Music is an important category in our day-life as it speaks with our souls, henceforth a mind resting mechanism; it is an integral part of many Ugandans’ life, stretching from the noble to the common laymen. It had been unheard since time memorial for a federation in the entertainment industry. Several federations have only been established under the departments of sports, for example, the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA), Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA), and Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF), among others. To date, only a few writers have attempted to make an analysis of musical law issues in Uganda let alone associations and federations themselves.
The question of the day is what the strategy of this Federation of musicians should be, its objective and its modus operandi. There is also an the issue of Political lobbying: You will agree with me that this has been the common notion and argument of several Ugandans, many of whom argue that the Federation is formed on the basis of political lobbying. However, I will argue this in the affirmative, looking at a wider range of demands musicians are advocating for interalia, copyright, reasonable taxes, better infrastructures, among others, can only be brought to life by the free will of legislators.
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The Federation.
The Black’s Law Dictionary defines a federation as a league or union of states, groups, or people’s united under a central authority but retaining limited regional sovereignty. In most cases such federations are trade unions, i.e. labour unions and are comprised of professionals in that particular field. Take an example of the American Federation of musicians (A.F.M) under their phrase “In unity there is strength,” the first standing resolution of the AFM was the meaning of a profession. Who is a professional musician? The Federation defined a professional musician to mean any musician, who receives pay for his musical services, shall be considered a professional musician.”