Pod Concerts is a

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

promoter operating in Ireland. It co-operates with

Festival Republic Festival Republic is a UK music promoter. It was founded as Mean Fiddler Group in 1982 by Irish-born chairman John Vincent Power, as a venue-management and music-promotion group. After the group was taken over by Hamsard Ltd in 2005, the focus b ...

in organising

Electric Picnic Electric Picnic is an annual arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in ...

. It has been behind numerous events and festivals on the island, including Lovebox,

Garden Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

and Midlands Music Festival. In 2008, Pod have been behind the Soundtrack '08 event in their Pod Complex on

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

's Harcourt Street, as well as promoting a number of concerts involving

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Iggy Iggy or Iggie is a unisex name and it is often a hypocorism, short form of the Ancient Rome, Roman Latin names Ignatius, Ignatia (feminine) and Ignatius (masculine), or their derivatives in other European languages. As such the name is derived ulti ...

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

and

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

at the Royal Hospital,

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In th ...

in June.

2008 IMRO legal proceedings

A disagreement between the

Irish Music Rights Organisation The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) is a national organisation that administers the performing right in copyright music in Ireland on behalf of its members (who are songwriters, composers and music publishers) and on behalf of the songwrite ...

and POD Concerts reached the High Court on June 16, 2008. IMRO began proceedings against POD Concerts seeking €432,000 in fees, which are alleged to be outstanding on a series of music festivals, including Electric Picnic, Lovebox and Garden Party. POD concerts intend to dispute the basis on which the tariffs are calculated and how they are distributed. On Friday 13 June, IMRO issued a statement confirming that it had issued proceedings against POD Concerts Ltd. The proceedings were "in relation to a dispute in respect of the Electric Picnic music element". "IMRO will be in court on Monday 16 June 2008 seeking entry into the Commercial List," the statement added, before clarifying the background to the organisation's decision to go to court. "It is IMRO's policy to rigorously pursue all outstanding royalties due to the songwriters, composers and music publishers that it represents from the commercial exploitation of their music." Following the 17 June hearing, in which lawyers on behalf of IMRO made their opening statement, POD Concerts responded to media coverage of the dispute, setting out their version of events in robust terms – and directly answering what POD dismisses as totally misleading statements about Electric Picnic. The statement, issued on 18 June and signed by POD MD, John Reynolds, asserted the following:

"The
Electric Picnic 2008 Electric Picnic 2008 was the fifth Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday–Sunday, 29–31 August at Stradbally in County Laois, Ireland. The festival was headlined by Sigur Ró ...
is not in doubt or in jeopardy contrary to press and media reports over the last number of days. POD Concerts is in dispute with IMRO over certain issues relating to the high fees charged by IMRO to it for 'public performance' of music which are in addition to the fees paid to the artists to perform. IMRO is seeking to charge POD Concerts for performances from non-music artists involved in the Electric Picnic."

The case may have to go to a full hearing in early July when it is due in the High Court again.

References

{{Reflist

2008 IMRO legal proceedings

References

External links