Veteran Ugandan musician and legendary artiste Chance Nalubega has stated that we don’t have any seriously wealthy musicians in Uganda.
Chance Nalubega said this while she had been hosted at 89.2 CBS FM in a show called “Evening Cruz” by Dictator Mark on the 5th of January, 2023.
Chance Nalubega said that most of the artists in Uganda are simply surviving with a few that have made some little money and are just rich but not necessarily wealthy. She went on to say that the reason, why we lack wealthy musicians here, is because there is no copyright law in Uganda and the music is just used by anyone as they want, minus paying for it, hence leaving the musicians in the air without earning a penny from it.
For starters, “Copyright” is a law that allows one to copy and use other people’s intellectual property. Briefly put, copyright is the right given to one to copy another person’s work. Intellectual property means any work that has been invented by someone. This ranges from songs, poetry, academic work, films, and any compositions. If the copyright law was working in Uganda, Musicians would be paid by
anyone who uses their work, hence making money passively.
Chance Nalubega also recalled an incident when Radio and Weasel told her of how they went to visit their fellow musicians abroad and they found that these guys had very big houses, compounds full of expensive cars, and many investments, things that the Goodlyfe crew didn’t have back home, and were even scared of hosting them at their home back in Uganda.
Following what Chance Nalubega was saying.
Chance Nalubega
She had a point because for anyone to be rich, they must have a good source of income and income flow. Most of those musicians who are extremely rich have copyright laws in their countries.
When you look at the list of the top richest artists in Africa such as Youssour Ndour from Senegal, Burna Boy, Kizz Daniel Wizkid, Black Coffee from South Africa, Diamond Platinumz from Tanzania, Don jazzy from Nigeria, Plus most of those musicians in the USA and Europe, etc, all these people are backed up by strong copyright laws in their countries, and that’s why they are worth millions of dollars because they keep earning money each time their music is played.
The other reason why money has been reduced in the music industry is that endorsements have also been reduced among musicians. Back then, corporate companies used to endorse top Musicians because they were too good and had nice music but today, you will agree with me that the musicians are so many and the quality of music has deteriorated.
Corporate companies rarely want to endorse mediocrity. People like Chameleon, Bebe cool, Ragga Dee Bobi Wine, Mesach Ssemakula, etc used to enjoy endorsements from companies like MTN, COKE, ZAIN SHELL, etc which would also be a source of passive income to musicians. Today endorsements among artists are there but they are few.
During this interview, Chance Nalubega went on to scorn all those event organizers who talk ill about her and also announce her on shows without contacting her. A case in point was events organizer Mutima who put her on a poster of artists to perform in Masaka last year without contacting her. Something which she said damages her brand in public.
She closed the interview by taking us through her musical journey with her lovely songs such as “Abateesi” & “ennugu” and many others.
Do you also agree with Chance Nalubega that Uganda doesn’t have any wealthy musicians? God bless
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