In this modern world where streams, playlists, likes and shares dominate the digital content landscape, and people's attention spans are more limited than a gold fish, the indie musician is often saturated with an information overload.
How does one foster organic growth without sacrificing artistic freedom? Is it possible to achieve a real, tangible audience minus a Spotify playlist addition?While the music an artist creates should always remain paramount to any success achieved, there remains a host of disparate elements required to breakthrough the bloated noise of the internet.
Mojobullet is one such music agency geared towards providing independent and emerging musicians the skillset required to at least have a plausible opportunity to carve out their own niche.
Owned and operated by music industry veteran Emily Holler (who brings 20-plus years experience), Mojobullet went on hiatus when COVID first struck.
Now as the world begins to flourish again, Emily has returned to her passion of assisting emerging artists to grow their own enterprises. "I take a very holistic approach to my work with artists," Emily says.
"I coach them to develop entrepreneurial skills and empower them with powerful marketing strategies that are tried and tested across other industries, but not as commonly used by musicians and labels.
"There is a lot of information in the market for independent musicians to digest; and while lots of organisations offer helpful services, there are few that teach artists to build a profitable and sustainable business step-by-step."
The Mojobullet way is focused on the holy trinity of wellness, mindset and lifestyle. "It's vital for artists to have the right mindset to enable their success. Stress management and healthy lifestyle choices are also a big focus in my work.
"I have learned the importance of this myself, the hard way."
For those new to Emily Holler, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background-history in the music industry?
I have been in the music industry for over 20 years. I started out as a singer, went on to become a professional DJ and studied Music Business Management after leaving high school.
I've run major events, toured international DJs, managed an independent record label, and worked as an artist manager and mentor. In recent years I have become increasingly interested in digital marketing.
I've worked in corporate marketing and discovered that there are some tried and true strategies that aren't being utilised to the same extent in the music industry, so my mission is to help independent musicians access these techniques for their own benefit.
What's the elevator pitch of the remodelled Mojobullet?
At Mojobullet, we simplify music marketing and empower independent musicians with effective and affordable strategies to grow a global fan base and make a living from their music career.
Given the immense pressure to build streams, gather likes, create digital content for social media, the less glamorous side of music (the behind the scene aspects) often gets forgotten but is the bedrock for building a sustained career; that's an obvious focus of Mojobullet, right?
Absolutely! Artists are very prone to chasing the 'holy grail' of likes, streams and playlists.
My focus is on helping artists build successful and sustainable careers from the ground up. I work in a linear fashion, applying due diligence with my clients by first establishing what their goals are, addressing any mindset or lifestyle issues, ensuring they have strong business infrastructure and systems in place, and finally helping them refine their artist identity and brand.
These are the three pillars that form a strong career foundation and I always ensure this is done before moving into the marketing stage. Getting the foundations right will ensure that future marketing campaigns are more successful.
The aspect of giving musicians the tools/ skillset to foster their own business and entrepreneurial acumen while investing in the holistic side of being human; it's not entirely revolutionary but with a lack of shared industry knowledge and mentorships very often indie artists simply get lost in the commercial wash and cutthroat nature of the scene – how do you envisage Mojobullet reversing that trend?
There is an immense amount of information overload in the music industry and artists are constantly being bombarded with ads for promotional services designed to help them.
The problem is that while some of the services are helpful in the short term, very few support artists to build a profitable and sustainable business step-by-step. At Mojobullet, we empower artists with the skills they need to build a thriving business for themselves by helping them understand the concept of the customer journey or 'fan formula' as I describe it.
It's a powerful system that helps artists find new fans and convert them into paying customers. It's a well known formula in mainstream marketing that is underutilised in the music industry. Once artists start using this formula, they will recognise the impact and (I hope) the trend will start being reversed.
Drilling down into the services you offer, if there's an indie artist reading this piece what value does Mojobullet present that will play a major role in building their self-confidence without taking away from the creative aspect of music making?
The beauty of great music marketing is that it can actually be a very creative process in itself. Currently our key service is a 12-week mentoring programme where we work with artists to grow their career.
Each artist is different, and will require a unique approach. It's important to be guided by the direction the artist wants to take musically, and find creative ways to market the music that feels authentic and enjoyable for the artist. I guarantee the process will be fun as well as educational.
