Musicians smiled all the way to the bank without stepping on stage after MTN awarded those whose music was most downloaded as caller tunes for the year 2021.
The grand finale of MTN CallerTunez Awards took place at the Kampala Serena Hotel on Wednesday, March 30.
It follows a six-month period in which MTN awarded artistes with the most ring back tune downloads on a monthly basis, including lucky customers who were using the service.
Caller ring back tunes, commonly known as CallerTunez, are the songs that callers listen to while waiting for a response from the person they are calling.
The artiste with the most downloaded CallerTunez in a month from July to December 2021 was rewarded with sh2m, while the artiste in the Rising star category took home sh1million.
Pallaso, Spice Diana, Liam Voice, Martha Mukisa, and Pia Pounds, among others, are some of the artistes who were rewarded.
The 2021 MTN CallerTunez categories included Kadongo Kamu (Band), Afro Beat (Pop), Hip Hop (Lugaflow), R&B, Religious and Dancehall (raga & reggae).
The 2021 MTN CallerTunez winners for each category included Chosen Becky’s Nesiimye for the Kadongo Kamu (Band) Category, Pallaso’s Malamu for the Afrobeat/Afropop category, Fik Fameica’s Lock won in the Hip-Hop/Luga Flow category.
Liam Voice’s Omwooyo took the gong for the RnB category and Best Rising Star, while Martha Mukisa and Kenzo’s Sango held the top position under Ragga/Dancehall.
Under the Religious category, Miracle Music Ministry’s You Have Been Faithful To Me was the most downloaded gospel caller tune for the year 2021.
Each of the winners walked away with sh2.5m.
Spice Diana was voted the Best Female Artiste under the People’s Choice Awards having garnered 33,461 votes. Pallaso bagged a second award after beating other male artistes to become the Best Male Artiste by the 25,672 people who voted for him. The two each walked away with sh3m in addition to the awards.