Katia Mosally is an International Product Manager at Universal Music Sweden for the likes of Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, and Ariana Grande. After studying law and business at Glasgow University, Harvard and the University of Stockholm, Katia worked as an artist manager at The Artist House Stockholm in Los Angeles, then moving back to Sweden.
Besides music, Katia loves reading (she loves Harry Potter!) and traveling, and works hard on paving the way for young female talent in the music industry.
Dotted Music’s Polina Aitkulova had a chance to have a brief conversation with Katia Mosally at Where's The Music conference in Stockholm in early February. Read the interview below!
What are the main challenges for an artist in the streaming world, which makes 90% of the business in Scandinavia?
One of the main challenges for a major label in Sweden in the streaming era is how to break out not only a song, but also an artist. Often a song gets into playlists, but only that one song gets promoted, and people never visit the artist’s page or get to know them. We are already getting better at it. Also there is a tendency that has to be combatted, where people would know the song they’ve heard by ear, but they do not know the name of the artist. Maybe you had this yourself as a listener.
What would be your advice for an emerging artist to break out?
To have success as an emerging artist, first you better put out a single, and build a good strategy around it on social media. I would not recommend to put out an EP nowadays.
There are only few album artists now: Rihanna, Beyonce, Adele. So you should better concentrate on one song. You do a hit song, and then you build awareness around it.
What should a hit song be like?
The song itself should have simplicity, so it should be recognizable at once.
What is a uniqueness of an artist for you?
Artists should have a distinctive sound, so that listeners can recognize it as you, your sound. For instance Lady Gaga’s last album artistically is very interesting, but it might have gone too far from her previous work. You would want to avoid that.
What would you say regarding the tensions between the artists and producers? Who could win in this game?
It is difficult to say who would be in a better shape in 10-15 years from now. It is vital to adapt to change in the current music industry, and most important is how you change with the changes.
By Polina Aitkulova, a singer/songwriter known as Shell-i. A sea shell inspires her as a notion of infinity and femininity.
