BAI announces funding of €2m for live music programming under the Sound & Vision Scheme

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has today (13.10.22) announced funding of just under €2m under the Sound & Vision 4 Broadcasting Funding Scheme for programming that supports the live music sector.  A total of 10 projects have been successful in Round 45 of the scheme.  The funding recommendations were made following a competitive assessment process, which included a requirement that applications demonstrated gender equality of at least 50% in the leadership roles within the creative production team and amongst the performers.

All of the funded projects will explore the themes of Irish culture, heritage, and experience, drawing from the live music sector in Ireland.  The projects will be broadcast by various community, commercial and public service broadcasters around the country. This funding round was implemented further to a request from the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD.

This round received 28 applications that sought funding of €3.77m.  Of the ten projects, five are for broadcast on radio, accounting for €445k of the total amount.  One of the projects (Irish Music Month) will be broadcast nationwide on up to 24 commercial radio stations.  The other five projects will be broadcast on TV and account for €1.51m.  Some 30% of the projects are Irish / bilingual, while 80% of the projects will be produced by independent producers/production companies, representing €1.94m of the total recommended funding package.

Commenting, Chief Executive of the BAI, Celene Craig, said: “The BAI included this specific live music round under the Sound & Vision Scheme at the request of Minister Catherine Martin, and I would like to thank her for securing the additional funding.  We were impressed with the quality of the projects submitted for consideration, which help to fulfil the BAI’s strategic aims to promote diversity and plurality, content in the Irish language, and sectoral sustainability.

“We were delighted with the response to the ‘women in a lead creative role’ criterion in the round – the voices and input of women will be significant across all projects, including roles such as presenters, general participants, and featured musical artists.  It is also worth noting that this round will result in a significant amount of financial support being injected into the wider events sector, through artist fees, musician fees, venue hire, venue staff fees, stage and sound engineering crew costs, and other ancillary costs associated with live performance.”

A full list of the projects being offered funding under the Sound & Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme Round 45 can be found here.

ENDS

Media contact: Joanne Ahern, DHR Communications, Tel: 087-9881837.

All other queries: BAI, 01-6441200.