from 01.04.2015 to 30.04 - amazon s3 · retail news directory* friday, 1 may 2015 page: 2,3,4,5,...

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from 01.04.2015 to 30.04.2015

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Table of Contents

01/05/2015 Retail News Directory:2014: A Year in Retailing.............................................................................................................. 3

09/04/2015 Tipperary Star:Catch the Clancy Brothers Festival in Carrick-on-Suir this April.................................................. 12

10/04/2015 Dungarvan Observer:Clancy Brothers Festival of Music and Art................................................................................... 13

01/05/2015 Irish Music Magazine:IMRO MASTERCLASS................................................................................................................... 14

01/05/2015 Irish Music Magazine:LIVE IN THE LIGHT..................................................................................................................... 15

09/04/2015 Clonmel Nationalist:Local musicians to star in concert supporting Clancy Brothers Songwriting Contest................... 16

11/04/2015 RTE Guide:MUSIC Other Voices.................................................................................................................... 17

01/05/2015 Retail News Directory:Striking the Right Note with Customers...................................................................................... 18

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Copyright Material. This may only be copied under the terms of a Newspaper Licensing Ireland agreement(www.newspaperlicensing.ie) or written publisher permission.

http://www.newspaperlicensing.ie

Retail News Directory*Friday, 1 May 2015Page: 2,3,4,5,

Circulation: 6116Area of Clip: 444000mm²Page 1 of 9

The Year In Review

2014: A Year in Retailing

JANUARY

RETAIL Ireland publishes its Strategy for Retail: 2014-2016, setting out what can be achieved if the retail industry is supported on a sustainable path to recovery. Key findings include the fact that retail directly employs over 275,000 people and is the largest employer in Ireland; 75% of retail jobs are located outside Dublin; retail generates over €5 billion in taxes every year and pays over €8 billion in wages. If retail sales can start to grow by 3-4% per annum from 2016, the sector can create as many as 40,000 new jobs.

TESCO open a new 6,000 square metre replacement outlet in Gorey, Co. Wexford.

ADM Londis pic and the Stonehouse Group combine their buying power in a move that will see the Stonehouse Group expand its membership to include ADM Londis. The agreement has no impact on ADM Londis’ ownership by its franchisees and participating symbol groups will continue to compete with one another but with the benefit of improved buying terms and enhanced opportunities for supply chain synergies.

THE Rushe Retail Group formally joins the SuperValu and Centra network, which will see three new SuperValu stores open in Killiney, Dalkey and Naas, and a new Centra store open in Stillorgan.

THE value of Irish food and drink exports in 2013 has approached €10 billion for the first time, according to Bord Bia figures. This represents an increase of 9% on the previous year and 40% in the last four years, with revenues almost €3 billion higher than in 2009.

VALUE Centre Sligo completes a major re-haul, following a €600,000 investment from owners BWG Foods.

TOPAZ opens a new state-of-the-art service station at Dublin Airport. The €3m redevelopment of the site has transformed it into one of the most modern and best equipped in the country.

FEBRUARY THE Government plans a return to Joint Labour Committee (JLC) wage rates, forcing retail proprietors to pay rates higher than the minimum wage, across all areas of grocery retail.

ALL 24 Superquinn stores are renamed as SuperValu in what Martin Kelleher, SuperValu Managing Director, calls “one of the most exciting developments in Irish retailing. Combining SuperValu and Superquinn brings together the best of both brands.”

SuperValu MD, Martin Kelleher is pictured unveiling the SuperValu logo, as all 23 Superquinn stores rebranded as SuperValu in February 2014.

Centra’s National Retailer Conference sees the group announce a retail sales increase of 3.5% in 2013, along with plans for 20 new stores set to join the network in 2014. A SENIOR delegation from SPAR South Africa flies into Ireland for a specially organised ‘look and learn’ trip of 11 leading SPAR, SPAR Express and EUROSPAR stores across Dublin, Kildare and Westmeath.

SUPERVALU donates €100,000 to Focus Ireland. As part of SuperValu’s on-going commitment to Irish communities, 14 cent from every 19 cent bag of carrots, net of Brussels sprouts and melons sold in the days before Christmas 2013 were donated to Focus Ireland.

MARCH FEEDING Ireland’s Future’s Skills For Work Week takes place from March 3-7. It is a new initiative which involves food and grocery companies throughout Ireland, as well as service providers to the sector, providing free preemployment

skills for young people.

THE World Coffee Events Summit 2014 takes place in Dublin.

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TOPAZ is recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland for the ninth time.

SUBWAY opens its 200th store in the Monread Centre in Naas, Co. Kildare.

RETAIL representatives are worried that a strategic link-up between An Post and Tesco will have negative repercussions on post office services around Ireland.

LIDL open three new stores, creating over 50 jobs in the process, in Galway, Cork and Donegal.

ADM Londis pic signs an agreement with the Griffin Group of 17 stores, which will see the extension of their partnership to 2019.

TESCO is to accept their competitors’ money-off vouchers for the foreseeable future “so that our customers, particularly our loyal customers, do not lose out by shopping with Tesco,” Michael Sullivan, Tesco Ireland, tells Retail News.

THE Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland calls for a ‘whole of society’ approach to alcohol misuse.

THE Irish Brewers Association welcome the publication of a new report which shows the significant contribution that the brewing sector makes to the Irish economy. The report The Contribution made by Beer to the European Economy’, drawn up by Ernst & Young, highlights the economic impact of beer in Ireland, finding that beer production and sale is attributable to 40,800 jobs and a value add of €1.3 billion, contributing €1.2 billion to Government revenue through VAT, excise and income-related contributions.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD.

MARCH 31 sees the Government publishing the Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014, empowering the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to introduce future regulations stipulating the conditions that must be followed in commercial relationships between suppliers and retailers. The legislation is designed to prevent certain unfair practices, such as unilateral altering of contracts, retailers requiring ‘hello money' for space in supermarkets or forcing suppliers to fund promotions, as well as wastage or shrinkage.

TOPAZ is named as one of Ireland’s ‘Best Managed’ companies at the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme.

THE Supervalu Retail Conference takes place in The Malton Hotel, Killarney, where it is announced that the group recorded retail sales of €2.1 billion in 2013, a 1% increase on the previous year’s figures. Supervalu also grew its market share in 2013, finishing the year with a 20.1% share of the market.

Pictured at the Supervalu Retail Conference in The Malton Hotel, Killarney, are (l-r): Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Supervalu; Michael Morgan, Supervalu Sales Director; and Kevin McCarthy, Supervalu Retail Chairman.

CASTLETOWNBERE Co-op is appointed by major Spanish retailer Mercadona as their international whitefish supplier. The agreement will result in the co-op supplying Meradona with an estimated 2,000 tonnes of fish.

