CAPACITY WORKSHOP FOR NORTH MUSICIANS (SHOWBIZ, PAGE 4, NOV 19)

By Vincent Amenuveve

MUSICIANS in the Northern Region have called on government and stakeholders in the industry to help address the menace of piracy and facilitate the payment of royalties due them.
They noted that, most musicians have become impoverished as a result of those challenges they face although they spent huge sums of money as well as exerted much energy and time to produce music for public consumption.
The musicians made the call after they completed a day’s capacity building and skills training workshop in Tamale.
The workshop, under the theme Knowledge the Way to Development and Success aimed at among other objectives, equipping musicians with the requisite skills and helping to unearth their talents in music.
It was organised by the Musicians Union of Ghana in the region with sponsorship from the Cultural Initiative Support Programme (CISP) and the European Union.
The participants, who were mainly musicians from the Yendi Municipality, Nanumba North, West Gonja, Savelugu-Nanton, and Tolon-Kumbungu districts equally called on stakeholders to find ways of getting sponsors for musicians in the north.
One of the musicians, Alhaji Osman Inusah observed that “we need to be paid royalties so that we can lead better lives”. He noted that the workshop was very helpful in the sense that it provided them with the requisite skills to do professional work.
The Regional Chairman of MUSIGA, Mr. Delali Alormenu pointed out that the industry was one of the viable sectors that could help address youth unemployment in the country.
“The sector can create millions of jobs from the art itself to the recording studios, manufacturers of musical gadgets and accessories,” he said.
The Regional Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Alhaji Ahmed Adam told the musicians to use their music as a tool for peace building.