It also does not include revenues from online streaming platforms such as Amazon, Spotify and iTunes.
The Ugandan music industry is so informal with very little records available to give a deeper understanding into the financial muscle of the industry. So, to get some insights into artist revenue and who actually are the 10 highest paid artists in the industry, we first of all posed as genuine customers interested in buying the services of artists.
Using this cover, we secured the rate cards of the various artists; which rate cards covered, largely performances in Kampala, as out-of-town or out-of-country shows, have separate pricing and logistical implications.
Armed with the rate cards, we then variously called a number of known show promoters, entertainment journalists, artists’ managers and other people familiar with the industry to establish on average how many shows each artist would be booked a week. Using this, we were able to estimate how much each artist made per week and subsequently per month.
The estimates do not take into account possible discounts.
We do admit that these estimates may bear some flaws, but they are a good attempt at trying to put some figures to the actual earnings of some of our top artists, in an industry where cash-before-performance payments are predominant.
We do welcome all feedback and corrections which we believe shall go a long way into creating a more accurate financial representation of the industry.
#1. Bebe Cool
Estimated Earnings UGX100,000,000 per month
Born 1st September 1977 as Moses Ssali, Bebe Cool is a largely dancehall artist who rose to the music limelight in the early 2000s first by signing onto Ogopa DJs, a then famous production house and record label in Kenya, together with singer Jose Chameleone and Kenya’s Red San.
The multilingual artist, who sings in Luganda, Swahili, and English has had major hits in Uganda in East Africa and has won several awards and recognitions at the local and continental level.
In 2014, Bebe Cool’s remade Born in Africa remix song, a remake of the late Philly Lutaaya’s song was voted among Africa’s greatest songs of all time- as No. 15 in 50 anthems for the African continent in a BBC World Service listeners competition to mark the 50th anniversary of the African Union.
He has also performed in the Big Brother house twice.
Bebe Cool who is the president of Gagamel Entertainment, his record label has recently courted controversy over his open political support for President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, but the indefatigable Bebe Cool has made it known to all who care to listen that he, too has a right to political belonging and NRM/Museveni is his choice that should be respected.
Bebe Cool’s July 2019 single- Wire Wire is currently at Number 7 on www.howwebiz.ug Top 100 Chart. He, either singly or jointly has 7 songs on the chart.
His YouTube channel has nearly 7,000 subscribers, a big number by Ugandan standards. Wire Wire, uploaded on September 1st 2019 has 920,000 views in just 2 months and is on its way to beat Easy, his other hit, uploaded 8 months ago that has more than 1 million views and still growing.
Bebe Cool has a significant online following with 646,000 followers on Facebook, 248,000 of Instagram and 131,500 on Twitter. Equally, his music is available for sale on Amazon, Spotify and iTunes among other global music streaming channels.
Perhaps of all artists- Bebe Cool is known to have the most fiercely loyal fans online who, like their idol do not take criticism of their man lightly and are quick to fire from the hip.
According to industry research Bebe Cool’s going price is UGX7,000,000 per show which makes him a rare show- but when he does make appearance, he is known to give real return on investment in form of a powerfully interactive performance. Bebe Cool who sometimes doubles as a show-organiser himself is thought to earn more from self-organised shows and shows associated with his NRM party.
With up to 5 performances a month- some of which are self-owned, conservative estimates according to industry experts, put his gross earnings at an estimated UGX100,000,000 million a month and is thus our top paid Ugandan artist of 2019.
#2: Eddy Kenzo
Edrisah Musuuza aka Eddy Kenzo was born and raised in Masaka District in Central Uganda and came to Kampala in his early teens, marking the start of a rags to riches story.
He first released a song in 2008 called Yanimba with Mikie Wine and after a number of other lowly hits, he really caught the attention of the industry with his Stamina hit in in 2010 and later Sitya Loss whose video, featuring the Ghetto Kids went viral around 2014 and like they say, the rest is history. Currently Sitya Loss has been viewed more than 23 million times on YouTube.
In January 2015, Kenzo performed at the opening ceremonies of that year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea alongside Akon. He also performed at the tournament final.[18] Around that time, he produced a remix to his 2014 single, “Jambolee”, with a guest appearance from Nigerian singer, Kcee. In June 2015, Kenzo was honored with the BET Award for “Viewer’s Choice Best New International Artist”.
He was the first East African artist to win a BET Award of any kind. In July 2015, he performed at the KigaliUp Music Festival in Rwanda’s capital and in October of that year, he released a remixed version of his song, “Mbilo Mbilo”, featuring Nigerian singer, Niniola. The original version of that song later appeared on the soundtrack for the 2016 film, Queen of Katwe.