THE European Parliament Environment Committee votes to introduce strict targets forcing each country to cut use of lightweight plastic bags by 50% by 2017, rising to 80% by 2019.

GLANBIA pic announces its results for the year ended January 4, 2014. Highlights include total group revenue growth of 10.5%, Total Group EBITA growth of 9.2% and adjusted earnings per share growth of 11.9%.

MUSGRAVE Wholesale Partners officially open their newly refurbished Musgrave Marketplace cash & carry outlet in Sallynoggin, South County Dublin. Musgrave have invested €700,000 in the refurbishment, which brings the total invested in their Marketplace network to nearly €llm in the last five years.

Tullamore D.E.W. celebrates St Patrick’s Day 2014 with the arrival of four hand crafted copper stills, in preparation for the landmark opening of its new distillery in Tullamore.

PRIL

TWO of the Teeling Whiskey Company brands are honoured as the World’s Best at the 2014 World Whiskies Awards held in London. The Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey is awarded the title of world’s best Grain Whiskey and the Teeling 21 Year Old Single Malt Silver Reserve is awarded the title of World’s Best Irish Single Malt Whiskey.

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ADM Londis pic announces a profit before tax of €1,67m for the year ended December 31, 2013, an increase of 35% on the previous year. Organic (like for like) turnover, excluding low margin tobacco and call credit categories, grew by 1 % in the period. “2013 was a very successful year for the group with profits up substantially, a sustainable increase in margins and further enhancements to our buying power, marketing execution and capital structure," said Londis Chief Executive, Stephen O’Riordan (pictured).

(HSE) paid substantial legal fees to two tobacco companies in 2013, after losing a case they took against PJ Carroll over promotions the cigarette company ran in the trade.

THE Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) unveils ‘MenuCal’, a new free-of-charge online calorie calculator for Ireland’s 22,000 food service businesses to enable them to calculate the calorie values in the food they sell and serve to customers.

THE European Commission publishes new proposals for a new Regulation on organic production and the labelling of organic products.

ALMOST half of EUROSPAR retailers in Ireland are predicting growth in 2014, with over two-thirds planning additional investment in their stores, according to the findings of a retailer survey released by BWG Foods to coincide with the EUROSPAR Conference in Dublin’s Marker Hotel.

A NEW study shows that average per adult alcohol consumption declined by 7.6% between 2012 and 2013.

THE AIB and Irish Times collaborate to launch the AIB Start-up Academy, a new initiative to support entrepreneurs across Ireland.

IRELAND’S illicit trade in fuel and tobacco is worth €337m per year, according to a new report from business advisory firm Grant Thornton.

SPAR launch a new own brand gluten-free range of cakes and brownies, all made by Denise O’Callaghan in her bakery in Little Island, Co. Cork. DONAL Skehan, of Kitchen Hero TV fame, launches a new pie brand, called Skoff in supermarkets across the country, featuring prime Irish chicken, beef and pork.

MOY Park gives football fans across Ireland and the UK the chance to jet off to Brazil this July to soak up the football fever at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

FYFFES launches an on-pack promotion on their Freddy Fyffes product in support of UNICEF Ireland and its efforts to eradicate polio worldwide.

SUPERVALU open a new 20,000 square feet store in Kinsale, Co. Cork, owned by local businessman, Michael Smith.

1FEX 2014 exceeds all expectations, with footfall up by 45%, and exhibitors reporting excellent business and overwhelming positive feedback.

FRESHWAYS, Ireland’s largest sandwich maker, is acquired in a management buyout from Kerry Foods by Garrett Fitzgerald and Diarmuid Shanahan.

THE Irish Security Industry Association (ISIA) re-elects Sheenagh McCullagh of Stanley Security Ireland as its president at the association’s Annual General Meeting in Croke Park.

THE Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014 is condemned by retail groups as not taking supplier abuses of power into consideration.

Retail News reveals that the Health Service Executive

MAY

The country’s top retailers gather in Dublin for the Retail Ireland MasterCard Annual Conference, which highlights the country’s economic recovery and future prospects. An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, is pictured addressing the Retail Ireland MasterCard Annual Conference.

LIDL’s European Facehook top 10m fans, making Lidl the food retailer with the largest European Facebook community.

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MUSGRAVE presents Breakthrough Cancer Research and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin with a cheque for €105,000 each. The total funds of €210,000 were raised from the proceeds of the 2013 Musgrave Triathlon

TESCO Ireland officially opens its new Park Pointe store in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

TOPAZ’S loyalty game, Play or Park, is the run-away winner at the An Post Smart Marketing Awards, claiming 16 awards in total for the country’s largest fuel and convenience retailer, including the Black Fox Grand Prix prize.

KEOGH’S Crisps becomes the latest Irish company to make it on to the shelves of Tesco UK, opening up a potentially massive opportunity for the Dublin potato farmers, as they go on sale in 255 Tesco stores throughout the UK.

Ireland’s illegal tobacco trade is flourishing despite efforts to combat it, according to JTI Ireland’s Illicit Tobacco Trade Review 2013, who reveal that criminals are earning profits equal to 1,000 times the fines imposed by Irish courts.

SUPERVALU is named as the most reputable Irish brand, according to the results of the annual Ireland RepTrak 2014 study.

TRADE union Mandate launches a campaign to secure “a greater degree of certainty’ for workers in Dunnes Stores. The Decency for Dunnes Workers Campaign focuses around “banded hour contracts” - the minimum contractual hours an employee works at the store.

MUSGRAVE Group report sales of €4.8 billion, in its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013, which were in line with last year on a constant currency basis.

A GROUP of Ireland’s foremost voices of business and industry, demands action by the Government to end upward only rent reviews. The group includes RGDATA, Retail Ireland, the CSNA, The Irish Exporters Association, ISME and the Small Firms Association.

BORD Bia’s much-anticipated gardening, food and family festival, Bloom, returns to the Phoenix Park, Dublin, for five days over the June Bank Holiday weekend from May 29 to June 2. Now in its eighth year, Ireland’s largest garden and food festival continues to attract a nationwide audience, and last year’s festival saw over 110,000 attendees.

ALDI Stores (Ireland) announces that it is seeking to recruit 450 new employees nationwide in 2014.

GREEN Isle Foods is to make a significant investment of €30m across its operations in Ireland, which will result in an additional 115 jobs over the next five years.

JUNE

THE first meeting of the Retail Consultation Forum takes place in Dublin Castle. The Forum, chaired by Ged Nash TD (pictured), means retailers can directly engage with legislators and policy-makers to help shape a better business environment for Irish retail. Retail representatives are encouraged by the forum, which gave them the opportunity to provide feedback to various government departments.

