Industry Talk: Magdalena Kellman

“Tell us about yourself and your way into the music industry?”

“I remember sneaking into a The Weeknd concert by myself in New York in 2013, desperate to see the show even though it meant going solo. I was lucky enough to skip the queue, score a seat right in the middle of row 8, just in time to catch the opening act, Banks. The feeling that concert gave me is why I later chose to start down a new path and join this industry.

My music career began with an internship for the family/record label Nora Collective. This then led to an internship for Music Norway in London, and later to my first full time music related job; Account Management at DICE. DICE is a brilliant concert ticketing app which is honestly so many steps ahead of the ticketing solutions we have in the Nordic countries. Their work on tech and data is amazing, but I mostly loved how hard they work to change a system that is currently not treating neither the artists nor fans fair enough.

While I grew my career in London, Nora was growing as a company in Oslo. When the timing was right, Nora’s managing director, Petter Wahlen, gave me a call and it was as if the start of my career in this industry came full circle. Now I’m back working with the people I love and first started out with. It is amazing to be a part of a place that is built on friendships. They are never scared to think outside the box and always eager to challenge a sometimes square industry. ”

“You were just selected as one of the winners of the Nordic Music Biz’ 20 under 30, what does this mean to you?”

“The prize is a great initiative; we haven’t had anything similar in Norway before and it’s so important to take a moment to recognize everyone around us that continue to work hard. There are some amazing names on the list this year! So it means a lot and I’m happy to be selected. I’m excited for what the rest of 2020 has to bring.”

“What is your focus at the moment, and what takes up most of your time?”

“My current main focus is on our newly established sub-company Nora Affairs. As a 360​°​ management team we’re trying to structure Nora better by dividing it into different areas such as Nora Affairs which is focusing on events/booking and Nora Creatives which does amazing photography, music videos and more.

Along with this I’ve also been busy on a project with dancer Mona Berntsen and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, a song camp in Stockholm and finding solutions on how Nora as a label can work in a more environmentally friendly way, from anything to the electricity in the office, to touring, and releasing music. My days and projects are quite varied.”

“Why Norway, why now? Where are we going?”

“I think Norway has had a tendency to cut itself short, thinking we’re too small a country to make a difference or for someone to care about our music. But it feels like the tables are turning and more talents, both on the creative and administrative side, are daring to put themselves out there more, which is amazing.”

“What is the best advice you have ever received?”

“Be comfortable talking about money or serious matters, and laugh a lot. It’s cheesy, but it’s true. If you can manage that in all aspects of your life, you’ll be fine.”