Gov't to introduce pension fund for musicians

By Cecilia Okoth

GOVERNMENT is considering introducing a pension fund to support old musicians and their dependents.

The discussions which are set to take place at the very first annual Music Industry Conference, slated on 19 May next week will see people like Richard Byarugaba the Managing Director National Social Security Fund present a paper titled, "Is there a need for the formation of a Uganda music industry pension fund?"

The conference is a key activity in commemoration of the world day for cultural diversity and development in Uganda known as World Culture Day day that is celebrated on 21 May. The theme for World Culture Day 2015 is "Promoting our norms and values: a tool for national identity and patriotism".

Among other discussants will be Uganda Revenue Authority's Commissioner General Doris Akol, who will talk about the potential of music business in the economic transformation in Uganda and Steven Asiimwe the Executive Director Uganda Tourism Board who will discuss Opportunities of making Kampala an entertainment centre.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Media Centre yesterday, Sulaiaman Madada, the minister of state for disability said Government recognizes the Music Industry Conference as a strategic and vital platform in finding solutions to the many challenges that the emerging music industry faces.

"There is need to find sustainable and democratic means of restructuring and streamlining Uganda's Music Industry in order to make it attractive to both private and public investment," Madada said.

For a long time, the National Social Security Fund and Uganda Revenue Authority have tried to tap into the informal sector to no avail.

Impoverished musicians

However, Richard Kaweesa, a music entrepreneur said musicians both in the past and today are faced with the same dilemma of being very famous but poor.

"If this trend has not changed, then it is not about to even with the current big names that we have. Therefore we need to find a solution to factor them in the music industry pension fund to allow for people to sustain their livelihood even when they die," he added.

Kaweesa said 19 May, the day of the conference, is when famous musician Paul Kafeero was buried and although he left a music legacy behind, he died an extremely poor man, who could not fend for his children.

Other artists with a music legacy but who died poor include; Elly Wamala, Jimmy Katumba, Fred Masagazi, DJ Berry, among others.

Barbara Arimi, the head of marketing and communications at NSSF said much as musicians do not have a framework make contributions, they can apply for voluntary member contributions and still save for the future. She however said people have not yet appreciated the need to save.

When asked whether the musicians fund will be a way of tapping into the informal sector, Arimi said she could not comment on the matter but will do so at the right time.  

Broadcasters not paying musicians royalties

Mike Strano the Regional Director for Africa Music Awards said the creative industry which is the next frontier for wealth creation in Africa has not been monetized properly because the intellectual property is still relatively new in Africa.

"There is so much intellectual property here. The new generation coming through is very sharp in terms of software and music development and other creative industries like television, theatre and literature. All these hold a great potential," Strano said.

To illustrate this potential, Strano said the international best practice for collecting royalties of airplay is three percent of advertising revenue, the same tariff the Uganda performing rights society uses.

"Advertising spent on Uganda electronic media in 2013 was Sh720b. If you take 3percent of that international tariff, Sh26.6b in royalties should be coming to the music industry alone. This is just on air play before what artists get paid for their performances and endorsements. That means USD7.2m is lacking and what is being collected is Sh157m which is less than one percent," He said.

This means that out of the 200 radio and television broadcasters Uganda has, only 15 pay royalties and 185 broadcasters non-compliant.

"Why are the rest still broadcasting?" Strano wonders, adding that it is an infringement of the broadcasting license if broadcasters do not pay their royalties.

He added, "There is need to ensure that the copyright law is adhered to."