In December 2015, Kenzo released the lead single, “Soraye”, off of his second album, Zero to Hero and nd in March 2016, he went on a tour Africa, with stops in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Mali, and others. Later that month, he released Zero to Hero. Throughout the remainder of 2016, Kenzo earned a writing credit on Jidenna’s “Little Bit More”, was featured on the Mi Casa single “Movie Star” and won an All Africa Music Award for his “Mbilo Mbilo” remix. He also went on another US tour late in the year. In May 2017, Kenzo was named the ambassador of the Kenyan Tourism Board and was appointed to a similar role in Uganda the following year, according to Wikipedia.
In July 2017, Kenzo went on a European tour ahead of the release of his third studio album, Biology, a month later. The album featured guest appearances from artists like Mani Martin, Werrason, and Mi Casa, among others. It also featured the single “Jubilation”, which had an accompanying music video that won the Best East African Music Video Award at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. He would go on to win two awards at that year’s All Africa Music Awards, including Best East African Male Artist. He would later donate that award along with his 2015 BET Award to the Uganda Museum in Kampala.
In March 2018, Kenzo won a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award as the “Favorite African Star.” In July 2018, he performed alongside Triplets Ghetto Kids at multiple African music festivals in Canada, including Afrofest in Toronto. He also performed at the One Africa Music Festival in Dubai later in the year. In October 2018, he released his fourth studio album, Roots, which featured the single “Body Language”. Kenzo also announced a 10-year anniversary concert in celebration of his time as a musical artist. The concert took place on January 4, 2019 in the Victoria ballroom of the Serena Hotel in Kampala. Leading up to the concert, Kenzo released a new music video for a song from Roots each week for two months.
In March 2019, it was announced that Kenzo would be featured alongside Triplets Ghetto Kids in an upcoming music video for American singer Chris Brown’s “Back to Love”. In April 2019, Kenzo released the single, “Signal” with an accompanying music video.
Just this October, Kenzo beat African entertainers like Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz, Nigeria’s Davido, Shatta Wale, Wizkid, Yemi Alade and Tiwa Savage to the Best Entertainer Of The Year award at the African Entertainment Awards held at Kupfrian Hall, Jim Wise Theater, New Jersey, US.
The Masaka boy has since transcended the Ugandan boundaries and is said to be a hit especially in Central and West Africa- and is probably Uganda’s biggest artist at the moment on the global scene.
His ratecard price stands at a cool UGX7,000,000 just like the other big men and women in his top league. Since he plies his trade in and out of Uganda it is difficult to pinpoint his exact gross earnings, but a number of pundits estimated his earnings to be at about UGX 95,000,000 a month.
At the moment, Kenzo who had a breakup with his artiste-wife, Rema Namakula, has six songs in the Howwe’s Top 100 Chart, namely: Inabana (with Tanzania’s Harmonize), Bikyuuka, Bibaawo, Congs Mama, Signal and Pull up, again with Harmonize.
So if you can afford his fee, you can book him for your show by filling in this request form https://www.la-ent.com/request-form or contacting his management on +256 750460803.
#3. Sheebah Karungi
Earnings: UGX80,000,000 per month
It would be shocking if Queen Karma didn’t make it to this list. Sheebah with no doubt has a very strong fan base in Uganda. Ugandans have loved Sheebah from the time she was in the all-girl 2010s Obsessions group, all through to the time she went solo and in 2014 released her debut project- Ice Cream, a five-track album, headlined by a major club banger by the same names. After that, hers been a hit-after-hit story.
Loved by the fans, she has also become a favourite of many an artist in search of collaborations and indeed she has collabos with almost every artist worth their name in Uganda and quite a number out of Uganda. Her most recent dancehall collabo with Nigeria’s Orezi, Sweet Sensation has taken Kampala by storm and appears on all major radio countdowns. Sweet Sensation is currently No.5 on Uganda’s top music website; Howwe’s Hot 100 Chart. In fact Sheebah, either single handedly or in collaboration with other artists has 2 out of 10 songs and 6 out of the top 100 songs of Kampala.
Sheebah’s fans, who call themselves Sheebaholics, have given her so much more than love and their ears- this year she moved into a mansion that she built out of her sweat and vocal cords. Her music appeals to so many so she performs at weddings, concerts, company parties among many others.
According to industry experts we talked to, Sheebah is currently one of the most booked artists at the moment because of the energy she gives when performing for her fans. Accordingly she is one of the highest rated artists with an asking price of UGX5,000,000 per performance. Entertainment pundits we talked to said on average she is booked for between 4-6 shows a week. A conservative average of 4 shows a week puts her performance earnings at an estimated UGX20,000,000 a week, which translates into about UGX80,000,000 a month.