BWG Foods announces the launch of a new own brand range in partnership with Armagh-based company Daily Bake in a deal expected to be worth €lm over 12 months.

RTE One and Lidl Ireland launch a new competition that could net the winner a prize worth at least €100,000 for coming up with the next great Irish food product. A new RTE One series, The Taste of Success, will see members of the public and local producers compete to get their unique food product on the shelves of Lidl Ireland’s 140 supermarkets. Renowned chef and Lidl brand ambassador Paul Flynn, who was also the series’ Chef Mentor, is pictured at the launch.

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SUPERVALU presents the inaugural SuperValu Award for Excellence in Food Microbiology to James O’Shea at a ceremony at University College Cork (UCC).

A CAMPAIGN run by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents Ireland in Athlone results in a 2.5% reduction in business rates for 2014.

TESCO Ireland removes sweets and chocolates from all checkouts across the country.

CENTRA officially unveils its new gourmet All Day Fresh sandwich range by hosting Ireland’s first Picnic in the Sky! during the June Bank Holiday weekend, elevating groups of diners 100 feet above Dublin.

IRELAND’S retailers say the Government at local and national level is not doing enough to support the retail economy, according to the One4all Retail Index.

PLAIN packaging for cigarette packs moves a step closer, with the Cabinet passing draft legislation to ban branded cigarette and tobacco packaging in Ireland.

FOUR trade associations representing Irish SMEs — RGDATA, the Irish Farmers’ Association, the Vintners Federation of Ireland and the Irish Property Owners Association - come together to send a clear message to the Government that the current basis on which negotiations between banks and small businesses deal with credit difficulties is not working.

MUSGRAVE Marketplace announce a major upgrade of its delivery fleet. The €8m investment will see Musgrave Marketplace introduce 55 new multi-temperature trucks to its fleet, significantly reducing the company’s carbon footprint and facilitating high-frequency nationwide coverage.

KATE Walsh, store manager of Herlihy’s Centra in Fermoy, Co. Cork, wins the 2014 NACS Insight International Store Manager of the Year Award, beating off stiff competition from store managers from the very best convenience stores across the globe.

THE XL retail brand announces it expects to add 30 new stores to its network by the end of the year as part of its new growth strategy for 2014/2015.

JULY

GUINNESS unveil a new and very exciting music programme with the launch of Guinness Amplify, which will connect the freshest new music talent in Ireland with audiences all over the country.

TWO local Irish suppliers are given the opportunity to pitch their wares to the trading directors of SPAR International at the annual international supplier ‘speed dating’ expo, which takes place in Dublin. Donegal-based Mulrines, who specialise in juices, smoothies and sauces, and Mackle Petfoods from Armagh met one-on-one with SPAR International, as well as representatives from each of the attending countries who make up the Buying International Group SPAR.

MUSGRAVE Marketplace announces an expansion of its delivery service to include counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath.

NICK Johnson is appointed Managing Director and Vice President Customer Development for Unilever Ireland, succeeding Jill Ross in the leadership role.

MAXOL launches its new temptingly Moreish food brand at its recently opened Maxol MACE Kingsmeadow service station on the Cork Road, Waterford.

BWG Foods appoint Sean Dennison to the position of Head of IT, where he will be responsible for the company’s Information Systems and Information Technology.

IRISH publishers describe as “outrageous” a plan to charge them £500 [€630] per title, per annum, to stock magazines in WH Smith’s seven airport stores in Ireland.

INDEPENDENT Senator Feargal Quinn tells Retail

News he is “hopeful” he can convince the Government to introduce his bill banning upward only rents, which has already passed the Seanad.

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RGDATA calls on the Government to reinstate the 4.25% Employers’ PRSI to create and retain jobs in towns and villages reinstate, as an RGDATA delegation delivers its message to the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

ONLY 2% of Irish shoppers do their full grocery shop in one store, while 90% of shoppers say that price is one of the main contributing factors when choosing where to shop, according to Shopper Nation 2014, a new study which examines the shifting behaviours, attitudes and perceptions of over 1,000 Irish shoppers. Key findings include the fact that 67% of those surveyed shop 2-3 times a week, with 31% shopping once a week and 9% daily. Shoppers spend an average of 3145

minutes in-store, doing their grocery shopping, while 18% shop for 45 minutes or more.

AUGUST

RETAIL representative bodies, CSNA, RGDATA, Retail Excellence Ireland and ISME join forces in their condemnation of proposals from then Minister for Health James Reilly TD to introduce a new tobacco licensing system, with annual fees payable directly to his Department.

SPAR South Africa invests €55m in a joint venture with the BWG management team to acquire the BWG group of companies. BWG will continue to be led by Group CEO, Leo Crawford, and the existing management team and there will be no change to the structure or composition of the existing businesses. Pictured at the announcement are (l-r): John O’Donnell, Group Finance Director, BWG Group; Graham O’Connor, Group CEO, SPAR South Africa; Leo Crawford, Group CEO, BWG Group; and John Clohisey, Group Property Director, BWG Group.

MORE than 300 jobs are to be created in food business startups as a result of the Food Academy Start programme, a

collaborative initiative between the Local Enterprise Offices, Bord Bia and SuperValu;

THE second meeting of the Retail Consultation Forum takes place on September 11. Chairman Ged Nash TD, Minister of State for Business and Employment, led the discussion on potential solutions and strategies to reinvigorate our embattled town centres.

46 YOUNG unemployed Dublin people receive their graduation certificates as part of the latest phase of the Tesco Positive2Work Skillnet programme.

CENTRA’S Community Impact Study reveals that the group spent €241. lm in local communities around its 460 stores in 2013.

IRELAND has the highest price levels for alcoholic beverages and tobacco in the EU at 178% of the average, according to the latest figures published by Eurostat.

SEPTEMBER

MUSGRAVE Park, the Cork home to Munster Rugby, is renamed Irish Independent Park, in a naming rights agreement with Independent News & Media.

GALA sponsors a new charity initiative with children’s charity the Jack & Jill Foundation titled ‘Gala Up the Hill for Jack & Jill’, as it calls on the public to get their walking shoes on and climb a hill, big or small, in order to raise much needed funds for Jack & Jill’s home nursing care. Pictured at the launch of Gala Up the Hill for Jack & Jill are: Gary Desmond CEO, Gala; Jonathan Irwin, CEO and Founder of Jack and Jill; together with ‘Jack and Jill’.

THE Financial Year 2013/2014 proves to be another successful one for Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard internationally with the acceleration of the global development of Jameson Irish Whiskey, as the brand reached its 25th year of consecutive growth.

