Moombix is a learning platform for live, online music lessons, aimed squarely at adults. In this interview, founder and CEO, Margret Juliana Sigurdardottir, talks candidly about how and why she started her company, as well as her upbring and home life. Prepare to be inspired…
I grew up in a music-filled house with my parents and grandparents
I’m born into a very musical family – my father was a teacher and also in a rock band. My parents and grandparents listened to music all day long – households full of music just don’t exist anymore, everyone just has their iPads, AirPods and smartphones… I was very musical from an early age, and this followed me – it comes from inside, it’s part of who I am. I actually feel like everyone has music inside, but sometimes it’s raised out of them.
There’s a lot of musical culture in Iceland – a lot of singing. Every other person goes to a choir at some point in their lives and that applied to me as well. I also did classical training in piano and vocal training which led me to the Royal Academy of Music, where I graduated.
It was a true pleasure to perform with fellow Icelanders Björk and Sigur Ros
There were a group of Icelandic singers who were accompanying Sigur Ros and Björk in a project – specifically with Björk in relation to the Medúlla album – a cappella performance. It wasn’t a long working relationship but it was great to see her work and perform – a true inspiration. I think for many Icelanders, Björk, and later other bands, have been very influential – young people see them and think maybe I can do something like this myself, too.
Moombix is like Airbnb for online music lessons
We connect teachers, who make a profile on the platform and students can come and buy their lessons. So, we connect people but we also provide a very advanced learning platform, so teachers can plan their lessons and can follow a plan for the lesson, you can share sheet music, chords, notes or something and they can be attached with video. There’s a fully working booking and payment system – it’s a very comprehensive tool. We are also offering schools to use only the learning platform, in a closed environment, but the main product is for grown-up students.
Bringing joy via music is my mission
I noticed a huge increase in interest in music, especially since Covid, with people who have never played before – this is our primary group and I want to build a community around that – I have lots of things in the pipeline.
Music is so important to people – I know a lot of people who have started playing, even if they have never played before, or they’re reviewing their skills. It’s painful in the beginning of course but it doesn’t take long until they can start playing and it brings so much joy to people, to do music – that’s the main mission I’m on here.
I created a music game for children in my first company
My first business that was my own, Mussila, had a children’s game that taught the basics of music through gaming and adventure. So, a bit different – there’s a big market and in that case, we were the teacher – it was App of The Day and got Parent Choice and lots of other awards.
My daughter’s violin lesson during Covid gave me inspiration
I had just exited from my previous company, Mussila, in 2020 and almost to the day Covid arrived and I was just thinking of what to do next. I had several ideas in my head of where to go but this was so obvious to me – there was a cultural shift in communication at that point and I thought this is the time for a solution. I had not believed in it before – that you would be able to learn music online because of delays and bad sound – particularly bad sound because delays can be managed in teaching methods but bad sound would not be acceptable. My daughter was studying the violin and taking her lesson in the living room with just her iPhone and the sound was just the teacher was in the room and I thought okay, this works!
As a musician, you are always your own company
You are the producer, manager and marketeer, unless of course you are world famous then you have someone else to do it. People often think that it’s a strange shift from musician into business, but actually functionally it’s not so different.
Economics forced me to reconsider my career
I was working in Iceland as a singer – I was in a chamber choir and we were singing in funerals which was the main income of a singer in Iceland and I was singing ten funerals a week, or something like that. I was also working at RÚV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, presenting and producing radio programs. I had my daughter – this was just after I moved home from London – I was a single mom, but I have to say I had a whole village behind me, I was not alone at all – I was working so much but I couldn’t make ends meet. I thought maybe I should do something else, where I can see more income – it’s not the most obvious thing, becoming an entrepreneur, but so far, so good!
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit
I published a paper when I was ten years old and when I was fifteen, I got my brother, who has stayed with me in business, to grow potatoes. We hired a huge piece of land and we were going to grow potatoes -we couldn’t afford the fertiliser so we decided they would be organic. I guess you learn from your mistakes because when we checked them in the fall there was less of potatoes than weed in the plot.
I live in Reykjavík
Reykjavík has changed a lot in the last ten years – it’s become very global and tourism has increased a lot. At the same time, it’s very lively! Iceland is an island, like Britain and at the centre there’s an island mentality, which I think we have in common. It’s a buzzing city and I really like living there but the weather is terrible!
Reykjavík has an abundance of electricity, primarily from renewable sources, making the transition from gasoline to electric vehicles a natural progression. Additionally, there is a strong and growing movement toward sustainability throughout the city.
I got married last year
I love dancing and I knit! All the women in my family meet monthly for this knitting club, that we founded fifteen years ago we come for the jokes, good stories and the cakes! I meet my friends a lot but with family and work there’s not time for much else. I got married last year, so I started my family later than many – I’ve gone from being a single mum to having four children in our household – lots of smart devices!
Find out more about Moombix here.
