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Driven by different actors evolving between both a structured framework and a relative autonomy, music in Senegal is based on different logics and dimensions. The musical industry is impacted by entrenched socio-cultural and socio-economic mutations defined by a problematic co-habitation between "informal music" and the process of "formalization" itself. As a result, the only alternative left to the growing musical industry is to structure itself within a formal framework, leading instantly to issues of copyright and royalty settlements, their implementation. Concurrently, the state's policies toward culture along with the linkages between the musical sphere and politics, which are based on various modalities, are also put under review. This study attempts to pose a certain number of questions and ultimately presents itself as an invitation to reflection and action.
Saliou Ndour holds a Ph.D in Sociology and teaches at the University Gaston Berger in Saint Louis, Senegal. He is a specialist in cultural industries in Africa and has written several articles which he presented in Africa, Europe and Canada. Ndour wears different hats in the musical industry, among which are as Manager of a group called Black Masters of Kaolack, Adviser to several bands, former President of the AMS section of Saint Louis, Representative of Escalier F in Senegal (a Canadian organisation) and President of Afrique Chante Afrique (ACApella).
