Support for original artists in Germany restored my faith in music profession

Athlone music artist EVA COYLE wrote this opinion piece for the Westmeath Independent in November:

Almost five weeks into a tour with The Irish Folk Festival, performing in lots of different locations around Germany and Switzerland, I’m feeling elated with the success of the tour.

We set out to do 34 shows within a six-week time frame, and although it’s taxing, we are part of a great crew that allows us to focus just on performance and everything else is taken care of.

As I sit here waiting for my wash to dry at a launderette in Reutlingen, I reflect on how the folk music market is here in Germany and how it compares to Ireland.

I’ve been observing how people consume music over here in Germany. Being the third biggest music market in the world, it is of no surprise that people are buying tickets to gigs, a small minority buying CDs, and people are interested in chatting about the music after the gig.

Seeing a packed hall of 500 people at most of the shows has triggered my independent singer/songwriter mind into wanting to thank everyone for coming out.

Should I give them a free CD on the way out? I am not used to this culture of audience, and I’m feeling grateful, because I cannot make this my career without people consuming the music.

On the other side, would a gardener give you a free plant after doing a day's work? Would a plumber say ‘thanks for the business' and give you a big discount – most likely not.

This work is seasonal, it is unpredictable, and this is the cost of being an artist. Why would I give a free album away? I independently funded all of my albums. I paid for the musicians on it, paid the recording studio, paid the audio engineer who mixed it, paid the artist who designed the visuals, paid for CD distribution - and who benefits financially from this?

Capitalist organisations that don’t put profit for the artist at its core have in a sense put a hole in the bucket for the musicians.

If you pay for a premium streaming account, you are paying for the music to some degree - but almost all of that money is going to the corporation. Aside from a platform called Bandcamp, which averages an 82% profit for musicians, I have not seen any money from streaming platforms.

The rise in streaming has changed the course of how we earn money from music. A fellow performer on this tour earns a substantial amount from YouTube videos, being up in the million views category.

Even at that, earning money from streaming platforms should only be seen as a small booster, and cannot be the main source of income for artists as might have been the case with record sales twenty years ago.

It’s no longer like putting a book out and reaping the rewards from book sales, because music sales won’t happen without gigs.

Within the current musical climate, the main source of income has to come from gigging live. That means touring, gaining boosters from small album sales, and an even smaller percentage from royalties.

I haven’t lost complete faith in humanity however, since there are a small demographic of people still buying records.

A culture of supporting folk music is prevalent in Ireland, as much is shown by the success of Doolin Folk Fest. With good organisations and the right people at the helm putting artists profit at the core, there can be a more fruitful experience for both the artist and the listener.

I never want my love for the music to be compromised by economics. I never did it for the money, but I also cannot keep doing it without reciprocal exchange. For that reason, I’m very appreciative to people who support the music.

My experience of performing folk music has ranged from hosting small music sessions, to pub gigs, church gigs, coffee shop gigs, festival gigs. Folk music was set up to be a live experience from the session that started in the home kitchen to what it is now upon the global stage.

Selling out an original gig has never been on my radar, as I never believed people would want this type of experience when they go out.

There are a few pockets around Ireland where creativity, original music and individual expression are celebrated, and my experience in Germany has restored faith in the profession of being a musician.