Interview with Pravin Kanagandran, the CEO of KNO YO TRAX [2023]

I’m Malaysian. I have a degree in mechanical engineering but now I produce music and make apps. I came up with the idea during covid lockdowns when I was bored and looking for a challenging music app. I scoured the web but couldn’t really find anything that I found challenging personally, so I decided to make it myself.  Kno Yo Trax is the first app which I’ve published along with my business partner Kam. It’s a game where you have to guess the name of the track from just hearing the beat. There is nothing like it out there in the market. 

These experiences helped me to learn a lot about life and taught me the importance of hard work. The constant 80+ hour work weeks showed me that it wasn’t worth it in the long run. I realized I wanted to be my own boss because all of the office politics just creates a toxic work environment. I wouldn’t change anything about those experiences because they definitely helped me become who I am today.    

It determines the user’s ability to recognize a song, shows whether they are an avid listener and how much the user pays attention to all of the different layers in a track. 

It’s different because there’s no guess the song game out there without lyrics, which is an app. I understand the reason why this wasn’t tried before is because it would result in a difficult game, but this is exactly the type of game which I would enjoy playing. I did my research, consulted my friends regarding it and realized there’s a big market for a game like this. 

There are 8 tracks per level. After each level, the user gets a score after completing it. The button goes green or red, depending on whether you are above or below the average for the particular genre. We had a giveaway recently for festival tickets and some merchandise which went really well. In the future, we will be rewarding users depending on how well they score and have mystery boxes and prizes which can be redeemed using in-game coins. We are going to be having more giveaways, online play, and multiplayer expansion very soon. There are new ideas every day on potential feature implementations. Follow us on Instagram for the latest updates! @knoyotrax on all platforms!

I don’t get much sleep but those are part of the sacrifices in life which you have to make in order to be successful. There were countless sleepless nights which resulted in Kno Yo Trax and put it in the position it’s in today. I took a lot of time off from everything else and focused on Kno Yo Trax, while I was working at my full-time job. If I went back in time, I would do everything exactly the same because achieving the results is a phenomenal feeling. 

I most enjoy the leadership role which I provide, having control over the representation of the company and being able to sort things out or help to find a solution to all encountered problems. I keep a positive work environment by taking some time off to relax when being bombarded by tasks and not being able to focus on one. 

Study the market, analyze the competition and research exactly what is needed to build your idea. Pick a good business partner and team because teamwork is necessary and helps especially when you’re feeling demotivated, so you can lift each other up.

The five year goal is to be at five million users, have partnerships with music labels, endorsements from artists, actively promote artists, have a global audience, and own a club.