My name is Jesse Neo. I am an electronic producer, singer-songwriter and DJ. Originally from Australia, I am now based in Los Angeles. I have been releasing music since 2017. I have also worked as a songwriter for several media companies, mainly composing beats. However, when my contract ended, I decided to start my own music company called Gemtracks.com
Gemtracks is pretty much a marketplace for musicians to buy and sell beats, find producers and book recording studios. At the end of the day, I want it to become a website where artists anywhere can come to access resources to create their own music without a record label.
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
One thing that I noticed while working as a writer was that most of my days were spent doing mindless things, such as attending meetings, deciding on the royalty split, and working on technical issues. Suddenly I realized my art was getting affected and that innovation must be introduced. At that moment, I gave myself the title music technologist.
2.) If you could compare yourself to someone who is already established in your line of work, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then what separates you from other everyone else who does what you do?
I think being a musician and a technologist has given me a big advantage in the industry. I studied both music and computer science, and during my time, I have yet to meet anyone that has the experience from both fields. With the world moving towards more into the digital world, I am grateful I can do this with music and still call myself an artist.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the work that you do? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming an entrepreneur?
I am inspired by amazing artists, such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, that have constantly reinvented themselves and continued to spread their influences into other industries as well. I think that is what inspired to combine music and technology together.
The most difficult thing is having to reinvent the wheel of how the music industry works. Traditionally, it was all about buying CDs and performing live shows. But with the internet, things are different. In fact, the way music is purchased isn’t even the same as it was ten years ago.
4.) How do you prepare yourself to create? What is your process?
I am always reading books and taking new courses to sharpen my skills and keep up-to-date with what is going on. When I’m doing something else, I always look for ways to enhance what I am doing that would make it either faster, cheaper or easier to do.
5.) Unfortunately many industries are full of talented individuals who more or less become the “starving artist” and don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed?
I am committed to not only growing Gemtracks, but also the users that use it. This way, I can keep track of the demands and needs for musicians so I know what changes I should make to Gemtracks to keep it standing strong.
6.) Would you rather work for a big corporation or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? What makes one better than the other? Are you able to make a living with your art? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your business? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in the creative industry?
For now, I would rather stay independent, unless Gemtracks becomes very big and gets bought out by a bigger company or something like that. The reason for staying independent comes back to the reason why I started Gemtracks in the first place. I found that big corporations have a lot of procedures and politics that must be followed, and that in my opinion, can negatively affect productivity.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the creative industry and how artists are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s economy if they’re not social media savvy?
I think it is an excellent thing, hence one of the main reasons for Gemtracks. Anyone can create a social profile and launch their own brands. With the help Gemtracks, they would also able to create their own musical products and then market them online.
Yes, I think artist can still survive if they are not social media savvy. At the end of the day, it’s the product that matters and if you have something that people want, those people can very well do the social media marketing for you by word-of-mouth.
8.) Typically, entrepreneurs who try to create products and/or services for mass consumption for the general public and make more money are seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure that what you offer stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
To an extent, yes. The only purpose of business is to generate money. That is fine, but the most important thing is to not lose sight of what the customer wants.
To make sure this is the case for me, I will always have a relationship with the musicians and artists that use Gemtracks. Even now, I am always in contact with them, reading magazines about the industry and in general, keeping up-to-date with what is happening.
9.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I hope that Gemtracks would become the name that people think of when they want to create music and start their path as an artist.