Jesse Neo is a 23-year-old Australian singer, songwriter and producer that has been living in Los Angeles for the past few years releasing new electronic hits and working as a songwriter for several media companies. However, early this year, the 23-year-old had a bigger ambition. He left his full time music job and launched Gemtracks, a marketplace for artists to buy beats.
“After being in the entertainment industry for over three years, I was beginning to understand how the gears and bolts of the business worked,” Jesse told us. “So I decided to create my own website where I could compose the music I wanted, and let artists of those genres buy my beats to use in their own song releases.”
Growing up, the Australian had always been on the musical side. He started taking musical lessons at the age of 7, and eventually played in school orchestras and self-released tracks that eventually got played on radio and reviewed in magazines. Now, with his eyes set on Gemtracks, he is trying to create a more innovative future for artists with the use of the internet and technology. The story goes that within a week of launching Gemtracks, which only acted as a simple online store, quickly attracted tractions. Beats got sold for up to $600, much more than what he made while working with the publishing company.
“I think why people loved my beats so much was because I only sold each track once,” the singer explained. “There is that excitement of visiting my website to see what jewel they could find. Once they decide to buy a track, the copyright is also transferred to them. This way, customers are always coming back.”
Today, Gemtracks has grown into an international marketplace where anyone can sign up to buy and sell beats. The most popular, according to Jesse, are trap beats. In fact, the website has attracted big names producers from major labels to join, including Lucas Gold, IYFFE, Beowulf and Taylor Carroll. In just a few months, new features are expected to be released onto the website, including the ability to hire freelance producers, book music studios and distribute music. Already, songs containing beats from Gemtracks have already reached more than 5 million streams across all streaming platforms.
“Gemtracks has become part of my life for the majority of this year that most people no longer equate me to being a musician anymore,” Jesse joked. “Instead, people are seeing me as a music technologist. But rest assure I am still making and releasing my own music. In fact, I’ll be filming a music video soon, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Like everyone else, I am patiently waiting for this COVID-19 storm to end before I can return to my artistic endeavours in real life.”
Now, working in both the performance and service sides of the music industry, Jesse has more reasons to think more creativity as he embraces the digital world.
For more information, you can follow him on Instagram @jesseneoofficial
