Private Sector Foundation Uganda, the umbrella body for private sector players has highlighted its commitment to working closely with the Uganda Performing Right Society (UPRS) to transform the music industry.

Speaking at the 2024 Uganda Performing Right Society (UPRS) Annual General Meeting held at the URSB Auditorium, Mr. Daniel Kazibwe aka Ragga Dee, the PSFU Board Member representing Creatives and also a legendary musician noted that PSFU aims to catalyze the creative sector to create work opportunities for young people. He mentioned that they are doing this through several initiatives such as National Start-Up Policy.

“PSFU has played a significant role in supporting the development of the National Startup Policy, which addresses challenges in the creative industry, particularly those faced by the Uganda Performing Rights Society (UPRS) and other stakeholders. This policy encourages startups to innovate and collaborate, which UPRS can leverage to develop new strategies for efficient royalty collection and distribution, such as Song Boost,” Mr. Kazibwe said, adding;

“The policy requires startups to allocate at least 30% of their budget to R&D, encouraging UPRS to partner with tech startups to create advanced systems for tracking and managing royalties. It also emphasizes stakeholder consultations, helping UPRS engage more effectively with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Rural Broadcasters Union (RUB) to find mutually beneficial solutions.”

Additionally, Mr. Apollo Muyanja Mbazzira, the PSFU LFS Project Director noted that minus the National Start-Up Policy, they have other initiatives that directly benefit the Creative industry. These include the Lead Firm Structure (LFS), in partnership with Mastercard Foundation that targets to create more than 300,000 jobs dignified and fulfilling jobs for Youth and Women. The other initiative is the PSFU Youth Engagement Strategy that aims at increasing the Youth participation in private sector initiatives.

Mr. Muyanja urged musicians to unite for the good of the industry and collaborate more as this is one sure way of attaining success and winning more support.

On his part, Mr. Sam Okello, the UPRS chairman noted that as UPRS, they continue to engage their members, foster collaborations and digitizing their services to meet the twenty first century requirements. He noted that their regulator – URSB, is working with other government agencies to fast track the realization and implementation of the copyright law as it is a sure win for all content creators.

Meanwhile, Mr Meddie Kaggwa, the UCC Head of Multi-Media and Content challenged content creators to create more content but with proper guidelines on what market segment they are targeting.

“We are engaging the stakeholders on adequate classification of content so that there are proper consumption ratings. We are engaging broadcasters and parents too on what content should be aired and viewed when.”