FIM and SYCAMU file a joint complaint with the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association against the Cameroon government
On 18 January 2016, FIM and the Cameroon Musicians’ Union (SYCAMU) officially filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization’s Committee on Freedom of Association for breach by the Cameroon government of ILO’s Convention 87.
Last September, FIM sent a letter to the President of the Republic of Cameroon asking him to oppose the decision of his Prime Minister, Mr Philémon Yang, to order the Labour Minister to impose a ban on SYCAMU, which was reproached with being in breach of its own rules by organising a meeting aimed at creating a collecting society, since SOCAM (previously in charge of managing copyright and related rights for music) had ceased its activity. […]
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Iran must drop charges on two musicians and a filmmaker
Whilst the world focuses on the lifting of sanctions and Iran’s prisoner swap with the US, many artists remain imprisoned in Iran.
Mehdi Rajabian, a musician and founder of BargMusic, an alternative music distributor in Iran, along with his filmmaker brother Hossein Rajabian and musician Yousef Emadi, were jointly sentenced to six years in prison and fined 200 million tomans (about USD 66,650) each for “insulting the sacred” and “propaganda against the state” in May 2015.
The three were first arrested in 2013. Mehdi Rajabian was reportedly subject to repeated torture during the subsequent detention.
On 22 December 2015, the artists appeared at the Branch 54 of the Tehran Province Appeals Court. […]
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Musicians’ unions from Central and Western Africa committed to gender equality
FIM and AMS (Senegalese Association for Music Professionals) organised a sub-regional training workshop in Dakar from 11 to 13 January 2016 on the issue of gender equality in the music sector, financed by Union to Union. This was FIM’s first sub-regional meeting dedicated to this theme. In addition to Union to Union and FIM facilitators, there were also a French expert from the sector and two Senegalese university academics.
Work was opened by the director of the arts and the manager of the cultural sector of the decentralised unit of UNESCO in Dakar. The first day focused on a situational analysis in the following eight countries: Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Niger, Central African Republic, Senegal and Togo. […]
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Message from FIM after the terrorist attacks in Paris
The assassination of 130 innocent victims in Paris in the evening of Friday 13 November 2015 has shocked the entire world.
The International Federation of Musicians shares the grief of the French Nation. FIM is especially affected by the fact that so many people were killed while enjoying a music performance.
Such violence cannot be justified nor understood. Music has always been a unique way to unite people whatever their origin or belief, which makes the terrorist attack against the audience at the Bataclan a particularly despicable crime.
FIM firmly condemns these acts of terrorism as well as any form of support, active or passive, to such criminal behaviours.
Uruguay | International support for the SODRE Symphony Orchestra
The SODRE Symphony Orchestra is Uruguay’s national orchestra. Founded in 1931, it is Latin America’s oldest orchestra. A bastion of national culture, it has also become an essential benchmark for the whole of the Latin American region. It has been directed by celebrities such as Erich Kleiber, Ottorino Respighi or Igor Stravinsky, to mention just the most iconic.
Unfortunately, political leaders have set out on a path to gradually eliminate permanent positions in favour of precarious ones with short-term contracts. Currently, the orchestra has only 52 positions left for stable jobs, 47 positions being covered by precarious ones.
FIM firmly condemns this short-sighted policy which is jeopardising the institution’s artistic heritage. […]
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France | MOU for online music
After bitter negotiations, a memorandum of understanding for online music was signed in France on 2 October 2015, between representatives of the music industry and a certain number of professional organisations including French members of FIM, FIA and IAO, under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture.
This memorandum came about within the scope of the “Creation Act” currently being discussed by the French Parliament. It makes provision for:
• An evaluation of the economy of the phonographic publishing sector based on transparency of data, the creation of an observatory and new obligations for producers;
• Providing a framework for managing reductions applied by producers in artists’ contracts, particularly with regard to the digital sector;
• A code of conduct for platforms, producers and performers;
• Enhancing the highlighting of works and artistic diversity;
• A minimum remuneration guarantee for leading performers;
• Including all producers’ revenues into the remuneration calculation base;
• The setting-up of an employment assistance fund for all performers working in the recorded music sector. […]
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Financial crisis at the Rishon LeZion Symphony Orchestra
The IMU (Israeli Musicians’ Union) is deeply involved in the ongoing negotiations between the Rishon LeZion Symphony Orchestra’s management and the 80 musicians who are employed under a collective agreement and represented by the Union. The orchestra carries a heavy deficit and as government and city support, though not curtailed, are not going to grow, the management has put on the table a drastic cut in the planned 2016 budget.
The musicians are asked to agree to a 10% cut in their salaries. Next two weeks will be crucial and it is hoped that a workable solution will be reached. James Judd, the musical director made a very generous gesture and offered to work for free next year.
Petition to support the National Orchestra of Belgium
“As the result of politics, our National Orchestra is threatened with extinction in the near future. In fact, a scheme from Minister Reynders cabinet aims at the absorption of the National Orchestra of Belgium by the Royal Opera Theatre “La Monnaie” to strengthen its programming.
We feel however, that backed by a long tradition of nearly eighty years, the NOB fulfils its cultural mission very well, both by the seventy-some concerts it performs each year and by its cultural radiance abroad as a much appreciated guest orchestra on the international scene.
Sadly, once again culture would be cruelly affected, not only by the permanent loss of a large number of jobs but also by the curtailed cultural offer to the public. […]
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