A $0.003 reward?! We’re Twitching at the thought!

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Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

A $0.003 reward?! We’re Twitching at the thought!

Twitch has always been popular amongst the gaming community. It was created initially in 2011 as a platform for gamers to use in order to live stream as well as broadcast live Esports events and competitions and has since retained on average 15million daily users.

With so much more of our time spent online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Twitch has expanded in regard to what they broadcast and live stream: talk shows are growing in popularity as well as live streamed music to name but a couple.

As the date for the resumption of normality approaches and with it the reopening of concert halls and live shows, one can speculate as to what will happen to those artists that have decided to make use of these live streaming platforms as a source of income.

Twitch users reportedly spend three times as much time on the platform as on Sportify and YouTube so the potential for it to be a very lucrative platform for music makers and artists is what has been looked into by Will Page, an economist who runs Tarzan Economics. He worked alongside various teams in order to understand how live streaming and live music may co-exist in the future.

“Live streaming won’t go away when live music returns.”

-Will Page

In 2002, one of the first music streaming services Rhapsody, offered a $9.99 monthly price which is the same as what we see today for similar music streaming services.

What is provided is also pretty much the same as what was offered in 2002; fans remain largely disconnected from their favourite artists, they are unable to offer direct compensation to creators, and ‘cross-usage’ occurs frequently as a listener is often subscribed to multiple platforms.

“None of the on-demand streaming services that have since sprung up enable immediate engagement, this is a relic of the music industry of old.”

-Will Page

User engagement is something that both Twitch and Jeeni offer, and not only does it allow the fans to be more involved with the artists they love, but it allows the artists to be fairly compensated, a huge issue which is now being petitioned against by the Broken Record Campaign. See our last blog post for more information and ways that you can support the campaign.

According to Will Page, the typical music streaming model has approached the way in which artist are compensated in one way:

In essence, the modelling simply just isn’t fair, and neither rewards the artists or their fans for supporting them.

The way in which Twitch brings in money, however, varies across three methods similar to Jeeni: Creator Channel Subscriptions, Bits allow users to support creators directly on the service, and advertising.

Will Page made a comparison between creator earnings on Twitch, which average at $0.15 per-hour-per-user, with that of global streaming services at which the rate per-stream is set at roughly $0.003.

By taking the $0.003 per stream and multiplying by 17 (assuming a song lasts 3 minutes this equates to an hour of listening time), then applying an average 20% royalty rate, this results in a creator’s “revenue-per-hour listened” at just $0.01.

My jaw dropped, did yours?

Twitch has proved it can monetise over 10 times better than music streaming, however this only applies to creators’ most loyal fans that tune in on a regular basis.

"If you keep the full $100 of each true fan, then you need only 1,000 of them to earn $100,000 per year."

-Kevin Kelly, The Technium, 2008

Do you want to spend hours watching your favourite gamer and at the same time, fairly compensate and reward them for their time and effort? Well of course. What Twitch does for gamers, we want to do for music makers and artists here at Jeeni.

Look out Twitch, we’ll meet you at the finish line.

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15
Feb

Artist Focus: Alana Sukul

Stirring together funk, dancehall and electronic ingredients, Alana Sukul is rapidly building momentum with her unique take on modern pop. Brand new to Jeeni, Alana Sukul has contributed five new tracks to several of our channels due to her music casting such a huge stylistic net. Born and raised in Fulham, Alana is currently studying Popular Performance, Vocals at BIMM, London where she continues to hone her already impressive skills as a vocalist, instrumentalist, producer and songwriter. Only recently, for her more dancehall inspired tracks, has Alana used external talent in the form of a producer to help her capture the tone and intention she has in mind. Aside from that, Alana is a total DIY bedroom pop artist and has done extraordinarily well for herself, particularly with her recent track, ‘Closer’ which currently has over 50,000 listens. Check out Alana’s Jeeni showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/alana-sukul/ The poeticism in Alana’s lyrics is perfect for expressing emotive imagery that plain language simply can’t. ‘Emotions, heavy like water and you let me drown’, this particular line from ‘Healing’ seems reminiscent of the Mexican idiom, ‘blood is thicker than water’ meaning that family bonds are stronger than that of friends or love; the connection between the two adages is especially relevant considering the heart-broken yet regenerative narrative of this stellar track from 2020. Although it would seem that the double single of the aforementioned ‘Healing’ and ‘IDNYT’ is Alana’s first release, she actually created a since-deleted concept project in college, as Alana puts it herself, “I made my first EP called ‘Genesis’ purely based around the struggle of mental health and how it can take a toll on one person.’ Nobly, Alana decided that the EP could be too honest and beak a project for fans to initially be exposed to, “I decided at 19 to remove the EP since I wanted to become a better inspiration for those who listen to my music and encourage them more lightly”. Ironically however, the ‘Genesis’ project and the creative decision that it inspired still formed her origin as an artist as is inspired her to begin again with a new mindset. This is when Alana began to work on ‘Healing’ and ‘IDNYT’ from her bedroom. Alana’s broad sense of style is of no surprise when you consider the colourful collection of inspirations that she collected growing up. Motown, soul and hip-hop have influenced a lot of creative choices from Alana, however Caribbean-originated genres literally run through the veins of her more recent singles. Alana grew up with a variety of Caribbean styles thanks to her parents, “dancehall, soca and bashment have greatly influenced me since my parents are from the Caribbean”. Alana also has an extensive list of artists she looks up to and dreams to collaborate with, “Vocally, my favourite artists nowadays who have impacted me would be Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Kehlani, H.E.R, Beyoncé and so much more.” Alana specifically credits Korean group, BTS for inspiring more in-depth meaning behind her music and lyrics. The newest track from Alana, ‘Good to you’ is an atmospheric and stunning single and is available on streaming platforms now. Check it out on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/good-to-you-alana-sukul/?channel=alana-sukul&rtn=btasc&artist=alana-sukul How can Jeeni support artists like Alana Sukul? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. artist biography • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.

