Murphy & Rogers/Sounds Irish, Acts Global, Introduction

Here we set out our argument that to understand the music artists and music industry of any country it is vital to understand the scene that produced them. Therefore, we have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the networks behind Ireland’s most successful music acts as well as a critical overview of the current music scene. Many popular music histories fail to acknowledge the vital way in which artists are sustained and nurtured by their local music scene. The over-emphasis by these histories on the successful marketing of well-known acts by major firms undervalues the personal, small-scale, yet pivotal role played by the local music scene. When the three major music firms are credited with ‘discovering’ and bringing artists to the global market, the day-to-day workings of the local scene are ignored, obscured or mythologised. This misperception makes it difficult for the state, and other interested actors, to address the problems, and opportunities, of the music scene in an empirically-based way.