Working in the music industry has always been challenging, especially for young musicians. However, with the digital era came new ways to enter the music business, and it’s become easier for producers, singers, and musicians to get their music out there.
There are many platforms where artists can sell their music, beats, and offer services, but today I want to talk about a personal favorite of mine: Gemtracks. In this article, you’ll learn about the services Gemtracks provides and whether it’s the right platform for you.
Let’s dive in!
What is Gemtracks?
First, let’s start with who is behind Gemtracks and how this project was born. I always like to see the human side of every company to find out who they are, what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, to give a little more insight into the business.
Gemtracks was founded in 2016 by Jesse Neo, tech expert and singer-songwriter, DJ and music producer, and Milana Leybovich, member of the band Nuthin’ Under a Million.
It began as a personal project to manage the incoming requests from clients who wanted Jess to compose beats or background music. He started uploading his compositions and selling them online without clients needing to contact him first. After realizing people were buying them and paying them high prices for the beat plus ownership, he reshaped his project to build a marketplace for other DJs, composers, and musicians to start selling their music.
Today, Gemtracks is not only a beat marketplace. Jesse thought that maybe once someone bought the beat, they may need help with mixing the singer’s voice or with other music-related tasks, so why not simplify the search for collaborators? Think of any freelance portal like Freelancer or Fiverr, but for musicians. You go into the website and start looking for what you need.
Gemtracks was headquartered in Los Angeles, but since the pandemic, they have become a mobile entrepreneur company with no fixed location. Worldwide collaborators, freelancers, beatmakers, and studio owners can join Gemtracks as long as they have internet access.
Services
Gemtracks offers services that make it unique in the music industry realm. They’re not another “beat marketplace.” Gemtracks has grown into an all-in-one platform, also providing resources typically offered by record labels and digital music agencies.
Let’s take a look at all the services this groundbreaking platform offers to the artists.
Beat marketplace
The beat marketplace is like going to a record store, searching through all the CDs, listening to some, and then buying the one you like. You may have an idea of what you need or want, or you can search by genre and choose what catches your eye. It features main genres like pop, hip-hop, EDM, rock, and many more.
One of the best features in the beat market is that the beat you buy will belong to you exclusively: once you pay, it gets removed from the marketplace. No one else in the world will have the beat you just bought. This uniqueness adds tons of value to your instrumentals, making the buyer feel like they’re getting something exclusive worthy of their money and their work.
This feature can be good if you act fast: if you take your time before buying, you may find out the beat is no longer available. Let me explain how buying beats from Gemtracks is beneficial for both the composer and the buyer.
If you’re an artist who makes backtracks, this is a great option to get money for your work. You make music, you upload it at Gemtracks, someone buys it, and you get paid. Of course, there are some aspects you need to be aware of, and the most important is that all rights for your instrumentals will get transferred to the person who buys them. The buyer won’t be required to give you any credits or recognition for your work. From the moment you upload your music to Gemtracks, you are giving away those rights.
If you tried other beat marketplaces and sold your beats for less, allowing more people to buy them and then expect to get paid for their use, you should know how this could take a long time to become a profitable business.
From the buyer’s perspective, if you’re a singer who needs background music for a song, you benefit from this approach because paying a fixed price of $149 for each beat will guarantee total control of the royalties from streams.
After paying for a beat, you will receive the transfer of copyrights with the master track in MP3 format plus the stem files in WAV for you to create arrangements from the same beat in any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
So, what if you don’t need a beat? Perhaps you already recorded or mixed your song but now just need help with mastering. Or maybe you’re ready to start recording your new album and want to book a music studio. Here’s where the Freelance service provided by Gemtracks comes into play.
Freelancers
Today, you don’t need to be proficient in IT or a graphic designer to be a freelancer: more and more musicians work as freelancers too. You may have already seen job posts for artists on websites like Fiverr; at Gemtracks, you will also find a sense of community by having an all-included system, making it easier to collaborate with others in the music industry.
You don’t like any of the beats available but have an idea of how you want it? Post a job and look for a producer. Need help with mastering? Search for a mastering engineer right there.
How about you, a freelancer musician, look for a job, send proposals to get your work done, and make money from your music?
This service is not just for producers; singers, lyricists, and songwriters can find a way to make a living from their art. There are a lot of artists there looking for help: maybe they need backing vocals or a co-writer for their lyrics. All of this is what makes Gemtracks a vibrant community.
To avoid confusion, the freelancer service works similarly to any freelance portal. You create your profile, fill in your information, and start searching or posting for gigs.
