         
Creative Financing and Music The Music Board of Ireland is organising an international music industry seminar entitled Creative Financing and Music, to be held in Dublin on 20 April 2004 as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU. Organised on behalf of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and with the support of the EU Commission, Creative Financing and Music is a one-day seminar aimed at delegates from the private and public sectors specialising in music and media financing. Music is synonymous with Ireland’s image abroad. Notwithstanding the small size of the country, Ireland has consistently proven to be an important player and out-performer in the global music market. Irish artists accounted for 2.3% of world CD sales, ranking fourth after the UK, USA and Canada in 2001. Nonetheless, the music industry support sector in Ireland is small relative to the scale of the success of Irish artists worldwide. In common with their counterparts in other countries, the majority starting out in the music business, as artists, managers, producers, publishers, or as an independent label, find that securing long-term capital investment is one of the main challenges to be faced in order to advance and maximise career potential. As investors are understandably wary of becoming involved in the often unpredictable music business, there is a resulting shortage of risk capital available. Focusing on access to finance, Creative Financing and Music will consider ways to address raising capital for the music industry. Existing support mechanisms at regional or national level will also be examined. This seminar will take place in the context of the current upheaval in the music sector due to technology and market developments; the i2i audiovisual initiative of the European Investment Bank and the evaluation of the EU’s Culture 2000 programme. Creative Financing and Music will be of interest to all music entrepreneurs (artists, managers, publishers, record companies), and finance providers at European level (support agencies, banks, investment funds, venture capitalists), as well as trade bodies, collecting societies and government officials. To ensure a high level of interactivity, the seminar will be organised around small discussion groups. Participants will be invited to submit proposals to the Irish Presidency of the European Union for future policy actions or recommendations. Programme and registration details for the seminar are available at www.creativefinancing.ie Further information:
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