This does not include other earnings from celebrity endorsements for brands, royalties from radio stations and clubs as well as from other sources such as Tidal, iTunes and other online downloading and streaming sites.
To book Sheebah, you can contact her management on +256 701488884 or simply send an email to ksheebah1@gmail.com
#4: Jose Chameleone
Estimated Monthly Earnings: UGX75,000,000
Jose Chameleone’s story is your typical, started-from-the-bottom story.
Born Joseph Mayanja on 1 January 1979 to the Mayanja singing family, he is arguably among Uganda’s top 10 Ugandan music artists- both living and dead, with undreds of hits and several awards and accolades to his name.
His entertainment career sprouted in 1994 as a part-time DJ at the then Maganjo Mizuri night club in Kampala while he was a student, where he met the likes of Ragga Dee, Shanks Vivie D, Emperor Orlando, Menton Summer (RIP).
Fast forward, Chameleone would sign onto the Kenyan record label Ogopa DJs where he enjoyed some good amount of success with one of his first singles, “Bageya” off the album with similar name, which featured Kenyan artist Redsan. He also did a number of collaborations with fellow Ugandan Bebe Cool and then fellow Ogopa Djs artist but later the two developed a tense rivalry that has been on and off.
Under Ogopa Deejays, he outed 5 albums, namely: Bageya in 2000, Mama Mia in 2001, Njo Karibu, The Golden Voice in 2003, Mambo Bado in 2004. He would later break ranks with the Kenyan label and start his own Leoone Island Productions. The famous Kipepeo album in 2005 was his first Leone Island project and that would be followed by Shida za Dunia in 2006, Sivyo Ndivyo and Katupakase in 2007, Bayuda in 2009, Vumilia in 2010, Valu Valu in 2012, Badilisha in 2013, Tubonge in 2014, Wale Wale in 2015, Sili Mujjawo in 2016, Sweet Banana in 2017 and Champion in 2018.
With each album came award after award in some of the major industry awards such as the Pearl of Africa Music Awards, Tanzanian Music Awards, Kisima Music Awards, Kora Awards and the 2006 MOBO Awards where he was crowned Best African Act.
He was also nominated as the Best African Act in the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards.
He recently declared his interests to run as Kampala City Mayor under the DEmocractic Party ticket and has as such not released any new album of late.
Although he has not released any new album this 2019, Chameleone, who featured on Morgan Heritage’s 2019 Album dubbed ‘Loyalty’ in the song titled ‘Africa We Seh’ has enough songs in his music arsenal to remain top on the booking cards of show organisers.
His UGX7,000,000 rate card may be a little prohibitive, but it is estimated that he is able to at least book between 5-6 rate card shows a month and another 5 or so discounted appearances- earning him an estimated UGX75,000,000 a month, making him our 3rd most paid artist.
#5: Cindy
Estimated Monthly Earnings: UGX50,000,000
Cinderella Sanyu aka Cindy broke her teeth in the music industry as one of
the 3 members of Blu*3- the sensational high-energy trio, alongside with
Lillian Mbabazi and Jackie Chandiru.
She would later part ways with the group and hit the airwaves with Ayokyayokya as her first solo debut. She
is more than artist and is also known for her high energy and sometimes erotic
performances on stage- setting her apart as not just a singer but a performer
as well.
Cindy refers to herself as ‘the King’ of music and she has indeed given her
kingdom hit songs like Selecta, Ndi Mukodo, Run This City among many others. Like many other superstars in the business, she too has had a fair share of collaboration projects. Currently her Boom Party in riding through the charts and is number 14 on the Hot 100 Chart on music and entertainment website www.howwebiz.ug.
She usually performs alongside her Band Cindy, at concerts, corporate events like conferences, office parties and has regular appearances at a number of city hangouts such as Nexus, Fusion Auto Spa. She is also a regular at Alex Muhangi’s Comedy Store.
According to her minders, her rate card is an average of UGX2,000,000 as a
solo act and UGX4,000,000 her band. It is estimated she has anywhere between 15-20 performances a month, putting her monthly revenue at an estimated UGX50,000,000 per month. This excludes other non-show related revenues.
#6: John Blaq
Kasadha John aka John Blaq is a Ugandan afro beat and hip-hop artist that is currently the ‘in’ thing. Very many concert promoters want him at their shows because he is still fresh in the industry and has a young fan base.
The 24-year-old developed a love for music at a tender age and he says that he got his inspiration from the late Mowzey Radio. He has songs like Tukwatagane, Romantic, Makanika, Do Dat, Mama Bulamu, and
3 weeks ago he released Ebyalagirwa and it now trends at number one on Howwe Biz Hot 100 Chart. In fact he is the only artist with 9 songs on the chart.