Booking music studios
As if the beat marketplace and freelance services weren’t enough, Gemtracks also offers the possibility to book a music studio. If you have previous experience booking a hotel for your vacations, you’ll probably understand how it works pretty fast.
You choose a studio near your area or the city that suits you best. Depending on each studio, you will find a “details page” where you can read some information on the equipment, rules, description, working hours, etc.
You then can select the day and time you want to book. Note that some studios will have a minimum of hours to be able to book for that day, usually of 2-3 hours minimum. So make sure to check that before booking.
You can see the availability in each music studio on their booking page. Once you select your preferred choice, the only thing left to do (besides paying) is get ready for your studio sessions!
“But what if I am a studio owner and want musicians on Gemtracks to find me?”
Great question. As with the freelance service, you will need to register and send Gemtracks all the specifics of your music studio and then be ready to get booked.
Submit your music
Ever wonder how to get your music out? Are you tired of pitching to magazines, blogs, or influencers to write about your song or add it to a playlist?
Gemtracks offers a solution to this arduous task by submitting it to their curators, and you can choose to submit your song to playlists or bloggers.
Submitting to a playlist will allow you to be featured on the most common streaming services like Spotify, apple music, YouTube or SoundCloud. While submitting to curators will get your song reviewed in blogs, YouTube channels, and influencers to spread your news to their thousands of followers.
A more lightweight alternative for musicians who struggle with administrative and marketing work so they can focus on making more music.
Guides and other resources
If you’re just visiting Gemtracks’ website, you will find their blog very useful. They post music-related articles, guides, listicles, and instrument reviews for you to explore. Make sure to check out their music store lists to find one near your city.
The database is another nice feature of the website. If you’ve been curious about what gear your favorite artists use, you can find it in their database: anything from headphones, microphones, monitors, and much more.
Though Gemtracks’ main goal is to sell beats, they also provide royalty-free music for instant download. However, these tracks must be credited back to Gemtracks’ website with a clickable link.
Is Gemtracks legit? The good and the bad
Now you know what Gemtracks is and everything it offers. Sounds perfect, right?
The first thing that came to my mind when finding out about Gemtracks was: “this is too good to be true”, which might be something popping up in your head right now, like that tiny voice telling you to be careful and skeptical of anything new. But rest assured, Gemtracks, as far as we know, is legit, and you’ll be the only owner of every beat you buy.
Let’s start with the good things Gemtracks offers. The obvious and more popular feature is that you can only buy a beat just once. When it’s gone, it’s gone. This model works because when buyers know the beat is unique, they are more willing to pay higher rates. That’s why all beats are available at a fixed price of $149. It’s a fast way to get paid immediately without having to sell the same track multiple times for lower rates.
Affiliate links are another option offered by Gemtracks. If you don’t make beats or anything music-related but own a music blog, you could earn a 5% commission on every sale through your website. This way, you can support and promote a creator you like.
The Gemtracks marketplace builder is a tool that allows you to create a beat marketplace on your website. If you already sell your beats on Gemtracks, why not sell them directly from your website? All files are stored on Gemtracks, so you don’t need a big server to host your music. You will only need a domain and server that runs on PHP to be able to use the marketplace builder.
Now, let’s talk about what I consider to be the downside of Gemtracks.
For beatmakers, this might not be the best way to promote their music. Yes, they can sell them just like in any other similar portal, but you will have to hand over all ownership, meaning you won’t be credited for your work. Some musicians find this worth $149, but others don’t.
On the other hand, for non-beatmakers (indie singers, music companies, and hobbyists), this could be an advantage as you won’t have to worry about copyright issues when uploading a song. Say goodbye to disputes and taking downs of your songs.
As a beatmaker, you’ll have to decide whether you’re willing to give up your royalties on the content you upload on Gemtracks. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Then it’s great, and you should subscribe right away. If not, look at other platforms that will leave you control over ownership and find the one that meets your needs.
Final thoughts on Gemtracks
Gemtracks marketplace is the best pick for those willing to hand over their intellectual property in exchange for a quicker and fairer payment. It’s also a fantastic place for indie musicians looking for a music studio and people to collaborate with, all in one place.
For buyers, it all comes down to full ownership and budget. Are you willing to pay a fixed price for any beats and become the one and only legal holder of your song? That may seem like a perfect deal for both indie and established artists.
Gemtracks combines a wide range of music services within its platform, offering features generally provided by a promoter, record label or marketplace all at once.
We should keep an eye on this platform and see what they’ll come up with next.
