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IMRO Partners With ‘Music From Ireland’ Initiative to Promote Irish Musicians Internationally 

July 11, 2019

IMRO is pleased to announce a new partnership with Music From Ireland, an initiative of First Music Contact and Culture Ireland, which funds and presents music showcases and networking opportunities for Irish musicians at key international music conferences annually.

Music From Ireland assists Irish artists selected to perform at a range of major global events such as SXSW (Austin, Texas), The Great Escape (Brighton, UK), Primavera Pro (Barcelona, Spain), Eurosonic (Groningen, Netherlands), Iceland Airwaves and more. Through the initiative, musicians are provided with on-the-ground support in the lead-up to and during events including: showcase gigs, financial and production assistance to develop promotional campaigns and travel subsidies.

Chair of IMRO, singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy said, “Vibrant, innovative and internationally-respected music initiatives are a key component of the strategy to promote Irish music on the global stage and to boost music export revenues for music creators. Music From Ireland provides a vital platform for Irish music creators, helping them to capitalise on a host of export and cultural opportunities in the international marketplace. IMRO is delighted to play its part in assisting leading musical talent from Ireland realise their creative and career goals internationally.”

Angela Dorgan, Director of First Music Contact added “The Music From Ireland brand is now synonymous with global success as a result of the investment, time and great talent from Ireland over the past 14 years, with artists such as Hozier, Villagers, Picture This, Soak, Dermot Kennedy, Gavin James, Saint Sister, and most recently Fontaines D.C. among the hundreds of artists supported though the initiative. With Culture Ireland funding we have been able to grow the global footprint of Irish music for over a decade. With this new investment from IMRO, we will take our place among the strongest markets and grow new markets for our emerging creative talent.”

Music from Ireland is an initiative of First Music Contact, funded by Culture Ireland and supported by IMRO.

www.musicfromireland.org

About First Music Contact

First Music Contact is an independent information and advice organisation for grass roots and emerging artists and the independent music sector in Ireland, funded by the Arts Council. FMC is credited with raising the profile of the popular (rock, alternative, electronic and singer songwriters) music sector and the industry at local, national and international level.  FMC also runs Ireland Music Week (formally Hard Working Class Heroes Festival) and Breaking Tunes, an online music portal for Irish bands and artists. FMC also run the Irish Music export initiative Music From Ireland and the annual Woodquay Summer Sessions. FMC helped launch AIM Irleand in 2019 Strategic partners include The Arts Council, Culture Ireland, Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht, international music development organisations, and many record and publishing companies, both national and international.

About Culture Ireland

Culture Ireland – a division of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht – creates and supports opportunities for Irish artists and companies to present their work at international festivals, venues, showcases and arts markets including the Edinburgh Festivals, Celtic Connections (Glasgow), the Venice Art and Architecture Biennales, WOMEX World Music Expo, Frankfurt Book Fair (in partnership with Literature Ireland), Tanzmesse and Classical: NEXT.

Culture Ireland runs a regular funding scheme to support the international presentation of work by Irish artists and companies. Applications are accepted from both participating artists and from international presenters. Culture Ireland also operates See Here, a scheme to support the inward travel to Ireland of international presenters, curators and promoters to see new Irish work available for touring.

In 2018, Culture Ireland supported Irish artists to present their work in 55 countries, reaching a live audience of 5.5million.

Full details of Culture Ireland’s grant schemes as well as information on funding decisions are available at:

www.cultureireland.ie

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