TESCO Ireland creates 49 new jobs with the opening of its new Tesco Extra Dundalk store.

Robert Roberts lifted no fewer than 17 golds at the annual Great Taste Awards for 13 of its coffee and tea blends.

THE hugely popular Caffreys confectionery brand celebrates 70 years of manufacturing in Ireland.

SUPERVALU wins a remarkable 29 accolades at the international Great Taste Awards.

TESCO Ireland agrees a partnership with Bia Food Initiative (BiaFi), to support the development of Ireland’s first large-scale food redistribution centre, based in Little Island, Co. Cork.

BEWLEY’S has been awarded 12 Gold Stars at the Great Taste Awards 2014.

SCALLY’S SuperValu in Clonakilty, West Cork, is the first supermarket in Ireland to launch a designated in-store gluten-free bakery and food production facility.

RETAILERS are criticised for applying surcharges on utility bill payments. Retailer representative groups argue that local shops apply surcharges to cover the increased cost of providing these services.

SEPTEMBER 19 is ‘e- Day’, when Government departments, local authorities and other state agencies stop sending and receiving cheques from business.

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C&C Group pic confirms the acquisition and integration into its business of the Gleeson Group, one of Ireland’s leading beverage wholesalers, creating a new, formidable force in the drinks sector in Ireland: C&C Gleeson.

THE latest Joint National Readership Survey results reveal that four out of five adults in Ireland read newspapers regularly. The JNRS, for the period from July 2013 to June 2014, reveals that almost two million people read a printed daily newspaper yesterday, while more than two million adults read a Sunday paper within the past week.

THE UK experiences the first significant decline in the sales (value and volume) of FMCG goods seen in Britain’s Post-War grocery market history, according to market and shopper intelligence firm, IRI.

GUINNESS announce the release of two brand new beers, Guinness Dublin Porter and Guinness West Indies Porter, inspired by authentic recipes, whose origins lie in the historic Guinness’ brewers’ diaries from the late 1700s and early 1800s.

MORE than 300 retailers attend the Costcutter Annual Conference takes place recently in the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co. Laois. Barry Group MD, Jim Barry, is pictured at the Conference.

OCTOBER

TESCO CEO, Philip Clarke steps down on October 1, and is replaced by former Unilever executive Dave Lewis.

RICHMOND Marketing is now the sole distributor for Barton & Guestier wines in Ireland.

PICTURED at Londis’ presentation of the ‘60k for 60 Years’ cheque to Temple St Children’s Hospital, The Irish Hospice Foundation and Pieta House are (l-r): compere Marty Whelan; Londis CEO, Stephen O'Riordan; Margaret Murphy, Temple St Children’s University Hospital; Helen McVeigh, The Irish Hospice Foundation; Majella and John Roche, Londis Doneraile; and Cathy Kelly, Pieta House. A state of the art operating table for sick children, more suicide and self-harm crisis centres and a hospice nurses’ outreach programme have all received funding from ADM Londis, who are marking their 60th year in operation in Ireland this year. To celebrate 60 years serving local communities, Londis gave its customers and retailers the opportunity to share €60,000 between three national charities; Pieta House, the Irish Hospice Foundation and Temple Street Children’s University Hospital.

AWARD-WINNING Cork brewery Franciscan Well and Jameson Irish Whiskey launch a second collaboration, Franciscan Well Jameson-Aged Pale Ale.

AHEAD of the Budget, Ireland’s representative drinks associations, including The Irish Wine Association and the Irish Spirits Association, call for a reversal of last year’s increases in excise, which have caused significant cash-flow implications for small businesses, putting thousands of jobs at risk across the industry.

IRISH brewery and distributor, Rye River Brewing Company has agreed a partnership with Bavaria to distribute and market the brand in Ireland.

A RETURN to whiskey distilling in Carlow, after an absences of over 200 years, takes a big step forward as the founders of the independent Walsh Whiskey Distillery turn the sod at Royal Oak, County Carlow, and construction commences on their €25m world class, craft Irish whiskey distillery.

WILLIAM Grant & Sons Ltd officially open their new €35m state-of-the-art whiskey distillery in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland, following two years of construction. This milestone marks the return of whiskey production to Tullamore 60 years after the original distillery closed its doors.

THE Coeliac Society of Ireland, in association with SuperValu, host Ireland’s first ever 100% Gluten Free Food Market at the Silver Springs Moran Hotel in Cork

TESCO becomes the first Irish retailer to announce a commitment to working with growers to purchase more vegetables that are classified as an irregular shape or size.

TOPAZ claims three awards at the latest ADFX Awards, the Oscars of the advertising industry, including their loyalty game Play or Park winning gold in the Retail and Fashion category. IRELAND’S EU Commissioner-Designate Phil Hogan plans to introduce new legislation if “unfair practices" continue between retailers and suppliers, despite his own party introducing such legislation in Ireland this year.

SPAR announces plans to add 50 new stores to its network by 2016, leading to the creation of up to 1,000 new full and part-time jobs over the next two years. The announcement is made at the SPAR Retailer Convention in Killarney, which is attended by more than 200 retailers from around the country.

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MINISTER for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD welcomes the Food Harvest 2020 Strategy Group’s 10 Year Vision for Prepared Consumer Foods (PCF).

THE National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) announces the 15 winners of this year’s annual Gold Star Wine Awards, as the association calls on the Government to address excessive excise duty on wine and alcohol in Budget 2015 and to reintroduce a ban on below cost selling.

SPAR and RTE Television announce a new sponsorship agreement that will ensure the SPAR store, which resides on the set of popular indigenous soap, Fair City, continues to be part of the SPAR store network for at least the next three years. The new deal forms part of an overall investment of €900,000 by the brand owners which, along with the sponsorship, includes a fully integrated national and local marketing campaign.

Garry Healy, SPAR Retail Operations Advisor, and Suzanne Weldon, Marketing & Communications Director at SPAR, pictured with the cast of Fair City.

GLANBIA Ingredients Ireland Limited (GILL) and Diageo take home first prize for ‘Best Business to Business Partnership’ at the annual Responsible Business Awards ceremony in London for their ‘Sustainable Cream Initiative’.

IMRO’s Tune-Up Your Business Award is a new award designed to encourage Irish businesses to tap into the commercial benefits of providing music for their customers and employees.

IRELAND jumps from fourth to the second most successful country when it comes to packaging recycling.

STONEHOUSE CEO, Tom Shipsey is appointed Chairperson of Concern Worldwide’s governing council, Ireland’s largest humanitarian organisation.

THE Irish Hospice Foundation is officially named as MACE’s new charity partner for 2014/2015, during which time the group has set out to raise €100,000 for the Irish charity.

