Mooziq

Racy Lim

Mooziq held its pioneer gig at the laidback Bacon & Booze in the heart of Punggol End. The drizzle failed to deter support as the crowd had already built a heartwarming full house half an hour after band of the night, The Tripsters (formerly ‘THreshold’), played their first song. The platform’s founder, Joel Ee, was kept busy hosting gig-goers and settling logistics, even having to hunt for extra chairs at one point.

Mooziq is run by Joseph Goh and co-founders, Joel Ee and Joel Lam. Once musicians themselves, the team understands a struggle that any starting musician is bound to face – finance. Money may not buy you happiness, but it sure is needed to feed yourself. Often, what budding musicians earn per gig is not sufficient to pay for bills, meals and essentially, music gear.

The Tripsters embraced the night seaside setting and stirred our hearts with their interpretations of tender songs like Love Me Like You Do, Somewhere Only We Know, Thinking Out Loud and more.

We can expect more of such intimate shows at cafés, bars and other venues around Singapore. Mooziq sets to bring about a new phenomenon in appreciating local music, involving not only musicians but music-listeners as well.

What inspired Mooziq?
Mooziq was created for Musicians by Musicians. All of us on the team used to be active musicians but we realised that our passion was not something we could build our eventual careers around. Considering the hours put into practice and the costs of renting a rehearsal studio, the amounts we earned were barely enough to cover our living expenses. Our band mates decided to get full time jobs after completing their education and that really affected our progress. 

One of the ways that we thought was plausible was to encourage a culture of paying the musicians instead of paying for the music. We are currently trying to promote this by implementing a tips-based system for performers. A similar concept to this is the free walking tours provided by SANDEMANs New Europe.  Each tour has a tips-based remuneration system where the guide earns solely from tips. Basically, the guide’s income is fully dependent on how much people have enjoyed the tour and this motivates them to give a good tour.

Coming back to Mooziq, we intend to change the way live music is experienced by granting the audience the power to support musicians they love. Likewise, this means that musicians benefit even more financially when they give better performances. This also provides budding musicians the openings they need to break into the commercial entertainment scene. With a tips-based system, we also allow venues to ‘try out’ bands before committing to a contract. Ultimately, we hope to open up more venues to more bands as the associated risk is ameliorated.

Where do you see Mooziq progressing from here?

Our debut gig saw a much higher turnout than expected and we are very encouraged by it. Our short-term goals are to empower musicians by supporting them financially and opening up more avenues for publicity and performances. In the long run, we aim to revolutionise the culture of local music around the world starting with Singapore. We want to allow aspiring musicians everywhere to have equal opportunities as more established musicians do. Whether they are writing originals, recording covers or just performing, we wish to see a world where musicianship is a cultural norm and audiences have the power to support any musician they love. We want musicians to have the power to be heard wherever they are in the world.

What did you see in the local music scene that propelled you into creating Mooziq?

Having been involved in the music scene as musicians for about a decade, we think the current local music scene has tremendous potential. However, we have also witnessed many talented musicians fade away. The reasons they cited for leaving the music scene were pragmatic; they were not able to pay their bills, there were not enough opportunities and there was social stigma. The fact that a musician may be anything but a professional has also resulted in others around them advising them against following their dreams. Having heard all of these reasons, we wish to change the situation.

As much as being a musician is about the passion for music and the performance, there is the desire to be able to ‘live’ instead of merely ‘surviving’. We believe that by giving musicians the opportunity to perform, feel appreciated and more importantly, the financial capabilities, we can drive real change in the music scene - first in Singapore, then regionally and hopefully across the globe.

Mooziq has been making improvements on user interface, branding and live shows. How has the feedback been from musicians and audience?

The musicians we have reached out to love the idea because we are putting the spotlight on them. We are also giving them the opportunity to do what they love and to do their best. Receiving appreciation for their efforts is something musicians love about Mooziq’s tipping system. We personally know musicians who would do all of that without any remuneration, even paying out of their own pockets just to play live. But that is the magic of the tipping system – it is not just about getting paid but also being appreciated and gaining control of your life and career.

The first gig was a great success, and we could not have asked for a better audience. The bar was fully packed and the audience had a great time with The Tripsters and loved the concept because they now have a legitimised platform to give back to the musicians if they wanted to. However, we feel there is still a need to continue to drive the message that our musicians are people with lives to lead and families to feed it is through paying them that they will have the incentive to provide us with the entertainment we love.

We are also currently streamlining our platform to make sure it is convenient for people to show their appreciation towards musicians. This allows audiences to better discover local musicians they love, performance or music wise.

How do you hope to work with the audience in making sure that Mooziq is here to stay and benefit local musicians in the long run, apart from urging people to tip?

Music is a tricky business to be in because we have to satisfy both the audience and the musician. Tipping is just the tip (pun intended!) of the iceberg for us and is just a representation of the core concept we are pushing for – increasing the level of intimacy between audience and musician.

Whether live or on record, what compels people to pay for music is the relationship that the audience has with the musician. We aim to change the culture of music from one where musicians are ‘in service’ to the people, to one of mutual respect where musicians and the audience are one.

Find Mooziq here and here.
Mooziq : Live’s second hosted event at Hood Bar and Cafe will feature bands KR Rockers and Efficient Public Transport. Be sure to head down on 28^th June, 7.45pm onwards.