist, there are multiple levels of professional relationships which underlie the complex nature of the music industry.

Throwing some light on the hermetically sealed industry are the two new reports, by Goodbody Economic Consultants, commissioned by the Music Board of Ireland and published on Wednesday night. The two bulky reports, one entitled Shaping The Future: A Strategic Plan for the Future of the Irish Music Industry, the other The Economic Significance of the Irish Music Industry are as meticulous and rigorously researched as they come - sifting through the Irish music industry, its strengths and weaknesses, and making robust, practical and achievable recommendations for future planning.

The Music Board of Ireland, which was set up two years ago and operates on a partnership level between the Government (as represented by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism) and the music industry, aims to lobby effectively for an increased governmental spend in the indigenous music industry and to create a better infrastructure for composers and performers. The board includes key figures from the industry, from record companies to publishers to musicians, and is funded by the Government and the board itself.

Taking a cold, clear look at the current state of play, the MBI found that Ireland consistently out-performs itself in terms of musical sales. Given the country's population, it's some surprise that Irish musical acts accounted for some 2.3 per cent of worldwide CD sales in 2001. The worldwide popularity of the top selling Irish artists - U2, The Cranberries, The Corrs, The Chieftains and Enya - means that Ireland ranks fourth after the US, UK and Canada in terms of record sales.

With employment in the local music industry estimated at just over 8,000 and with the country achieving a significant net trade income of €224 million from Irish music artists, you could describe the situation as a "hit", but the MBI has identified key difficulties facing the industry, saying that "the success of Irish artists abroad has been quite remarkable given the inadequate and underdeveloped music infrastructure here".

John Sheehan, the managing director of Sony Music Ireland and a member of the MBI, points to the "enormous amount of talent" but the "lack of resources" in the industry. "If you take the country, north and south, as one unit, you're talking about five million people, which is a small domestic market. It is difficult to recoup the investment necessary to launch a new act here. If you look at acts like U2, they are signed to a UK label and The Corrs are signed to a US label. What's needed is a wider music support sector, with more record companies signing more Irish bands, so there isn't a drain of talent to the UK and the US."

Typically a band signed to the Irish affiliate of a major record company will have a minimum of €250,000 spent on them to record, distribute and market their début album. Given the economies of scale, the band only go into profit if they are picked up by the UK or US office of their record label.

"If there were more Irish labels signing more Irish acts, the whole music support sector would expand," says Sheehan, "and we're not just talking about the creative forces here - the songwriters - but also a knock-on effect for promoters, publishers, recording studios, CD manufacturers, retail stores - everything, including the person who does the art-work on the records."

He also points to the fact that, despite the big success stories at the top of the scale, the broader picture is that Irish artists have a relatively low share of the domestic market (at some 26 per cent), musical education is under-developed, and access to the all important international market must be a priority.

"Given the pool of talent there, the fact that trad Irish music has been very successful, especially in Europe, and that we are part of the English-speaking world, we are in an advantageous position," he says. "But there is a need for more music education and training and growth in the amount of record companies - particularly the smaller, independent labels."

The growth needed, though, requires investment. "We know this isn't a very good time to be looking for money from the government," says Maura Eaton, chief executive of the Music Board of Ireland. "The costs in investing in the whole infrastructure would be significant, which is why we decided on a 'roll-out' approach, looking for funding over a number of years, instead of an immediate fixed budget."

Eaton identifies key "programmes" that will maximise the opportunities for Irish acts to impact on the international marketplace. "First, we're not calling on anything to be built, what we're looking for is investment in a number of specific programmes. For example, the report talks about the training required for managers of musical acts, we can see this being done in an intensive two-week summer programme for example; there is also the issue of the Irish music industry participating at major international music fairs like MIDEM (held annually in France) and South by South-West (held annually in the US).

"We're also looking at a number of practical initiatives, such as the cases of Irish bands who are offered high-profile support act slots on European tours by major artists - many of them can't afford to take up the offer because of the cost - and these could be grant-aided. A lot of the programmes could be self-financing, such as supporting a band starting off, with the band, down the line, re-paying the loan."

The MBI reports lay out all these areas comprehensively. Under the headings of "Skills", "Finance" and "Marketing", it identifies what needs to be done and how it will achieve it.

For example, under "Finance", they note, "the shortage of risk capital available to Irish artists and to small music businesses is inhibiting the growth of the sector" and propose "an enterprise development programme for music business initiatives and an enhancement of the Business Expansion Scheme (BES) for music".

Similarly, under "Marketing", they see "a lack of specific initiatives to attract the international marketplace to Ireland" and "the existing difficulty in securing radio airplay/retail shelf space as a constraint to the development of new talent". They also propose "bringing international A&R personnel, concert promoters, agents and producers to events in Ireland" and "internationalising Irish music via a Music Board Internet portal site".

Not involved with the reports in any way but a keen observer of the local music industry, the editor of Hot Press magazine, Niall Stokes, is in broad agreement with the MBI's findings, saying that "the focus should be on enabling people to realise creative potential - and to do that you have to make money available".

Stokes contrasts how the Irish Film Board funds film-makers with the lack of similar funds available for popular music. "I think historically the Arts Council has always funded trad and classical music but there's a perception there that popular music is a commercial business.

"If you look at the fact that the country has more music activity of calibre per capita than anywhere else in the world, the focus then must be on enabling people to realise their creative potential, in much the same way as independent film-makers are funded.

"It's defeatist to think that you can't bring about useful invention, but any funding has to come with the least possible creative interference, it should be about enabling people to make records, and the more records that are made, the more it helps the production and manufacturing end of the industry."

Adding that the "skills base" of people working in the industry needs to be enhanced, Stokes feel that small, practical initiatives in the area can help. "I've long since argued that top international producers who come to work in the country should have the same sort of tax exemption as applies in other creative fields. These producers can bring a higher level of knowledge, which can only be of benefit. I do think government can intervene effectively here in helping raise the the skills base, but the ideas put forward must be imaginative and clued-in; there has to be a real understanding of how the music industry works here."

As the MBI points out in its reports, "music is not always perceived as being a true industry and this must be addressed if the industry is to gain access to the finance and support that other better defined sectors enjoy."

Over to the Government. . .