You're a big US music industry type, and your client, Johnny Superstar, wants to stop off in Ireland on his latest world tour, because he's "always loved your li'l ol' country" and wants to trace his Irish roots. You've got to organise every aspect of Johnny's Irish visit, from finding a promoter, arranging local media coverage, and ensuring that Johnny's latest album, I Love Myself And I Want You To Buy, is available in every record store up and down the land.
Or say you're the next Paul McGuinness, and you've just taken a young Dublin band, The Awful Chancers, under your wing. You need to press up 5,000 copies of their debut single, The Bleedin' Brilliant Song, get sleeves made up with some nice, psychedelic designs, get a video made, and get the single out to press, radio and TV. Then you've got to send the band out on the road to promote the single, and organise A&R people to attend key gigs so they can sign your proteges to a cushy sixalbum deal, complete with halfa-million quid advance.
What's the easiest way of arranging the whole shebang? Easy, you simply turn on your computer, click on your browser, choose a search engine, and enter keywords like Ireland, Irish, Music Industry, Entertainment. Then just start looking and booking.
But what results will your Web robot bring back? Will it turn up a cornucopia of sites, allowing you as far as ordering backstage sandwiches on the Net, or will it salvage just a smattering of information, enough to maybe book Johnny Superstar a gig at the Bog & Trotter in Ballymelodeon or get the Bleedin' Chancers a deal with Dire Records for a twenty quid advance and bus fare home? In other words, has the Irish music industry got its act together to cash in on the commercial possibilities of the Internet?
Whether you're a bigshot Yank impresario or a young Irish entrepreneur just starting your music biz career, you're going to need easy access to Irish music resources on the Web, and if a company doesn't have a presence on the Internet, then they just might lose the potential business. If, however, a company has a good, well-maintained Website detailing all the services they can offer, then their chances of grabbing customers increases immediately. Whether you're a manager, booking agent, independent record label or equipment hire company, you'd better set your stall out on the Internet if you want to grab a slice of the Irish music market.
So, who's who in the Irish music industry, and where do we locate them? Let's go on our own little Irish tour and see for ourselves.
First, we've got to find a directory of Irish music resources, some kind of database which contains all the names and numbers we need to get Johnny Superstar rockin' and rollin' on the oul' sod. The Irish Music Net is at www.imn.ie and it boasts its own Music Industry Directory Ireland, or MIDI for short. The MIDI directory looks like a good place to start, because it contains information on everything from promoters, booking agents, festivals, video production and even music industry accountants, solicitors and government bodies.
The IMN site is bright, uncluttered and fairly comprehensive, with navigation buttons designed to look like the fast-forward, rewind and play buttons on a CD player. The index is divided into the different branches of the industry, from performance to studio facilities to promoters and management. Names, addresses, telephone numbers and, of course, email addresses are given for every entry, but what we really, really want are the URLs. The index lists Website addresses where available, but doesn't provide links to these sites, so you have to cut and paste the URL onto your address window in order to visit.
The Hot Press Music Industry Guide (www.iol.ie/hotpress/industry.htm) is another handy source of industry info., and, though it's not as comprehensive as its pulpware companion, The Hot Press Year Book, it's an adequately-stocked repository of Irish Music Industry links. Our first route takes us down a road marked Promoters and Booking Agents, and we very quickly find ourselves in strange, native territory. Clicking on the site for Eamon Fitzpatrick Entertainments (ireland.iol.ie/eamonf/), we are suddenly confronted by the grinning visage of Brush Shiels, and he's pointing a knowing finger in our direction. Fighting the urge to reach for the back button, we trawl down the rather poorly-designed page, and discover that the Cavan-based Mr Fitzpatrick also handles such cutting edge acts as Lightning Strikes Band, The Memories, The Paddies and Bog The Donkey. That's the Smashing Pumpkins support slot taken care of, then.
Laura Williams Productions (indigo.ie/lwp/) provides a more advanced site for its clientele of bands, comedians and DJs. Based in The Factory in Barrow Street, Williams handles acts like ABBAesque, The Glam Tarts, The Picture House, Something Happens and The Pale, and she can also supply a jazz, salsa or reggae act for that special party night.
For a humble pub and music venue, Whelans of Wexford Street has a good, informative site (homepage.tinet.ie/lhanlon/) which gives full listings for upcoming gigs, plus detailed info. on each act appearing there. Whelans has been recommended by Time Out magazine, so it could be the perfect spot for Johnny Superstar to do his unplugged set.
Trend Studios (www.iol.ie/trend/) will be only too happy to press up those Awful Chancers' CDs, but they'll also give you advice on how to get your masters up to scratch before putting them on CD, and lots of hints on packaging and presentation.
The Liss Ard Festival in Skibbereen, County Cork, might be a back-to-nature event, but its Website at www.lissard.com is elaborate enough to confuse any hardcore luddite. Once you've worked your way through the tangle of frames and plugins, you'll find yourself in a veritable online garden of Eden, with some nice graphics and info about this year's event, which runs from the 2nd to the 6th September. It might be a bit too late to get Johnny Superstar or The Awful Chancers on the bill, but with artists like Nick Cave, Lou Reed and Spiritualized, it should be a great garden party.
Independent record label Treasure Island has realised the rich rewards of being on the Web, and their site at www.treasureisland.ie provides a wealth of information about their management, publishing and recording roster. Who knows, they might even help the world discover The Awful Chancers - if the price is right. OK, so now it's time to let the press know all about The Awful Chancers' upcoming showcase gig, and Johnny Superstar's extravaganza at Croke Park. The Event Guide site at www.dkm.ie/events provides a form so you can submit a gig listing, and it also gives up-to-date listings on events in Dublin and around the country. Muse (www.muse.ie) is Ireland's online music magazine, edited by Jim Carroll, and it's a colourful, snappy site filled with interviews, reviews and listings.
So we can just about arrange Johnny's tour and get The Chancers' single on the streets, but Irish music's online industrial estate is still sparsely populated, and there's lots of room for expansion on the Internet. As Johnny Superstar might say, it's time for the Irish Music Industry to get rockin' and rollin' on the Web.
Kevin Courtney is at kcourtney@irish-times.ie He has his own Website which he's too modest to plug (yet).