MOLSON Coors Brewing

Company announce that

Frederic Landtmeters,

Chief Commercial Officer,

Molson Coors Europe, will

take over as Managing

Director, Molson Coors UK

and Ireland, succeeding

Simon Cox, who will take

on the role of CEO Molson

Coors Europe, from

January 1,2015.

SUPERVALU is to create 24 new jobs following the opening of Hannon’s SuperValu in Enfield, Co. Meath.

FIVE Irish organic food and drink companies are rewarded at the National Organic Awards held in Bord Bia’s Dublin headquarters. They include Ireland’s first kombucha brewery, SynerChi in Gweedore, Co. Donegal, Monaghanbased

Mulberry Meadow Farm, Galway’s Beechlawn OrganicFarm, Waterford-based The Little Milk Company and

Galway-hased Green Earth Organics.

NOVEMBER AVONMORE launches an innovative new design for its milk cartons, which makes them easier to open, pour more smoothly and flatten more conveniently for recycling.

MANOR Farm and Irish Packaging Recycling Ltd are the big winners at this year’s Repak Recycling Awards, with Manor Farm winning the Repak Member of the Year Award and Irish Packaging Recycling Ltd being named the Recovery Operator of the Year - Large Company.

TOPAZ is to create 110 new jobs between two major new service stations opening in North Dublin and Co. Laois in January, developed at a cost of €10m. One of the stations is located at Junction 3, adjacent to where the M50 meets the Ml at Clonshaugh in North County Dublin, while the other is at Junction 3 on the Dublin-Cork [M8] motorway near Ballacolla in County Laois.

MINISTER for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD announces that the Competition Authority and National Consumer Agency have amalgamated to form the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

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DUBLIN’S SPAR Dame Street is named Store of the Year at the annual Retail Excellence Ireland Awards. Other winners include Topaz Dublin Airport, which won in the Store of the Year 1,000-2,500 square feet category; and John Burke of Caulfield’s SuperValu, Loughboy, Co. Kilkenny, who was named Manager of the Year.

SUPERVALU launches SuperValu Travel Insurance, the first in a range of insurance products to be offered by the company.

TESCO is helping customers get more value out of their shopping experiences with free and fast wi-fi access in stores thanks to a new partnership with BT.

BRODERICK’S Bars and Cakes are announced as the winner of the Love Irish Food Brand Development Award, which sees the Love Irish Food member receive €70,000 in outdoor and digital Out-of-Home advertising space.

DECEMBER NEW statistics from Australia on the impact of plain cigarette packaging suggest that its introduction has not had the desired results in terms of smoking rates. Two years after the introduction of plain packaging in Australia, data reveals that the amount of 12-17 year olds who smoke daily has increased from 2.5% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2013.

THE National Off Licence Association has come out in support of plans in Northern Ireland to introduce minimum pricing per unit of alcohol.

95% of consumers in Ireland would like to see ‘Country of Origin’ labelling on all grocery food and drink products, while just 11% of shoppers surveyed believe that country of origin on food is currently very clear, according to research by Love Irish Food.

CRAFT brewing in Ireland is growing by a massive 45%, according to a report commissioned by the Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland (ICBI).

CIARAN Scolard is appointed Sales Director at Ampersand.

MUSGRAVE Retail Partners Ireland agrees to acquire the Allied Logistics business from DCC pic. The acquisition is conditional on clearance from the Irish Competition Authority.

TESCO Ireland announces the appointments of Geoff Byrne as Chief Operating Officer and Geraldine Casey as Personnel & IT Director.

DIAGEO sells the Bushmills Irish whiskey brand to Jose Cuervo, as part of a deal to acquire full control of Tequila Don Julio and $408m in cash.

ON average, 74% of grocery shoppers look at Out of Home media formats on their ‘Path to Purchase’, according to a Grocery Shopping Research project carried out by Kinetic, Mindshare and GroupM.

MINISTER for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan TD officially opens the new Glanbia state-of-the- art oats processing facility in Portlaoise, Co. Laois.

THE Future in Food Ireland conference in the Aviva Stadium on November 5 offers visitors an enlightening view of the rapidly evolving world of sustainability in food production.

THE ECR Ireland Category Management & Shopper Marketing Conference 2014 takes place, with the theme of how to influence the shopper, online and in-store.

SPAR is to invest €5m in rolling out an innovative new store design, following the launch of its new-look concept store at SPAR Millennium Walkway.

THE Tanaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton TD, officially launches Feeding Ireland’s Future 2015, whereby food and grocery companies and service providers to the sector throughout Ireland will provide free pre-employment skills for young people through its core initiative, Skills for Work Week, a designated skills training week in March 2015.

Pictured at the launch of Feeding Ireland’s Future 2015, which runs from March 2-6, 2015, are ECR Ireland board member David O’Neill, Managing Director of SHS Sales & Marketing; Tanaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD; and Declan Carolan, General Manager, ECR Ireland.

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Tipperary Star*Thursday, 9 April 2015Page: 34


Catch the Clancy Brothers Festival in Carrick-on-Suir this April Music The Clancy Brothers Festival

of Music and Art will hold its Flag Days on Friday April 17th and Saturday April 18th throughout Carrick-on-Suir. Monies'raised go towards the running of free events during the festival on-the June Bank Holiday.

SongCraft Concert in the Chapel The beautiful, atmospheric

setting of the Nano Nagle Chapel will play host to three renowned local music acts during the May Bank Holiday.

The concert is in support of the Clancy Brothers Songwriting

Competition, run in conjunction with the Clancy Brothers Festival, IMRO, Music

Matters Ireland, InMusik, Duplication Ireland and the Tudor Artisan Hub.

Now open for entry, the competition has a prize fund in excess of €1,500. The competition

is free to enter and is open to all musical genres and styles, and to all ages and nationalities. As long as it is a song, it is eligible for entry. Entries

are accepted on CD or by email in MP3 format.

Tickets for the SongCraft

concert are €10 and are available on the door or contact

peadarmacgowan@gmail. comoro86854838i. TheConcert

starts at 8pm in the Nano Nagle Chapel, Clancy House, Carrick-on-Suir.

Festival Art Trail The Clancy Brothers Festival Art Trail artists will host the annual Art Benefit Party on Thursday April 23rd at 7.30pm in the Tudor Artisan Hub, Carrick-on-Suir.

For this unique art sale, local artists unite to create specially

commissioned, one-off works of art on an 8x10 canvas

which they donate to help raise funds for the 2015 Festival

Art Trail. Tickets for the Art Benefit

Party evening are €5, which will be available on the door and will include the art exhibition,

live music and refreshments.

