Late last year when I decided to start writing a blog about digital marketing and the music industry, I realised that I am lacking somewhat fundamental knowledge about how the music industry in Ireland actually works. So I was wondering where to learn about the music industry in Ireland or find courses to learn about the music industry in Ireland.
Well fortunately Hotpress is doing a good job in remarketing and sent me an email informing me about a course they are running which was exactly solving my problem.
MIX - Music Industry eXplained is targetted specificially for the irish music industry and media landscape and can give advise for independent bands or artists launching their first social media pages.
While I was reviewing the feedback and lecturers from the last year, I realised that this actually will be a great course to take and to learn about the music industry in Ireland and make some connections in the meantime!
The course was split into 12 independent sessions, happenening every Tuesday from 7.30 - 9.30pm in the Central Hotel in Dublin.
The key subjects were:
Music Marketing In Ireland and how to adapt to the changes of the digital age for the music industry.
- The changing Faces of the Music Industry with Jackie Hayden
- The Independent Route with Paul Walsh
- Music Management with Edison Waters
- Music Publishing for Irish artists with Steve Lyndsey
- Record Companies with Mark Crossingham (Universal Ireland)
- Radio in Ireland with Nessa McGann
- Social media advise for the music industry with Greg Fry
- The role of the producer with Nick Seymour (Crowded House)
- PR in music with Sabrina Sheehan
- Legal advise for irish musicians with Eileen O'Gorman and Finance for Music with Alan Murray
- Image sells with Steve Averill
The variety of information and input was amazing ranging from all different perspectives in the music industry.
Artist like Paul Walsh from RoySeven were able to provide a more personal input in regards of how they did it as an independent band. Whereas Edison Waters gave a great background of how he developed himself in the music industry and becoming a manager of Gavin James helping him to a global success lately.
A key take-away was that there are two key things you will need in order to succeed as an independent artist in the music industry!
- Great Songs - make sure you publish your songs on Social Media
- Great Fans - engage with your fans and followers and grow your audience for your concert
In regards to music management the main advise was to be patient! You are only as good as your act! It's all about teamwork and it mostly takes 3 years before you are going anywhere! Edison is definitely someone to meet for contacts for band management in Dublin.
In terms of music publishing in Ireland, as well as for the rest of the world the digitalisation of music is making this a lot harder. Royalties have to be collected from multiple entities and this is sometimes hard to track individually. The Record industry recession started approximately 20-25 years ago and streaming is expected to take over in the future. There has been a vinyl revival lately, but this ties back to the novelty factor in consumer behavior.
The main bodies to know in terms of music publishing and performing rights are IMRO and MCPS.
What do Record Companies do?
Record companies are put together of multiple departments.
Starting with the A/R department which are the ones discovering and researching new artists - towards music marketing in ireland, Marketing Relations and Business Affairs.
Marc Crossingham gives great insights of how Universal Music in Ireland is set up and is working to promote independent artist in Ireland to get them signed.
Social Media Marketing for artist in Ireland
The most interesting part for me was obviously the social media advise for musicians in dublin, which was provided by a brilliant Social Media Trainer & Social Business Consultant Greg Fry!
The highlight was on Social Media Optimization for the music industry and engagement with the audience through different social media channels!
Also Social Media Listening to see what is being said about your brand. Great tools for that are Google Alerts, Talkwalker and Socialbakers (bands) etc.
Following him on Facebook or Twitter is highly recommended!.
Another very important part is the Role of PR in the Irish Music Industry! It is all about getting the word out and targetting your press release for your album launch in Dublin to the right people.
As per Sabrina Sheehan - PR people shouldn't take over posting for the bandmembers. The band should post themselvees but get some consultancy from their PR peers in order to avoid any troubles.
Another main point Sabrina gave is to make sure you create a brand for your band! And to make sure to have a checklist in regards to timelines for events.
There are a few trainings to learn about the music industry in Ireland, but I highly recommend the Hotpress MiX Courseas it touches ground with literrally every aspect of the music industry in Ireland.
The next course is starting in September - Sign Up Here or Contact Hotpress directly for further info's.
You can also review our blogpost on the Charity concert for Simon Community in Dublin, that we organised as part of the course!
Thanks for reading,