15
Dec

Artist Focus: Giack Bazz - A Royalty Revolutionary

In just five short years, Giack Bazz has crafted a spectrum of ideas and concepts with his discography that a lot artists don’t get around to in their lifetime. Although Giack has expanded his sound to stylistic corners that he even had to create himself, his sound has typically always been centred around alternative, experimental rock, inspired by the likes of David Bowie, Thom Yorke and Devendra Banhart. Giack studied songwriting at BIMM London where he honed his already present skills as a singer-songwriter. Jeeni is always on the lookout for exciting, new talent that deserves a wider outreach and so, BIMM alumni, Ella Venvell, Jeeni’s artist liaison specialist remembered Giack as a unique and layered act and introduced him to Jeeni’s mission. As well as working with BIMM students, Jeeni has recently become partners with ACM to be at the source of new talent and help to uplift them in their careers. Hailing from Modena, Italy, the london-based Giack Bazz began his musical journey in 2016 with the sentimental and heart-aching ‘Childhood Dream'. The stunning debut was a means of processing the wave of emotions that came with the passing of his mother when he was just nine. Giack was also lucky enough to be picked up by his region’s arts council to fund a grand rock opera based off the impressive debut. By kicking off his musical path with such a challenging and maturely profound project, Giack set up a powerful origin, with which he has used to launch into increasingly fascinating works, the likes of which I have never heard before. As a fairly straightforward 9-track project, ‘Childhood Dreams’ is so far the only vanilla tracklist in Giack’s discography. Giack went on in 2018 to make a long-redundant 2-disc split with his second album, ‘Giack Bazz Is Not Famous’. This album had a more light-hearted, yet angsty indie rock tone which featured more full band arrangements compared to his first. The disc openers, ‘Beetle’ and ‘Forgotten Media’ are certainly two focal points of the project. The year after came the Japan inspired ‘Haikufy’ which, despite containing 30 tracks, clocked in at under 20 minutes long. This project is the clearest first sign of Giacks experimental tendencies. Ranging from twinkling, dreamy moments to thrashing noise and yelling, the weird and wonderful ‘Haikufy’ still can’t help but feel cohesive as an experimental project due to clear vision and production. ‘Haikufy’ proved to be a vital stepping stone for Giack’s future as an artist and not just experimentally, as it was here where Giack first initiated his “personal protest against the unfair paying scheme of streaming platforms.” Giack explained to me that “streams are only paid after the first 31 seconds clock in, the rest of the song is worthless for streaming platforms.” And so, by releasing an album that has densely packed in tracks that meet the bare minimum length to gain royalties from streaming services, Giack exploits a system just as they do. It was this concept that gave birth to Giack’s most recent project which is a kind of sibling to ‘Haikufy’ except, instead of 30 short songs, last year’s ‘Impression A.I.’ contained 366 written, mixed and mastered songs in a 6.5-hour timeframe! Released under the name ‘The Royalty Instrumentality Project’ as a collaboration with partner and producer, Deborah Verrascina, ‘Impression A.I.’ is an inspiring and righteous protest against the unethical operations of streaming services, “By creating a vast album of short songs, we effectively use their system against them.” With concepts like this; born of passion, research and justice, Giack makes for such a formidable force in the music industry. With Deobrah’s production to polish Giack’s ambitious projects and equally in-depth, albeit sinister marketing campaigns from manager, Marta Teolato, the team of three are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to music royalty justice. Fortunately, the trio are currently planning a similar protest project, fulled by extensive collaboration. Watch this space. Giack is performing live at The Beehive, Empson Street on the 21st of January, tickets are available now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-beehive-underground-sound-tickets-211275650157?aff=GiackBazz How can Jeeni support artists like Giack Bazz? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team. Check out Giack’s Jeeni showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/giack-bazz

05
Jun

So what else is the Music Industry doing?

The Musicians Union offer of a £200 grant really is not going to cut it and with most musicians and performers self employed we urgently need the government to provide clarity on what wider support is available. In yesterday's Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas reported that: "On Friday, the Federation of Entertainment Unions, which comprises the Musicians’ Union, the Bectu section of Prospect, Equity, the National Union of Journalists and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, called for the government “to introduce an income guarantee for freelance and self-employed workers for the duration of the Covid-19 outbreak.A separate petition to the UK government, asking for economic assistance for those working in the events industry, has been signed by nearly 150,000 people. A huge number of tours and music festivals have already been cancelled because of coronavirus, including Glastonbury and Coachella. Many musicians have started performing via online livestreams, including – as part of the World Health Organisation and Global Citizen initiative Together at Home – Chris Martin, John Legend and Camila Cabello. Other stars have pledged financial support for relief initiatives – Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation donated $5m (£4.2m) to various organisations, while Ciara and her husband, Russell Wilson, donated a million meals to a food bank in their home city of Seattle. The US Recording Academy – which organises the Grammys – announced a relief fund for musicians affected by coronavirus via its charity arm, MusiCares." Let's keep Rocking 'n' Rolling Folks. It is time for positive action!

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