Calling All Artists The Clancy Brothers Festival Art Trail is also seeking new, emerging and established artists

and photographers to exhibit during the festival. There

are exciting opportunities for

artists working in all mediums to exhibit in solo or in group shows, in both traditional and new and unusual exhibition spaces.

The deadline for registration to participate in the 2015

Festival is Friday 17 April 2015. Application forms are available

from the Tudor Artisan Hub, 42 Main St. Carrick on Suir.

For further information on both the Art Trail and the Art Benefit Party, please email [email protected]

or call 0862560609.

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Dungarvan Observer*Friday, 10 April 2015Page: 61


Clancy Brothers Festival of Music and Art CLANCY BROTHERS Kelly, Tom Kenna and Tickets for the SongCraft Hub early to be in with a FESTIVAL FLAG DAYS

The Clancy Brothers Festival of Music and Art will hold its Flag Days on Friday April 17th and Saturday, April 18 th throughout Carrick-onSuir.

Monies raised go towards the running of free events during the festival on the June Bank Holiday.

Now in its eighth year, the festival is looking forward

to running another full and diverse programme of events for all ages, and wishes to thank everyone for their generosity which ensures the continuing success

of the festival. SONGCRAFT

CONCERT IN THE CHAPEL

The beautiful, atmospheric setting of the Nano

Nagle Chapel will play host to three renowned local music acts during the May Bank Holiday.

Hading from the quiet country lanes of South Tipperary,The Cedartowns play a roots-infused brand of original folk and

Americana. Featuring the award winning

vocal talents of sisters Mary and Michelle Nugent and the instrumentation of Seamus Hayes, Tommy

Andrew Kennedy, The Cedartowns effortlessly blend folk, traditional, jazz, blues and pop.

The night will also feature Colm Power, who

recently released his CD, ‘This is no Picnic’ with his group,The Balloonists. With a unique blend of jazz, indie rock and folk, Colm’s music has garnered many fans in the area.

Local singer-songwriter Aisling Ni Chuimin completes

the line-up for the evening with her own inimitable mix of dark humour and spellbinding

songs. The concert is in support

of the Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition, run in conjunction with the Clancy Brothers Festival, IMRO, Music Matters Ireland, InMusik, Duplication Ireland and the Tudor Artisan Hub.

Now open for entry, the competition has a prize fund in excess of €1,500. The competition is free to enter and is open to all musical genres and styles, and to all ages and nationalities.

As long as it is a song, it is eligible for entry. Entries are accepted on CD or by email in MP3 format.

concert are €10 and are available on the door or contact peadarmac- [email protected] or 086 854 8381. The Concert starts at 8pm in the Nano Nagle Chapel, Clancy House, Carrick-on-Suir.

For further information about the Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition please go to www.clancybrothersfestival.

org. CLANCY BROTHERS FESTIVAL ART TRAIL

CALLING ALL ART LOVERS

The Clancy Brothers Festival Art Trail artists will host the annual Art Benefit Party on Thursday, April 23rd at 7.30 p.m. in the Tudor Artisan Hub, Carrick-on-Suir.

For this unique art sale, local artists unite to create specially commissioned, one-off works of art on an 8x10 canvas which they donate to help raise funds for the 2015 Festival Art Trail.

Each painting will be exhibited in the Tudor Artisan Hub and will be available in a lottery style sale from Saturday 18th April with a price tag of only €25.

Visit the Tudor Artisan

chance to buy an original artwork for a mere fraction of its true value as the number

of artworks available will be limited.

Tickets for the Art Benefit Party evening are €5, which will be available on the door and will include the art exhibition, live music and refreshments.

CALLING ALL ARTISTS

The Clancy Brothers Festival Art Trail is also seeking new, emerging and established artists and photographers

to exhibit during the festival.

There are exciting opportunities for artists working in all mediums to exhibit in solo or in group shows, in both traditional and new and unusual exhibition

spaces. The deadline for registration

to participate in the 2015 Festival is Friday, 17th April 2015.

Application forms are available from the Tudor Artisan Hub, 42 Main St. Carrick on Suir.

For further information on both the Art Trail and the Art Benefit Party, please email [email protected]

or call 0862560609.

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Irish Music Magazine*Friday, 1 May 2015Page: 41


IMRO MASTERCLASS John Carty Masterclass at the TempleBar TradFest. Sunday February 1 st, 2015, Filmbase, Temple Bar, Dublin.

With a mannerism as calm and steady as his approach

to the tenor banjo, only John Carty could have remained smiling and patient as a host of banjo players and

fiddlers tuned up at the same time for john's Masterclass as part of the Temple Bar Tradfest 2015.

Billed as an event in which Carty would 'share his in-depth knowledge of Irish music and in particular explore how the music can be interpreted on fiddle, banjo or tenor guitar', there was a large uptake for this free event in the Filmbase building in Dublin's Temple Bar on the Sunday afternoon.

On John's suggestion, everyone took out their instrument to learn a tune together, ‘to break the ice’, as he said.The tune, from close to his Co. Roscommon home, was a fling named after Turn Hill, called simply The Turn. Teaching by ear as he did, he clarified this by stating that he's “not very good at notation”.

After the medley of tuning by the attendees, who ranged across all age brackets, John worked through the first phrases, the trancelike

pattern of the tune simple enough for all to take up. Most definitely an ice-breaker, an opportunity for questions

allowed for John's musical brain to be picked at, ranging from the relationship between fiddle and banjo, to triplets on the tenor banjo, bowing techniques for fiddlers, then to styles and attitudes to approaching the music.

There was a collective gasp among the banjo players, with laughter from the fiddlers, when John suggested as an answer to the question on perfecting triplets: don't play them! After a moment, he went on to state that triplets are not for everyone and so there was no necessity to spend too much time on a technique that did not sit right with a player, rather suggesting to approach such phrases with different techniques. If a player did have triplets in their skill set, he added, it might be best to change them around and not leave them sitting in the one place on a tune.

So, before people had properly settled into their seats - and instruments had warmed up - the audience already had a new

“I do a lot of teaching in Unversity of Limerick, and as part of one of the classes, everyone hs to learn a second instrument. So for people who choose the tan jo who aren't used to holding plecs, I always show them ho\ I hold it and the general way of thumb and index finger,” he saic before adding that, as mentioned, each individual then goes abouholding the plec slightly different anyway.

“Billed as an event in which Carty would 'share his in-depthknowledge of Irish music and in particular explore how the music can be interpreted on fiddle, banjo or tenor guitar', there was a large uptake for this free event in theFilmbase building in

Dublin's Temple Bar on the Sunday afternooV’ tune and, for banjo players, been treated to some expert advice and honest opinion by the London-born virtuoso.

