By Ahmad Muto
Legendary reggae star Madoxx Ssematimba has slammed claims that he sold his music to distributor, the late Eriya Bugembe Sebunya, alias Kasiwukira. He explained that he only gave distribution rights for cassette tapes, but a lot has changed since with the onset of the internet and Caller Ring Back Tones (CRBT) that were not included in the agreements.
“Kasiwukira has the distribution rights of my music, and that is it. And the agreements are there, specifically hard copy. Now technology has come and the internet, CRBT, things have changed,” said Madoxx.
He added that it is against this background that he only plans to deal with the highest bidder.
“So, anyone giving me enough salt is the one I am going with. It is a shame for anyone who thinks that they will just get my music and use it for whatever they want,” he said.
On making music videos for his huge catalogue, he asked his fans not to subject him to pressure, but he noted that he is open to anyone with equipment and skills, all he needs is sh5m for each and the person owns the video, not him.
The video to his hit song Namagembe was recorded not so long ago by a team that included city motion graphics artist, Loukman Ali.
The issue of artistes selling their music was sparked off by reports that Chameleone had bagged sh3.5b for his entire catalogue to local music streaming site Ugatunes. And Kasiwukira’s estate came out to claim it owned most of the songs they heard artistes were planning to sell.
