Music today is definitely very different from music then and many musicians that have been in the Ugandan music Industry for a very long time can attest to that.
As the debate is still roaring about the kind of music that is being released in the music industry today, a few musicians have come out to state that there needs to be gate keeping in the Ugandan music industry if Ugandan music is to go international. Musician A Pass recently lashed out at Ugandans promoting what he termed as senseless music and prioritizing It over timeless and award worthy music.
According to a recently thumped Khalifah AgaNaga, the Ugandan music scene has entirely changed simply because of one important factor, and that is social media. AgaNaga recollects that back then, it was not even easy to release a song via a radio station to reach Ugandans.
He stated that even in Radio stations and TV stations, there were people that would filter out songs meant for the public to consume and they would trash those they considered to be of low standard.
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“For us that joined the music industry back then, it was not easy having your song released to the public at either a Radio station or even a Television station. We would go through a tough filtering process because even in Radio stations there were those individuals they would tell you had to give your song a green card if it were to be released to the public.” Khalifah stated.
According to Khalifah, things changed so much with the rise of social media because up coming musicians no longer need Radio presenters, Deejays and Television presenters to push their songs. Khalifah stated that on social media, all it takes is a song and it could even go viral in a day.
“With the coming of social media, everything changed. Now the only thing an upcoming artiste needs is a song and they can upload it there. This song could even go viral in around three days. Even three days are too many. It could be viral in a day.” He stated.
Khalifah also stated that some people don’t even want to play songs like ‘enkudi' but they are left with no choice because they are the songs that are currently on vogue and wherever you go, they are the songs that are being played.
“Some people don’t even want to listen to Enkudi but they currently have no choice. It is being played everywhere. Every time you scroll on social media, it is the song that shows up. Lil Pazo is the one trending currently.” Khalifah stated