Going further for banjo technique, Carty stated his preference for playing traditional music on the tenor banjo, as opposed to playing the banjo. Again, ready to clarify, he stated: “I'm not a technician when it comes to the banjo,” citing high-end bluegrass that can go over the head at times, instead of playing close to the melody and beat of the particular musical style. This attitude, he said, came from growing up in the London scene, where he had to learn off some of the greats, including accordion player Finbarr Dwyer. “I listened all the time to Finbarr and others in the area who set the bar so high.” There were not too many banjo players from whom to hone his skills - apart from the likes of Mick O'Connor and Brendan Mulkere among others, he said - and so he mostly listened to the broad range of instruments playing melodies and so that shaped his approach.

His ease of playing witnessed in such a close-up setting also allowed for queries as to plectrum holding. He demonstrated his method, but disclaimed any Guru status by saying that, regardless, everyone will find their own way of holding the plec.

Not solely a banjo show, Jorn might have got himself a few dirty looks when he mentionef his distaste of fiddlers holding the bow halfway up. “It's just azy,” he said, though with an affable smile that meant no inult. He got into holding the bow at the frog, he said, after it wa mentioned that Andy McGann held it that way.

His somewhat recent acquiition of a chinrest came as a surprise to some, but he reveled it was necessary to assist during lengthy tours and perbds of playing. “We just don't exercise,” he said frankly aboit traditional musicians in general, when asked about aches and pains associated with playing. “The classical approach to hoding the fiddle is the right way!” he stated, with regard to limitng playing strains.

Despite his busy schedule ;nd therefore, a few aches and pains creeping in, such pains were quite unnoticeable as John Carty demonstrated and chatted about his music with patience and a calm that shines in his infectious playing style,all the reason why he was chosen to give this masterclass as part of Temple Bar Tradfest 2015.

Derek Copley

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Irish Music Magazine*Friday, 1 May 2015Page: 3


FIRST WORDS

LIVE IN THE LIGHT

As you can see from my review of The

Bonny Men in this issue, I love going

to gigs, feeling the live buzz, hearing

the tunes and watching the acts on stage. The

anticipation; I want to see players intoxicated

by their music, I want to see singers lost in

the narrative of their songs, I want to see the

heft of the bow, I want to see the push of the

bellows. I want to see....

Talking to Victor Finn, CEO, IMRO who is

concerned that not enough is being done to train technical staff. He poses the question,

'why not have apprenticeships for the guys

and girls running the desks?' Case in point, far too often lighting is left as an after-thought.

Far too many trad concerts are held in the

semi-dark. Spend a few Euro on a half

decent lighting rig, you can get a couple of

three spot lighting booms for under €600.

A paying audience deserves to hear and see

the acts on stage. I laving the best start in a musical career is

the dream of many an act and this month

you will be able to see some of the finest

young talent in the country at The Siansa

Gael Linn 2015 Final, which will be held in

the National Concert Hall, Dublin on Sunday

April 26th, 2015. RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta

will broadcast the concert live. Siansa Gael

Linn is one of the country's most prestigious

competitions for young traditional Irish music

and singing groups. Organised by Gael Linn

with support from Foras na Gaeilge, RTE

Raidid na Gaeltachta and ourselves here at

IMM, Siansa provides a platform for talented

teenage groups who aim to emulate groups such as Teada, Altan, Danu, Dervish. And The National Concert Hall is a wonderful

professional venue, well set up to give the

competitors a perfect start.

On the other hand, I am sure there will be

hundreds of gigs where the set up won't be

of the same standard as the NCH. However,

the basic premise still holds true, as a player

you are performing to an audience, and now

that you've got the gig, insist the audience

will be able to see you. Don't be bullied by

the bloke in the black T-shirt, if he could

play the pipes as well as you, he'd swap

places for sure. Here's a half dozen handy tips for sound engineers who might have to

run a light desk between twiddling knobs,

fiddling sliders and playing with their pan pots. (1) Light the front of the performer. That's

the bit the audience have come to see.

(2) The acts are on stage because they want to be seen, if it is bright in their eyes,

too bad, it's part of the territory, they signed up to be in limelight.

(3) Coloured lights are for additional

effects, note the word additional. (3) Make sure the light falls on all the

performers and move the spots if you

have to (you might need a ladder). How

many times has the guitarist on the end of

the line been left in the dark?

(4) Be proud of your work, show the

world. If you have a digital photographer

or videographer present (probably that

bloke Prakash) they'll do marvels for your

gig. Digital captures red, green and blue

light separately, they have to be present

in the light mix. Solution. White light has

nearly all the colours of the rainbow.

(5) It is about the audience, not the

bloke on the desk. Sit on the front row

during the sound check and look at the

lighting. Note where the light falls, is it

on the artists feet or over their heads? You

can move the artist's seats and lights to

get the best view. You can't judge this 30

metres away at the light desk. Run the lights at the sound check, it's too late

once the band is on stage for real.

(6) It is not just lighting, how many

times you've been to a gig where the performers are lost behind a forest of

microphones that have been set up for

the NEXT group? If the band doesn't need

the mic stands move them out of the way.

Let the crowd can see the rabbits.

A performer in good lighting will shine

all by themselves, they don't need a box

of fireworks to make exciting music.

Remember 80% of good listening is watching. Do go along to the NCH on

April 26th and watch the young guns at

Siansa Gael Linn.

Here's to clearer views. See you next time?

Sian,

Sean Laffey

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Clonmel Nationalist*Thursday, 9 April 2015Page: 23


Local musicians to star in concert supporting Clancy Brothers Songwriting Contest

Three local music acts will perform a concert in the atmospheric setting of the Nano Nagle Resource Centre Chapel during

the May Bank Holiday. Among the line up for the SongCraft

Concert are the ‘The Cedartowns’, a South Tipperary group that play a blend folk, traditional, jazz, blues and pop

The band comprises the award winning vocal talents of sisters Mary and

Michelle Nugent and the instrumentation of Seamus Hayes, Tommy Kelly, Tom

Kenna and Andrew Kennedy. The night will also feature Colm Power, who recently released his CD, “This is

no Picnic” with his group, The Balloon¬

ists. Colm’sjazz, indie rock and folk style music has attracted many fans in the area.

Local singer-songwriter Aisling Ni Chuimi n completes the line-up with her own inimitable mix of darkly humourous and spellbinding songs.

The concert is in support of the Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition, and will run in conjunction with the Clancy Brothers Festival, IMRO, Music Matters Ireland, InMusik, Duplication Ireland and the Tudor Artisan Hub.

Entries are now being taken for the songwriting competition, which has a prize fund in excess of €1,500.

