Picture This

Covid-related Music Industry Stimulus Package grantees

Under the Music Industry Stimulus Package, €1.7 million was given in grants to artists whose livelihoods were ravaged by the rona.

MISP Transparency Group (MISP) writes:

We are not sure if you are aware of this story yet but we wanted to forward this information on to you.  While we, and many others have created some much needed public awareness of the issues below we feel that there are still answers needed, and valid concerns that have been neglected…

‘We are speaking as and on behalf of very concerned music industry professionals. These concerns have been heightened by the results of the recent Music Industry Stimulus Package (MISP) announcements and the processes and allocation system that were set up to award these grants by: First Music Contact (FMC) , The Department of Arts & Culture and The Arts Council of Ireland.

In a follow up to the posts and threads from established and unestablished acts about the grantees this week, as well as readily available information on official websites, we have gathered together a range of points and questions about the processes involved in the allocation of public funding intended to support the development and future of the Irish music industry.

These concerns and questions must be addressed and answered by First Music Contact (FMC) The Department of Arts & Culture, The Arts Council of Ireland and Yangaroo.

With the new announcement by FMC on November 23 that ‘Picture This’ did not in fact apply for any grants, but were still announced as having received €5000, it is even more vital that these questions are answered by those who are overseeing this process.

There has been a huge breach of trust and confidence in a body that advocates for the industry both at home and abroad. Concerns around the process of choosing who gets a launch pad or push, have existed for some time but it has taken these grant funds to bring them to the forefront.

We need to have confidence that the best people are providing public services and adjudicating things independently and fairly. It is less reassuring that this is the case based on the grantees in these lists. That is a great shame at this time.

There was a large amount of public funding allocated for these particular grants, €1.7 million in total, up from the original €1million.

For us, this is about the long of it, not just the short. There must be greater transparency/accountability/inclusion and focus on grassroots levels, where the needs are greatest.

Many of us did not apply for any of these grants but we have been in discourse with both successful and unsuccessful recipients; observing from a distance as individuals with well over 20 years of experience in many different areas of the industry.

We have let similar things slide over the years, and in some cases have been belittled and made to feel that careers will be at stake should we speak up. Enough.

To be clear, the issues here are not with these artists at any level who received grants, it is with a tired system that has a huge amount of control on what music, artists and related businesses actually get heard and seen here; that has now allowed several major label and established acts to receive in an around €20,000 from three grants combined, while other less established acts did not even get one grant.

We are surprised that some of these grantees actually applied considering their success both here and internationally but this is not on them. It is on a process that created the grounds for this scenario to exist in the first place.

Allowing these bigger profile and major acts to even apply for grants of this size is stifling the industry and it’s future right now by giving boosts to those who are already household names and can sell out venues and merchandise as soon as they can play live again, and who also earn more royalties across the board than most.

We respect the work all acts have put in to get where they are and the successes they have achieved, but generally these acts are doing very well – long may they continue to do so, but not to the detriment of the rest of our industry and a majority of artists trying to breathe some much-needed fresh life into the Irish Industry. We have already seen many acts on the Irish scene calling it a day during the lockdowns, why create the grounds for more of this?

All of these points raise fundamental questions about the way our industry works here and the control that is held by particular bodies.

The main questions for First Music Contact, The Department of Arts & Culture and The Arts Council of Ireland at present are:

– What was the process of deciding who was successful and who was deemed unsuccessful – what were the criteria for these choices and how were they marked?

– 56/189 have been approved for the Album Stimulus. How were the 56 selected ahead of others?

– How was the expert panel selected?

– Were the expert panel aware of who the major label acts and employees of RTÉ are?

-Some artists awarded grants are not currently residents in Ireland. Why were they given grants when this clearly goes against the stated criteria?

– How and when was it decided that music distribution company ‘Yangaroo’ would receive €500 for each successful recipient of the Recording Stimulus? (Totaling €28,000)

– Isn’t one of the board members of First Music Contact also a manager and label owner of three of the acts that have received funding?

– Was it always intended that artists could receive funding in all of the categories, in some cases totaling over €20,000?

– Why wasn’t this cross-referenced across the three grants before announcing publicly?

– How was the band ‘Picture This’ publicly announced as receiving a €5000 Songwriting Camp grant in error? Was this a phantom application?

– Is it realistic that both the Songwriting Camp and Recording grants have to be completed and undertaken by December 23rd 2020?

– What happens if the camps are not undertaken by this date? Will the artists return the money or do they keep 50% of the fund even if they do not fulfill the criteria?

– How are the successful songwriting camps being overseen after the funding has been paid?

– Why have several of the artists from ‘Women in Harmony’ been given more than one grant in the same category? The criteria states that one artist only from each act can apply for funding. Is this not the same as each member of a band applying as individuals also?

– Why weren’t there different grants for different levels of the industry?

– Why has there been no feedback given to many unsuccessful applications?

– What has the remaining €79,774.62 from the total fund gone towards?

– Why has there been no feedback given to unsuccessful applications?

We can only assume that these acts and their teams did not realise that their names would be published – as one band also recently posted a photo of “how it started vs. how it’s going” with a photo of one of their 3Arena crowds from their 5 shows there in 2019.

This band has also recently announced new shows for summer 2021 in: Irish Independent Park in Cork, Malahide Castle and Ormeau Park in Belfast. An amazing achievement by them and their management  team, but does that not feel a bit off that they can not only submit for a grant like this, but will get approved? Are they in that bad of a deal that they need €5,000 to write new songs?

This was claimed to be an admin mistake by FMC and that this act never even applied. How was this error made? How could this happen for any act, especially such a major act in the Irish Industry?

The RTÉ connections here are another red flag and need to be queried. Isn’t the role of RTÉ, and furthermore the role of 2FM to support and cultivate the next “big things” in the Irish music scene?

We wouldn’t be surprised now if we see a Late Late special with the major acts being brought in to praise the Government / Dept & FMC. It is as if the whole thing was set up for this sole political purpose as two of the expert panel are also Radio presenters at RTÉ.

The final point and issue for us to bring up is about how each act is given a €500 voucher for Irish media company Yangaroo, who also own PlayIrish Radio and are partnered with First Music Contact. This is something that hasn’t sat well with many from the start due to the close connections between First Music Contact and Yangaroo.

Yangaroo will receive €28,000 with no competition and profit directly from the awarded grants, for a job that any good PR company should be doing anyway for €2500.

As with many artists, we would much rather have the option to put as much of the €5,000 from the grant to the recording process rather than have no say at all in where €3,000 of our funding goes, especially if it is once again going to close connections.

There are always going to be overlaps in a small country and industry such as ours in Ireland, however the overlaps here and connections are too interconnected and coincidental not to raise serious questions, especially when it is down to one body in charge of managing it all.

We are calling for all grants to be reviewed on the basis of the above points and for answers to be given to all questions.

We hope that this will improve and help our industry grow and develop and get back to the standards it has been known for.’

MISP Transparency Group