McEvoy puts her heart into copyright fight at IMRO

SINGER/SONGWRITER Eleanor McEvoy knows a thing or two about the music industry, having composed the song Only

a Woman’s Heart, title track of the hugely successful compilation album, A Woman’s

Heart. And she has a few things to get off her chest about how the business is changing.

I can reveal that McEvoy will take over as chair of the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) next month. And she tells me that illegal downloading is hitting a low note with the industry.

McEvoy, who will be working closely with IMRO chief executive Victor Finn, said: “First and foremost I am a jobbing musician and a working songwriter.

“However, I am incredibly passionate about copyright. I have seen how the income of songwriters has been decimated, and I mean decimated, over the last 15 years by the erosion of copyright.

“It’s not something I usually talk about,” she added. “In fact in interviews I usually say I’m not going to talk about it because I’m here to talk about the music.”

However, she will strike a different note in her role as chair.

She stressed that IMRO does not represent bands or musicians. “We just represent the rights of composers, publishers and songwriters. It’s the people who write, although it has a devastating impact on musicians as well.”

McEvoy, who begins the UK leg of her current tour next month, said that writers are often the low-profile people who pen the big songs for well-known artists, and their income is being hit hardest.

She said that IMRO sees the issue being fought on two levels, one being new EU legislation.

But the bigger challenge will be changing people’s perceptions.

“What you have to do is educate the public,” said McEvoy. “People would find it utterly unacceptable to walk into a shop and steal a €10 bottle of wine.

“But they will have no qualms about illegally downloading a new CD. I have people come up to me in the queues after a gig asking me to sign burned CDs.”

Needless to say, McEvoy demurred.