The competition is free to enter and

is open to all musical genres and styles and to all ages and nationalities. As long as it is a song, it is eligible for entry. Entries

are accepted on CD or by email in MP3 format.

Tickets for the SongCraft concert cost €io and are available on the door or contact [email protected] or (086) 854 8381. The concert starts at 8pm in the Nano Nagle Centre Chapel, Clancy House, Carrick-on-Suir.

For further information about the Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition

please go to www.clancybrothersfestival.org.

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RTE Guide*Saturday, 11 April 2015Page: 49


SUNDAY April 12 TODAY'S TOP TV HIGHLIGHTS

Other Voices

10.50pm RTE 2

AFTER a Hozier special and a lookback at other shows, the new season of Other Voices finally gets under way tonight. And it opens with quite the exclusive.

After eight years in the making, Damien Rice is finally back with new album My Favourite Faded Fantasy.

Also on the show are

psychedelic boogiewoogie threesome All We

Are, and soulful singersongwriter Eaves, whose

mother knows him as Joseph Lyons.

Given this show's record for breaking future acts, be prepared to be the first to talk about newcomers Cloud Castle Lake, who are in the IMRO Other Room.

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Retail News Directory*Friday, 1 May 2015Page: 26,27


2 i

Striking^ \ the Right Note with \ <1 Customer®/

If you play music in your store via radio, TV etc, you need an IMRO licence, according to Brendan Griffin, Director of Licensing, IMRO.

IF you are playing music in your store, you need a licence from IMRO (Irish Music Rights Organisation) to do so. Just like any other input into your business, the use of musical compositions has to be paid for. When you use copyright music in your business, you must first obtain permission from the copyright owners to do so. You do this by obtaining and paying for an IMRO licence.

“It is a legal requirement,” explains Brendan Griffin, Director of Licensing, IMRO. “If you perform copyrighted music in public, and that copyrighted music is within IMRO’s repertoire, you need a licence from the copyright owner to perform that music.”

IMRO is a national organisation that administers the performing right in copyright music in Ireland on behalf of its members - songwriters, composers and music publishers - and on behalf of the songwriters, composers and music publishers of the international overseas societies that are affiliated to it. IMRO’s function is to collect and distribute royalties arising from the public performance of copyright music.

IMRO exists to help businesses and community groups to legally access the worldwide repertoire of music in a cost effective and efficient manner, while making sure that songwriters, composers and music publishers are rightly rewarded for the public use of their music.

Music Adds Value “If you want to use music in your business, you are using

it for a reason: that reason is because it adds value to your business,” Brendan notes. “It hopefully will help you to obtain customers and as importantly, retain them. It is just like any other aspect of your store, from the facade at the front, the ambience inside or the product offering on the shelf: all are geared towards bringing customers through the doors to purchase your products or services and hopefully retaining them as customers. Music can help you to do that and an IMRO licence ensures that you get access to the best repertoire in the world, with every major songwriter and every major song composed, 365 days a year.”

(Caption, Brendan Griffin) Brendan Griffin, Director of Licensing, IMRO.

So how much does it cost?

The licence fee for retail premises varies, depending on the size of the store. Brendan explains, “For a store that is 100

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Retail News Directory*Friday, 1 May 2015Page: 26,27


The Power of Song • 90% of people would select a shop that was playing

music over one that was not. • 60% of customers agree they would spend more

time in a shop if they hear music they like. • 55% would be more likely to return to a store that

plays music they like. • 23% would be prepared to pay 5% more for goods if

music was being played while they shopped. • 84% of shoppers like shops that play in-store music. • 63% agree that playing music encourages

customers to spend longer in-store. • 79% say music helps create a better atmosphere for

customers. (Source: www.musicworksforyou.com)

square metres, the fee is €144 for the second year of the licence onwards - the first year’s fee is 50% higher - which is less than 40c per day. As the store size increases, so does the fee. For a store that is 500 square metres, the cost is €359 per annum in the second year, and a 1,000 square metre store would expect to pay €499. However, if a premises just has a transistor radio on the counter, regardless of store size, the cost is €96 per year.” All prices quoted exclude VAT.

All the money collected goes to the songwriters, composers and music publishers, once IMRO has deducted its administration costs, which are approximately 13% of royalties collected. “So 87% of the money goes back to the songwriters. The way we do that is by using logs from radio stations, who are required to tell us all the music they play, alongside the charts, which let us know what music is popular in a particular year,” Brendan notes. “We use these criteria to determine which songwriters get the money.”

IMRO also regularly run songwriting workshops at their premises and encourage and foster up-and-coming songwriters and artists to perform in venues throughout Ireland.

Some retailers will argue that if they are playing their own CDs, which they bought, they should not have to pay a licence fee. This, however, is not the case.

“If you are performing music in public, which is anywhere

outside the home, the owner of that song (the songwriter) is entitled to be recognised and recompensed for their creative endeavours,” Brendan notes. “If you look at the small print on a CD, for example, you will see that the CD is sold for use in a private or domestic setting and not for public performance.”

The Fee Structure Given the straitened nature of our economy and the pressures on businesses, particularly those in the retail sector, who have seen margins squeezed relentlessly, many retailers argue that there are too many licences needed to operate in Ireland and that the cost of these licences is disproportionately high. Have IMRO looked at their fee structure, given the difficult trading environment?

“All our fees are linked to inflation,” Brendan says, “so when we had deflation a few years back, our fees fell. Inflation is very small at the moment, so our fee increases will be minimal. We are very aware that all sectors of the Irish economy are struggling. We’re all aware of the amount of retail businesses who have closed. If you walk down any main street around the country, you can see vacant units, so we have lost that business. Hopefully, these retailers will come back as the economy turns.”

Reducing the Administrative Burden When it comes to music, a store must have an IMRO licence and also a licence from the PPI (Phonographic Performance Ireland), who represent the owners of the recordings' (i.e. the record companies). IMRO are part of the steering group of licensing authorities which aims to rationalise the amount of licences retail outlets need to operate in Ireland.

“We arc delighted to contribute to that system, to reduce the administrative burden on retailers,” Brendan explains. “If we can help in that regard, we will do so.”

The Director of Licensing concludes by stressing the value of music to a store owner: “Music can help to retain customers in a store for longer, so they are browsing for longer and thus, it increases potential sales. There is no doubt that music brings value to the owner of the premises. If it brings value, there is a value to it, and that is why we represent songwriters in a fair, transparent and reasonably priced manner. Have a look at the voxpops on our website at www.imro.ie and hear how some of our customers use music to help them drive their business.”

IF you have any query regarding your need to hold an IMRO licence, please contact the IMRO Licensing Department at 01 661 4844, email [email protected] or see www.imro.ie/music-users/.

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