In the aftermath of the Blog Awards and having a brief word (and subsequent emails) with DownloadMusic.ie’s Johnny Beirne, I’ve been asked to join a panel of well respected musicians and promotors (including the likes of 2FM’s Rick O’Shea, former Choice Music Prize winner Julie Feeney, WLR’s Roddy Cleere, Today FM’s Alison Curtis and more – full list here).
The purpose of the panel is to select 10 tracks from the DownloadMusic.ie catalog to go forth onto a USB released compilation album which will be sold online as well as being distributed to key media personnel around the country.
As panelists we’re given the task of listening through and rating a short list of 50 tracks from acts registered on DownloadMusic.ie, producing a final selection of 10 to make their way to the album.
I think it’s a great idea from the DM team who continue to help promote (and chart) music from independent Irish and unsigned acts. I’ve worked with a few acts in helping them get their music onto the service (it’s actually a rather easy process) and have seen bands reap the benefits of having their tracks available for download (both for promotional and commercial gain), particularly when the downloads are being tracked for places in the Irish music charts.
The compilation album too will be monitored by ChartTrack so with enough sales we might see a USB released album enter the Irish charts. If anything I’m looking forward to discovering more new music in the knowledge that the contributions made by the panel are further exposing some of the gems of the Irish music scene to a greater audience.