Ugandan singer John Blaq says the high cost of international music promotion prevented him from fully capitalizing on the growing popularity of his hit song Commander in West Africa last year.
The singer explained in a recent interview that expanding the song’s reach beyond Uganda required more money than he could afford, forcing him to scale back promotional efforts despite growing interest in other markets.
Commander reportedly attracted audiences across West Africa and gained traction on streaming platforms, including Spotify and Boomplay. However, maintaining that momentum required an investment that John Blaq says was difficult to sustain within Uganda’s music business environment.
“It was very costly for me, and you know Uganda is a third-world country,” he said.
The singer explained that local artists also face limitations when setting performance fees, making it difficult to generate enough income to finance expensive international campaigns.
“We just hustle, just the way you see how our music fans hustle with life, from whom we get our money. We can’t hike our performance fares, and if you request for Shs6 million per show, no one will book you. So you end up giving up on the push,” John Blaq said.
His comments highlight a challenge facing musicians seeking to expand beyond Uganda: a song can attract listeners in another country, but converting that interest into sustained international success often requires additional spending on travel, marketing and promotional appearances.
John Blaq says international collaborations also suffer
The singer also argued that financial constraints can limit the potential of collaborations between Ugandan musicians and international artists.
According to John Blaq, working with a foreign artist does not automatically translate into success in that artist’s home market because the Ugandan collaborator may lack the resources to promote the song there.
“That’s the main, or one of the reasons why when we do collaborations with international artistes, they just remain here because we usually don’t have the budgets to push them on the other side, because they have never refused us to cross to their countries,” he explained.
He pointed to international travel and other promotional activities as expenses that can put overseas campaigns beyond the reach of musicians operating without major-label backing.
For artists trying to build a following outside Uganda, the challenge therefore extends beyond recording a song or securing a collaboration. Maintaining visibility in a new market can require a sustained promotional presence that independent musicians may struggle to finance.
He points to Tanzania as an example
John Blaq also compared Uganda’s music industry with Tanzania’s, arguing that more investment and organized support could help Ugandan artists reach larger international audiences.
“We need a very huge budget for our country because it’s the same thing Tanzanians are doing for their artistes. They get one or two and push them to the top, but here we’re still joking and playing around,” he said.
He used a football analogy to underline his view that Uganda’s music industry still has considerable work to do before it can compete more effectively on the international stage.
“If it were a football match, we’re yet to even warm up. Even the federation needs a federation to bail it out. We need big, big sums of money to push this industry to the world,” he added.
John Blaq’s experience with Commander illustrates the distinction between gaining international attention and having the financial resources to sustain it. For the singer, reaching new listeners was only part of the challenge; keeping the music moving across borders required a promotional budget he says he did not have.