John Blaq is still too hot and fresh to the music industry, that he on average performs 3 times over the weekend and at least twice during the week according to information corroborated from different show organisers, entertainment journalists and his social media channels. This gives him an average of about 20 performances a month, which according to his UGX2,000,000 rate card puts his earnings at about UGX40,000,000 a month and if he keeps on releasing music that appeals to many people, he will be unstoppable and this number could even double.
#7: Vinka
Estimated earnings per month: UGX38,000,000
Vinka has a very special and different voice so she stands out as an artist. Her real name is Veronica Luggya and she joined Swangz avenue the moment she left university.
She initially started out as a manager for artists like Irene Ntale and Winnie Nwagi but later on decided to become a part of the entertainment industry as an artist in her own right.
From hits such as Level to Chips na Ketchup, Vinka became an instant and an unstoppable regular on every DJ’s playlist. With subsequent projects like By the Way, Yo Body, Sure, Bigambo, Only for you and recently Amaaso with fellow Swangz Avenue star, Winnie Nwagi, Vinka has become a must-have ingredient to every major show in town- especially where the youth are involved. But in real truth, everyone loves to lover her music, from the
vendor down in downtown Owino market to the uptown manager in the bank, everyone grooves to her to her vibrant tunes- 6 of them on Howwe’s Top 100 Chart.
Inside Uganda’s Property Market: Broll Uganda’s Moses Lutalo on Sector Realities and the Signals Investors Can’t IgnoreThis year, she signed an exclusive contract with Sony Music under undisclosed terms; Vinka is not going anywhere if she keeps doing what she does. According to her management at Swangz, Vinka has an average of twelve performances in a month giving her an average of Ugx 35,000,000 a month
#8: Lillian Mbabazi
Estimated Earnings per month: UGX32,000,000
Lillian Mbabazi just like Cindy was part of Blu*3 and took on a solo career after the group split up.
Her early days as a solo act saw songs such as Danger, Vitamin, and Kawa where her unmistakable strong and powerful voice in unmistakable. She currently performs with her band; the Sundowners.
Since the passing of music start Mowzey Radio, of the Radio & Weasal fame, she has not only been performing her songs alone but also doing tributes to her long-gone lover and father to her kids, Radio. On top of that, she also performs Blu*3 music that brought her to the limelight and other artists as well.
To get Lillian and her band to perform, you need to part with UGX4,000,000 and with all the corporate events and weddings that they perform at, they walk away with an estimated UGX32,000,000 a month.
#9: Winnie Nwagi
Estimated monthly earnings: UGX28,000,000
Winnie “Nakanwagi” Nwagi did not fully discover her talent till she became the second runner-up in the second season of “CocaCola Rated Next” in 2014 organised by Coca Cola and Vision Group.
Following her standout performances in the Tv Show, she would later be signed by record label, Swangz Avenue where she released a number of songs including Embeera, Katono Katono, Gwenoonya and Kyowulila.
But her real break came with her
2016 hit, Musawo that
broke the airwaves and charts. Subsequent hits that followed, include Matala, Fire Dancer among others.
Since then, she has had a number of other successful
hits- she had been download 3.1 million times on music and entertainment
website www.howwebiz.ug and has 3 songs in
the Top 100 Chart.
At an average of UGX2,000,000 per appearance- the energetic
singer and dancer is said to be bagging an estimated UGX28,000,000 a month.
#10: Irene Ntale
Estimated monthly earnings: UGX20,000,000
Irene Ntale was born 30 January 1989. Her singing talent was spotted way back in school as she sang in the school church choir where she also learned how to play the guitar. She went to Kitante Primary School, Kitante Hill School for O-level and Makerere High for A-Levels.
She is a Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management graduate from Kyambogo University.
When she drifted away from church music, she tested the waters with other people songs, where she would perform at Karaoke. It wasn’t until she was spotted by talent managers at Swangz Avenue that her real talent came to full bloom.
Soonest she joined Swangz, she outed major hits such as Gyobera, Love letter, Stay with me and Nkubukinze.
In 2017, she quit Swangz Avenue, but her gifted hands on the guitar combined with her sweet early 20’s voice remained as gripping to the fans’ ears as they remained to show promoters’ cheque books. She is also a song writer
In early 2019, after numerous visits to Lagos, Nigeria, it was rumored that Ntale was negotiating a deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria and on 21 August 2019, she signed a record deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria, making her the first Ugandan artiste to be signed to the record label.
Ntale released her debut single under the Universal Music label titled, Nyamba.
With an asking price range of UGX2,500,000 per appearance, moderate estimates put her monthly earnings at UGX20,000,000 a month, earning her a place amongst Uganda’s 10 highest paid artists of 2019.
