Musical Issues Neglected in Future of Media Report

Musical Issues Neglected in Future of Media Report

Future of Media Commission received submissions from several music organisations.

There are no specific recommendations regarding music in Ireland in the Future of Media Commission’s report, which was published by the Government yesterday (12 July).

This is despite the fact that there were a number of submissions from organisations such as IMRO, the National Concert Hall, Music Alliance Ireland, Hot Press, Music Network, Raidió Rí Rá, the Contemporary Music Centre, Trad Ireland, and the National Campaign for the Arts.

These submissions covered a number of issues including Irish music quotas on radio, the future of RTÉ Lyric FM, the need for increased coverage of music and the arts, and the need for more support for, and collaboration with, the music and arts sector from broadcasters.

In the Commission’s 269-page report, which contains 50 recommendations, there are a number of references to the demand for music programming in broadcasting, but the only recommendation on creativity relates more to the audio-visual industry, as follows:

7.7. RTÉ should position the promotion of Irish creativity at the heart of its activities, seek to build a wider global brand for Irish story-telling and content creation in key specialisms, and strive to be more effective in building and exploiting intellectual property rights in international and domestic markets

There is no discussion of the future of Lyric FM, although the Taoiseach said in 2019 that a decision on whether the Limerick studios would be closed would be deferred until the publication of the Commission’s report. Neither are Irish music quotas on radio, increased coverage of music and the arts, or the youth radio station in Irish that was promised in 2015, addressed, but the Commission does recommend a review by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland of Irish-language services including youth programming.

The Future of Media Commission was established in 2020 to examine media in Ireland across public service and commercial broadcasting, as well as print and online. Among its recommendations are increased funding for RTÉ and TG4 and the setting up of a platform-neutral fund for the wider media sector. A Government Implementation Group will now be set up to develop a plan to implement the Commission’s recommendations over two years. The full report is available to download below.

For more, visit https://bit.ly/3RuK5c1.

Published on 13 July 2022

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