Gum Monkey is a music search engine. People and companies in the music industry can create profiles assigned to specific categories—such as musicians, producers, venues, record labels, radio stations, mixing engineers, studios, and more—that are searchable using specific filters.
How it all started
The idea for this project began between 2002 and 2005 (I can’t pinpoint the exact year) when a friend gave me a magazine called the Billboard International Buyer’s Guide. I was amazed at how much valuable information it contained—contacts from record labels to radio stations and much more!
Even though I never used that information myself, I always thought that bringing this kind of publication online would be an incredible tool for everyone in the music industry. With the rise of the internet, the advantages of an online version became clear:
- People and companies could update their own information.
- Information would stay accurate, since it could be updated at any time—unlike the printed magazine, which came out once a year.
- Users could easily find what they were looking for using filters, instead of flipping through pages. For example, they could select a category (Radio, Record Labels, etc.) and then search by country and city.
- An unlimited database that included categories the magazine didn’t cover—musicians from around the world, for example.
- A more visually appealing format. The magazine was basically just text across hundreds of pages, which made it hard on the eyes. The online version could include profile pictures/logos for people and companies, along with a cleaner design.
- And many, many more advantages (too many to list here).
Around 2010, I tried building it myself using a social network builder called Ning, and later with phpFox under the name Band Berry. Neither tool worked out—mainly because of the high costs of skilled developers, especially for platform customization. At the time, I didn’t have the coding knowledge I have today, and the internet was a completely different place—without tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok to help me build Gum Monkey.
Over the years, I tried working on it again—under the name Wavebix—using platforms like WordPress and Elementor. But again, the obstacle was always high cost of skilled developers for platform customization. Unless I could find a developer willing to partner with me, hiring one was too expensive. I did meet three developers who seemed interested, but things never took off. (Reality check: no income for developers = no interest from them.)
Then came 2025… With my improved programming skills—and the help of ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok—I was finally able to build it without needing others to believe in the project the way I do.
That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind!
Why did I build it?
As a musician and music producer, I’ve spent years searching for a tool like Gum Monkey—a place where I could easily find people and companies relevant to my needs. For example, if I wanted to find record labels that release music in a specific genre, I didn’t want to spend hours on Google combing through pages of links. The same goes for studios, venues, musicians, and more.
Social media makes it easier to connect, but finding people using hashtags is a nightmare. Too many posts use hashtags just to attract attention, even if they’re unrelated.
With Gum Monkey, anyone in the music industry can create a profile, select the right categories and subcategories, and include relevant information—making it easier to connect and helping strengthen a very fragmented industry.
Tools like Gum Monkey make it easier to network, build strong teams, and find the right people or companies at the click of a button.
