Jess Benko, Canadian writer, producer, & artist behind hit song "A Soulmate Who Wasn't Meant to Be" joins us on the Art Not Algorithms podcast to tell us her story of creating a hit song on her iPhone and then proceeding to maintain her independent status despite the industry's best efforts to sign her! This episode is all about doubling down and continuing believing in yourself and protecting your creative spark even when your business takes off! (0:00) Intro (1:21) Pert knows nothing about Jess (2:10) What was Jess' first artistic medium? (4:08) How Jess recorded her first song (6:57) How Jess recorded "Soulmate" (8:30) How "Soulmate" blew up (15:13) Why she told no one about her music (19:00) Going live for 3 years straight (20:46) "Headline or H2O" Game (27:29) Pert is obsessed with Dollywood (29:28) Jess tells her parents about her music (30:20) How Jess got connected with Indify (32:02) How Jess followed up "Soulmate" (36:15) Jess' advice for all musicians (37:29) All musicians have off-days (38:35) How many playlists have "Soulmate" on them?