Social Democrats media spokesperson Sinéad Gibney has expressed concern over reports that Irish artists will lose out to the tune of €100,000 a year as a result of RTÉ Radio One’s decision to outsource its newly rebranded jingles to a UK-based company.
Deputy Gibney said:
“The jury is still very much out on the new jingles for some of the station’s flagship shows, including Morning Ireland, Today with David McCullagh, and RTÉ’s News at One. This follows the station’s earlier decision to replace the popular Stockton’s Wing tune ‘Over the Moors’ as the theme music for Liveline, a move that proved deeply unpopular with listeners.
“Part of RTÉ Radio One’s strength is the familiarity and brand recognition it has built up with its audience over decades of quality public service broadcasting so the need for new jingles for its programmes is questionable. We don’t even know the cost of this exercise as the station insists this information is commercially sensitive. Such lack of transparency is difficult to understand when the contracted work on the new jingles has already been carried out.
“Even more concerning are claims by the Screen Composers’ Guild of Ireland (SCGI) and the Association of Independent Music (AIM) that the decision by RTÉ to outsource the new jingles to a UK-based company could deny Irish artists up to €100,000 a year in music rights and royalty income.
“While I accept that the successful UK company was selected for the ‘audio identity’ contract through a public procurement process, it is unfortunate that this will be at the expense of Irish musicians and songwriters who deserve to be supported by our national broadcaster.”
April 22, 2026