quote:
Originally posted by Gar
And then I have to ask what is the point in the Hard Working Class Heroes Festival, Loud & Clear event, Gigsmart, Radiator Gigs, Ruby Sessions, Noise Party Gigs, Cpu.ie, Irishmusiccentral.com, Musician.ie and even Cluas.com if not to make the mass public; national & international, aware of unsigned/upcoming/struggling Irish acts? It shouldn't be left to the moderate success of one band to showcase the wealth of talent within the Irish Music Scene. And it isn't because the events/media publications mentioned above do that on a consistent basis. The Ticket, Day & Night, Event Guide, Hotpress et all the frequent music publications dip in and out of the unsigned scene every few months, thus not providing bands with enough coverage. It is the media here and abroad who are responsible for highlighting the quality of various Irish acts.....but if a band does then that's just a bonus but we shouldn't rely on them.
i'd be very surprised if any of the national newspapers and their supplements think they cover unsigned music in any way bar a very superficial one. i'd never take what they have to say about unsigned bands seriously because it's not their job or place to cover new bands. the odd time, u will read a piece in the times or indo about a new band that will make u pay attention but it's the exception rather than the rule.
New music happens on the margins which is why I come to Cluas to hear about stuff i will not hear about elsewhere. its why i go to websites all over for updates on whats coming thru. But the thing is I know (and the stats per views bear this out) that there are probably only a couple of 100 or 1000 people who really really check out unsigned stuff on any serious, ongoing rate on sites like cluas or whatever. when acts cross over, thats when the real sales and the mainstream buzz begins.
the thing about the mainstream media is that they ONLY cover stuff which is mainstream (with a few notable exceptions in terms of acts and writers). underground bands (and unsigned acts) will also first come thru an undergroud media - that the irish one is not very developed or as big as it might be is the real problem
re JJ72 not bigging up other acts - that's an interesting point alright. i know we bash the Whelan's scene a lot but each of them bigs up the other players in it. the frames and damien rice have toured together abroad, helping oneanother out etc. I think this is more a band thing (ie jj72 are not liked by their fellow musicians) than an audience thing, but it's noteworthy nonetheless