The Contemporary Music Centre is hosting colleagues from 26 countries at our conference this week.

Some 40 delegates from 26 countries around Europe, North America and Australia are arriving in Dublin this week to attend the annual meeting of the International Association of Music Information Centres (IAMIC).

The Contemporary Music Centre is the Irish member and this year it is our privilege to host the annual conference, which runs from Wednesday 9th to Saturday 12th June inclusive.

IAMIC is a world-wide network of organisations that document and promote the music of our time. It currently supports the work of 39 member organisations in 37 countries. The annual meeting is an important event, providing a valuable opportunity for colleagues to initiate and review collaborative international projects, discuss topics of common concern, and share professional experience. There is also an important networking aspect - both formal and informal - which builds good working relationships throughout the rest of the year.

Each Music Information Centre promotes and documents the music of its own country or region over a variety of musical genres including contemporary classical music, world music, jazz and popular. The member organisations manage extensive resources (large libraries of sheet music, recordings, biographical and research materials) and deliver promotional and artistic projects (festivals, concerts, competitions, conferences) to the public.

While each member organisation focuses on the promotion of musical activities in their country or region, IAMIC works to promote international exchange on issues of common concern and brings these organisations together for collective projects.

While much of the conference is taken up with the internal business of the Association, at least one day is always open to the public so that the local music and arts community have the opportunity to network with the international visitors. This year the public conference on The Future of Music in the Digital World takes place in Dublin Castle on Friday, 11 June and is fully booked.

Another regular feature of IAMIC conferences is a concert, and this year the Irish jazz group Métier will play at lunchtime on 11 June. Most Music Information Centres internationally promote all genres of music from their country, and this will be the first time that a jazz group has given the IAMIC concert.

We are delighted to welcome our colleagues to Ireland for this important event.

Our sincere thanks are due to the many funders and supporters who have made it possible, in particular the Arts Council's European Cultural Contact Point, the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and Culture Ireland.