Staff
By BigEyeUg Team
Veteran Ugandan music producer Washington has revealed plans to release a number of old songs he previously recorded with some of the country’s biggest artists — but only after the new copyright law is fully implemented.
According to the celebrated producer, the move is part of a broader effort to ensure artists and producers finally earn proper royalties from the music they created years ago.
His remarks also come amid long-standing claims that he held back several unreleased songs recorded by the legendary duo Goodlyfe Crew, made up of Moses Radio and Douglas Mayanja, also known as Weasel. Following Radio’s death in 2018, there were widespread allegations that Washington had kept some of the duo’s unreleased material.
However, Washington says he is open to addressing the issue in a transparent way and is willing to sit down with Goodlyfe’s management to review the songs in question.
He explained that the group already has a large catalogue of music circulating online, which continues to be consumed by fans across the region.
Washington believes it is time for the artists and producers behind those hits to finally benefit financially from their work.
“I think Goodlyfe has too much music online that’s being consumed and people need to appreciate that these gentlemen really worked hard,” he said. “For me, I’m now at a point where we first need to earn royalties from the work we have already created.”
He went on to emphasize the massive impact Goodlyfe had on the Ugandan music industry, noting that their consistency over the years should have translated into even greater financial success.
According to him, Weasel should by now be living like a global superstar.
“Weasel should be a billionaire with a private jet considering he gave us about 15 years of nonstop hits,” Washington remarked.
The producer also reflected on how the industry operated in earlier years, admitting that many artists and producers did not properly document their work.
He said the new era will focus on professionalism, including signing split sheets, registering songs properly, and clearly defining revenue percentages among collaborators.
“We want to do things in an organized way this time,” he explained. “Get the split sheet, register the music, and set the percentages. Back then we were just doing things out of excitement. I accept that we made some mistakes because we didn’t know what to do. But now we know what to do.”
Washington’s comments come at a time when Uganda’s music industry is pushing for stronger copyright enforcement, which many artists believe will finally allow them to earn consistent income from their music through royalties.
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