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21st April 2019
11:00am BST

"I think you would be astounded at the sheer volume of Irish music out there that isn't getting to your ears. That's the reality.
"There's no particular entry point into Irish radio for Irish artists," Troy continues.
"You have JOE's Song of the Day and Nialler9 is great and NO ENCORE is great, but there's no actual BBC Music Introducing equivalent here. That's what is missing."
Troy notes that she's become something of an emissary between Irish acts and radio, regularly conversing on where and how to meet in the middle.
For now, PlayIrish marks a way forward. Is it fair to say, point blank, that domestic radio just hasn't been properly looking after its own?
"That's why we're doing this," nods Troy.
"You can put the blame on another industry, but the Irish music industry is very disjointed. We don't have a lot of managers, we don't have a lot of labels, and therefore we don't have a lot of experience.
"A band from Kerry contacting Tracy Clifford on 2FM to get their song played is really not the way it should work. If 2FM are overloaded with emails and there isn't a structured pipeline; is it radio's fault? Some of it is and some of it isn't.
"This is the music industry getting its shit together. Two or three people shouldn't be able to dictate what flourishes. This is the music industry taking the power back."
PlayIrish is currently in pilot stage, and thus teething issues are present.
Dipping in for a couple of hours during the week, I was met with the latest from Hozier, God Knows, Laoise, Dermot Kennedy, Fontaines D.C., Jafaris, and SOAK, as well as a vintage number from Snow Patrol.
There were other artists in the mix, though identifying and following up on them in the traditional sense can prove mildly irksome.
With no DJ in place, there's nobody to tell you what you're listening to, while the interface could do a cleaner job of screening the information, particularly when your phone is in lock mode.
Having to check your device may be par for the course with Spotify and Apple Music, but conventional structures of radio, digital or otherwise, bring certain expectations.
PlayIrish has sharp, succinct idents with enthusiastic voices, but as of now and at least during my time tuning in, they merely shout out the service you've already engaged with. You imagine such setbacks will be sorted in time.
Back to those on it. Troy mentions the folk singer Daoirí Farrell, who has won prestigious genre-focused awards and racked up impressive streaming numbers, but "can't get arrested" in his home country.
"Part of that is Daoirí's fault, and part of that is radio's fault," she considers.
"We can only control our area, but this is music and radio finally sitting down at the same table going, 'Okay, we see what you're talking about - what are we going to do about it?'."
Describing a "bottleneck" of artists that are earning while creating jobs, Troy suggests that the onus is on everyone, listeners included, to help expand the musical map.
"The industry has to pull together and the artists have to tune in," she says.
"If the artists aren't going to, why should anybody else? If you're asking Today FM to consider your music for airplay, you want to know what the station is like, and what they play and don't play.
"It's about putting the work in. This is the time for the artist to put the work in and to tune in and listen and to support each other.
"It's a difficult thing for Irish people to do, except for Repeal and the marriage referendum," Troy muses.
"I hope that this will bring people together. It's about the music community standing up for itself."
PlayIrish is available via the Irish Radioplayer app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play.Explore more on these topics: