Music reporting must get more inquisitive

On The Record's wish for 2008? That we'll start to see proper media coverage of music business stories.

This writer has lost count of the number of times music industry news have received unquestioning and uncritical coverage on radio shows, in newspapers and on the internet.

Indeed, when it comes to entertainment stories in the media generally, the gullibility of journalists is quite staggering.

Smart PR flaks can get away with murder simply because music stories are largely viewed as soft content on the news pages and even on some of the entertainment pages as well. Use a nice pic, ensure a product or event tie-in and, bingo, puff coverage in the bag. There's certainly little chance of anyone asking awkward questions about supposedly sold-out shows, say, or the real reasons behind gig cancellations.

This soft-soaping will probably continue unabated in 2008. After all, Britney is still around, Boyzone are back, and "unforeseen circumstances" can be dragged out again and again to explain away the cancellation of gigs that have tanked.

Not that there aren't plenty of stories out there. Look at the amount of space in the past six months dedicated to Radiohead's In Rainbows release, the rise

of Live Nation, the fall of the traditional music retail sector, Prince turning into a newspaper delivery boy for the Mail on Sunday, and the ongoing download kerfuffle, to name just five stories which were widely covered in 2007. Given that all

of these issues are part of a much bigger picture relating to changes in how the music industry operates, lax and lazy coverage does no one any favours.

It does, though, demonstrate a widespread ignorance about how the actual music industry works, which can be exploited time and time again. Sandi Thom and her handlers were not the only ones to capitalise on that, as the number of stories written in the last 18 months about how bands have become stars thanks to MySpace demonstrates.

It's easier to toe that line rather than point out that breaking a band actually involves hefty amounts of gigging, old-fashioned promotional activity and writing decent tunes.

Fans deserve better in 2008.

Ticket Gig of the Week

The Flaws played one of the first concerts of 2008 at Dundalk's Spirit Store on New Year's Eve/Day. Despite gigging their way through 2007, they showed no signs of road-weariness when they took to the stage just after midnight and treated the audience to a tight set of catchy three-minute indie pop tunes. The band are maturing as a live act and seemed to enjoy the show as much as the crowd - a mix of Spirit Store regulars and New Year's revellers - who had been well warmed up by support act Dry County. The Flaws? They're getting hard too spot.

More acts on tap for new year

Pre-Christmas, On The Record noted that January and February are no longer dead months when it comes to live music.

As if to further emphasise the fact, while you were polishing off turkey and all the trimmings a raft of new live shows were announced for the weeks ahead.

The new additions include Chrome Hoof, the world's only 12-strong space-jazz-metal combo in sparkly monk's clobbers (Whelan's, Dublin, February 12th), Canadian rockers (Whelan's, February 18th) and ear-popping electro- folkies Le Loup, with support from the excellent School of Language (Crawdaddy, Dublin, February 21th).

There will also be visits from Berlin's To Rococo Rot (Sugar Club, Dublin, February 21th) and Little Miss Sunshine soundtrackers DeVotchKa (Crawdaddy, April 5th), while Cathy Davey plays her biggest capital city show yet at Tripod on February 21st .

Still a club land

Those who think that the rise of live gigs means the end is nigh for big-room clubbing events should talk to Planetlove, which just announced the line-up for its Winter Session, to be held at Dublin's Junction 15 on February 16th. Top-drawer trancers knocking out the anthems will include Ferry Corsten, Judge Jules, Sander Van Doorn and Alex Kidd. Irish reps include Mark Kavanagh and John Gibbons. www.planetlovemusic.com.

Golden Oldies

January 2008 is shaping up to be the month of the cover album. Cat Power releases Jukebox on the 18th, with versions of tracks by Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra, The Highwaymen, James Brown, Bob Dylan and others.

Meanwhile, Shelby Lynn's Just a Little Lovin' (25th) is her tribute to Dusty Springfield's songbook. According to Lynn, the album was sparked by Barry Manilow, who suggested that she consider covering Springfield's songs.