James Reid admits that he took a big risk when he left his acting career in favor of building his own record label, Careless Music.
In his guest appearance on PEP Spotlight this December 2022, James recalls, "I was absolutely terrified. But for me, that was better than what I was currently doing. I don't know. It just wasn't feeding my soul."
Prior to being self-managed and starting his own company, James was in contract with Viva Entertainment Inc., his mother studio from 2012 to 2019.
During that period, James headlined at least five movies, both solely produced and co-produced by Viva Films, opposite his former reel-and-real-life sweetheart Nadine Lustre.
Known by their uniname JaDine, James and Nadine also starred in two Kapamilya teleseryes, On The Wings of Love (2015-2016) and Till I Met You (2016-2017) under the guidance of Viva Artists Agency, the talent management arm of Viva.
It was in October 2019 when James chose not to renew his contract with Viva Entertainment Inc. even though there's a new teleserye lined up for him, among other projects.
Looking back on his journey in the past three years, James continues to say on PEP Spotlight: "Having to go through that and face that kind of fear of the unknown and leave my acting career, which was so sure, it took a lot.
"I honestly wouldn't be able to do it if it wasn't for my support—my friends and my family.
"All the people that came on board in Careless. They really believe in the vision.
"They stick it out even though we've gone through some really difficult times.
"Even when people tell us it's not gonna work. Just sticking through it, it was all really worth it."
In the beginning, James just wanted to take charge of carving his own path in the entertainment industry.
He wanted to explore what he can do as a singer, composer, and record producer.
Explaining his vision when he co-founded Careless Music, James points out, "There wasn't too much original pop R&B music out at that time.
"So I just wanted to be able to be more in control of my music, in control of the creative direction, also just, yeah, in control of my career. That was what's important for me at that time.
"And that's why I created it [Careless Music]. It's for me to be able to take risks on my career, which is what I wanted to do."
james reid ON MANAGING OTHER ARTISTS
Fast-forward to 2022, the record label also expanded into talent management with a band and seven solo artists under its roster of talents.
PEP.ph asks: What made the label shift into managing talents as well?
"The whole process of me starting a label and being self-managed taught me a lot about the industry and actually how to have a lasting career in music while not sacrificing why I love music in the first place," James explains.
"I think that's what made other artists gravitate towards Careless. We take risks. we bet it all. We bet it all on the artists, on the projects we believe in.
"So, yeah, our goals is to really break barriers, break boundaries in music both locally and hopefully globally."
James and his team have been working on this by making their presence felt in the entertainment scene in Hollywood.
In May, James attended gala events in Los Angeles with his business partner Jeffrey Oh. They brought with them Liza Soberano, who officially signed with Careless in June 2022.
READ: Liza Soberano spotted with James Reid at Gold Gala in Los Angeles
By August, Liza landed a role in Lisa Frankenstein where she'd get to work with American stars Kathryn Newton (Little Women), Cole Sprouse (Riverdale), and Joe Chrest (Stranger Things), to name a few.
READ: Liza Soberano tells how she landed role in Hollywood movie Lisa Frankenstein
James also tells PEP.ph that his vision is not limited to showcasing Filipino talent in the international stage, but even for foreign artists as well.
In James's newly released 10-track album Lovescene, he collaborated with Los Angeles-based singer Destiny Rogers for the song "Lie To Me." The music video of "Lie To Me" has gained 3.7 million views at this writing.
Both James and Destiny are set to perform their song live in Wavy Baby Music Festival, happening in Cebu on January 13 and 14, 2023.
James is also preparing for his album tour in North America from January 29 to February 26.
james reid ON "BREAKING BOUNDARIES"
At this point in his career, James is admittedly happy with how Careless as a team is starting to make things possible for their artists who wish to showcase their talent here and abroad.
Flashing a mega-watt smile, James elaborates, "It's been a whole journey. There's been a lot of self-discovery along the way.
"But the vision and goal has not changed, which is, personally as an artist, I wish to break boundaries of Filipino artists.
"And the company as a whole—to be able to build up these artists and find that balance between creating what you love and also having a sustainable career.
"I think a lot of that is opening opportunities that didn't exist before. That's really what the mission is right now.
"This is just the beginning of Careless Music as we shift into a full-fledged entertainment company."
READ: Got7's BamBam hints at possible collab with James Reid