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I Work In Music: Mobo la Ji

The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) presents ‘I Work In Music’ – a new series consisting of educational and entertaining interviews with professionals from across the full spectrum of the music industry in Scotland.

In the first episode we meet Mobo la Ji of Forij. Forij is a progressive collective of visual artists, musicians, DJ’s and producers. Mobo is a creative working within the intersection of Music and Design with an interest in cultivating sub-cultures. Based in Glasgow, he mainly works as an Artist Manager for Forij, helping their roster to navigate the industry.  They will be releasing their first record in the second quarter of 2020. 

As part of their wider aim of creating context and visibility for the peers around them, they launched an online platform called ‘Up 2 Standard‘ – highlighting all things Hip Hop in Scotland. 

Watch the full interview:

UP2STNDRD:  Facebook / Instagram / YouTube

FORIJ: Facebook / Instagram

Mobo: Instagram

Filmed and edited by OnRed Productions: Website / Facebook

Working in artist development or wanting to start a career in this area? Here’s some useful information/resources which will help support you along the way:

Resources

  • SMIA Workshop Videos (topics include Music PR on a Budget, Music Industry Contract Essentials, Copyright and Monetising IP and Social Media Engagement and Digital marketing)
  • SmartistU (based in America) offers a free download of a ‘Start Up Kit’, which provides 5 free templates/resources for starting a career in Artist Management.

Funding

The following organisations offer funding in relation to artist development. Please check out their websites to see which funding schemes may be appropriate for your project:

We also ran a workshop on ‘Crowdfunding for Music Projects’, and we’d encourage you to check out the video to see if and how this could work for your project.

Sector-specific Industry Bodies

As well as accessing information and resources provided by the SMIA, we’d encourage you to look at organisations that exist to support your specific area of work in the music industry.

With Mobo’s work as an artist manager, we’d encourage you to take a look at the Music Managers Forum to see the services, projects and events they offer for managers of all kinds across the UK. 

Further/higher Education Opportunities

There are a wide range of music/music business focused courses in Scotland to suit a wide range of interests and possible careers. The SMIA has Academic Partnerships with the University of the Highlands and Islands (Perth College UHI) and the Academy of Music and Sound Scotland

Here are some additional further/higher education institutes that offer music courses:

There is a wide range of short courses that happen across Scotland annually. We’d recommend signing up to the Creative Scotland Opportunities newsletter to be kept up to date, and we’ll be sure to notify our members of any opportunities we’re made aware of as and when they become available.