Renowned Irish music publisher Michael O’Riordan has been awarded the Midem Gold Pioneer Medal for his extensive contribution to the Music Business. The medal was presented to O’Riordan, the only Irish person to receive the award, by IMRO CEO Victor Finn and Keith Donald, Chairman of IMRO’s Board of Directors.

Michael O´Riordan was a major player in the success of Release Records in the late 1960s, when the Irish music scene was mainly dominated by that label and its unrivalled catalogue of showbands, ballad singers and cabaret acts. Since the advent of Ritz Records he has been an unrelenting campaigner for more use of all types of Irish music on radio and television. More recently he has concentrated on the publishing side of the business through his Watermill publishing company. O´Riordan has also devoted much of his time to servicing the music industry. He is both a director and committee member of IMRO and MCPSI, served on the Music Board of Ireland and is currently president of the Music Publishers Association of Ireland.

Midem is the leading business event for the international music industry featuring four days of music conferences, forums, competitions and networking events. Midem has been held each year since 1967 in Cannes with several thousand musicians, producers, agents, publishers, PROs, government ministers, tech companies, managers, lawyers, executives, entrepreneurs and journalists from around the world regularly attend the event.  The Midem Gold Pioneer Medal is awarded to select individuals to commemorate their attendance at Midem and their contribution to the music industry.