How much does an artist need to be invested in themselves (not just creating the art) if they're going to have even an average chance of building their own niche?
Great question! Artists absolutely need to be invested in themselves, their artistic identity, their business and their individual goals to have a good chance of building their niche; having great music is really the starting point for building a successful career.
Sometimes artists with great music will find a team easily and will advance their career rapidly, but this is the exception not the rule. The vast majority of artists will need to invest heavily and consistently in growing their career until it has enough momentum to sustain them financially. Our focus is helping artists work smarter, not harder.
You offer a free 30-min strategy session for anyone interested; is that basically a get-to-know-each-other opportunity, express ideas/ goals and see if it's a match with what you offer?
Yes, it's exactly that. An opportunity for me to get to know the goals and aspirations of the artist and to establish whether or not they have the motivation and commitment to get the most from the service.
It's also an opportunity for me to explain how Mojobullet operates as it may require a paradigm shift from the way artists have previously approached things.
Given how competitive the industry is, how vital is it for musicians/ artists to surround themselves with people who have an invested interest in them (not just looking for the financial rewards)?
I think it's important that artists are surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals such as other artists, and industry folk who have their best interests at heart.
In the interest of career longevity, I do think it's crucial to build a team that is genuinely committed to their success and recognises the value of building their career sustainability. If they're working with labels, managers or other industry professionals who are only looking for financial rewards then there could be a risk of burnout and decisions that don't serve the artists best interests.
You're based in the Northern Rivers, but travel to Brisbane weekly and can also set Gold Coast appointments; is that the main catchment area you're focused on or with digital capabilities are you looking to expand nationally (even internationally)?
I can work with artists based anywhere and have consulted with international artists in the past. The strategies I teach are not limited to this catchment area so I am happy to work with national and international artists.
I am currently working on a self-paced digital training programme which will be ideal for artists in other time zones. The advantage for local artists is that we can meet in person.
The power and connectivity of music has never been more apparent than the last three-bit years, though the vast majority of music Australians consume is international (the ARIA charts continue to emphasis this). What's your advice to propel folks to sample/ explore the many, many, many amazing local performers across the country creating powerful material?
Yes, that is an unfortunate reality and it's largely because radio stations and streaming algorithms are heavily promoting international artists to the consumer.
I would advise people to seek out local music and support Australian artists as much as possible. Be willing to pay the cover charge to see them live. Buy their merchandise. Follow them on social media and recommend them to your friends. However, I believe the absolute best way to achieve this is in the hands of the artists themselves. If artists take a proactive approach to marketing, they can ensure local audiences discover them.
How did your time away from the music industry refocus your energies to approach the PR side of music from a different angle?
Engaging a publicist at the right time is a crucial step for musicians. However, the more I have deep-dived into digital marketing, the more I am convinced that it's the most cost effective and logical method for emerging indie artists to grow their audience and build momentum in their career.
As a result, Mojobullet no longer offers traditional PR. Instead we provide marketing services including digital advertising, sales funnels, ecommerce and email marketing. It's a better use of resources until artists are ready to obtain the best results from the hefty cost of a PR campaign.
You worked as a mortician and funeral arranger for two years during COVID; that's a 180-degree turn away from the world of independent music. However, did you learn any valuable lessons or draw any inspirations that you can apply to Mojobullet moving forward?
Yes, it was a very unique and amazing experience! I worked for two companies, one of which took a very traditional approach to their operations, while the other was much more progressive.
The progressive company was transforming the funeral industry by offering a quality cremation and memorial service for a fraction of the cost. They were hugely successful, provided outstanding customer service and had a great company culture and they were able to do this by having excellent automated systems in place.
Working for this company gave me the inspiration to relaunch Mojobullet with outstanding systems and ethics because the music industry will benefit from a similar disruption to the status quo.
Any stories from the funeral house you can share?
Yes. When I first started in the industry, I was lucky to be trained by the head mortician at the company. Not only was he exceptionally good at his job, but he turned out to be one of the most talented heavy metal drummers in the world, who had previously lived in the US and spent his life touring prior to entering the funeral industry.
While he meticulously instructed me in performing some confronting mortuary procedures, we bonded over our shared love of music. Our friendship blossomed and he remains one of my closest friends.
