Talented Ugandan musicians urgently need to acquire education in music if they are to survive in the competitive local and global music industry.
Jackson Kamuntu, an Assistant Lecturer at Makerere University, says Ugandan musicians cannot compete internationally because they lack skills and knowledge in composing songs and actual performance on stage.
Kamuntu says that the lack of skills among most musicians explains why some songs turn out boring or musically unsatisfying.
//Cue in: “These human beings….
Cue out: ………you sing people say yes.”//
He says some of the western music genre like hip-hop that musicians in Uganda are attempting to sing require some skills if one has to come out with a unique song.
Besides Kamuntu, says most musicians here are ignorant about the rules of the music industry and have copied songs without regard to likely consequences.
Kamuntu’s assertion brings up the same old question on whether education would be of any use to musicians that are already talented and are seemingly successful.
Milton Wabyona, the Executive Director of Uganda Heritage Roots, in an interview says he is an example of Ugandan artist that had barely had high school education but has since realized the need for talented musicians to acquire education.
//Cue in: “Education is very important…..
Cue out: ….entertain and excite people.”//
Wabyona says the current musicians should deeply reflect on why the songs they compose can hardly be listened to just months or year after they have been launched. He says talented musicians would benefit more if their music was listened to over years.
Makerere University’s School of Liberal and Performing Arts formerly Music Dance and Drama reviewed its Bachelor of Arts in Music degree to include popular music, technological music, and community music and all strands of the music industry.
Kamuntu says unlike the past, applicants for this degree that has been running since 1996 will no longer be required to have had prior background in music. He says talented musicians can benefit from the degree since it has been designed to respond to challenges of the rapid growing music industry.
