Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

A Year In Provence - ‘Bleeding’ Single Review

/ By Doug Phillips
A Year In Provence - ‘Bleeding’ Single Review

The latest of just two electric singles from this emerging Kent rock force, ‘Bleeding’ shows a passion and level of musicianship that can’t be faked. 

As is a recurring development for blossoming artists, the pandemic produced the current, streamlined ‘A Year In Provence’ line-up. All hailing from Kent, AYIP currently consists of: Matt Porter controlling the melodies with his powerful vocals, the bass, handled assertively by Adam Bacon, James Ferner providing groove-essential rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Dan Wing for the commanding lead guitar and Jack Smith’s drumming, rhythmically guiding the entire ensemble through their rock-pop callbacks. 

Brand new to Jeeni, AYIP have contributed both of their excellent tracks to their Jeeni showcase, adding even more substance to the rock channel. Check out their young, yet exhilarating showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/a-year-in-provence/. 

‘Bleeding’ takes its time, structurally, and interestingly doesn’t typically call back to previous sections, at least not in their initial forms. This single opens with full, proud classic pop-rock guitar chords that ring out mostly in the offbeats, certainly in lieu of Weezer’s ‘Say It Ain’t So’ albeit with a more present energy in the verses.  

As the other parts join, the attention and care taken to the mix is made obvious. Crystal clear vocals show no sign of struggling to be heard over the washy cymbals, or three layers of guitar, not an easy feat for a band so early in their discography. No parts eat into other areas and are individually made clear and present. 

This single is constantly moving and progresses organically much like a live performance, as you can hear the members grow in energy; the alternative to which is to harvest previously recorded parts and use identical pieces of audio in several, different places which, although is sometimes a logistical necessity in a studio, often results in an unplaceable feeling of “sameyness” and a lack of effort, something that cannot be heard at all in ‘Bleeding’. 

As is also a theme with Jeeni’s budding new artists, A Year In Provence have made certain promises with their singles, and something about the five-piece inspires hope about fulfilling such promises. Check out their showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/a-year-in-provence/. 

How can Jeeni support artists like A Year In Provence?  

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. 

06
Jun

Meet The Curators Behind Spotify Playlists - the A and R Dictatorship

Landing on an official curated Spotify playlist is for many artists a holy grail. To provide some insight, we hear from a Spotify editor about how they find the songs which eventually make the cut. Spotify seems to be the opposite of Jeeni, where the process is democratic and those artists that start trending are based on real votes, and whilst technology has moved on they are still in the dark ages where their music is still decided and dictated by A&R agents. And unlike Jeeni.com, with Spotify if they don't like the look of you, then you're not coming in! Guest post from Spotify for Artists by Khalilia Douze A Spotify editor explains how they discover songs to include in their curated lists. Being added to a Spotify playlist remains the dream for most emerging artists, as it exposes their work to some of the most-clicked on playlists in the world. But for many musicians and their teams, the behind-the-scenes process still feels shrouded in mystery. While there’s no formula for scoring a coveted slot on Pollen or RapCaviar, there is rhyme and reason to how the massive team of editors curate tracks. We spoke with one Spotify staffer, who helps oversee R&B playlists such as the genre flagship Are & Be, The Newness, Soul Coffee, Soul Lounge the Black Lives Matter playlist and more, to learn about their process and tips on how musicians can stand out when pitching unreleased music through Spotify for Artists. Spotify for Artists: What strategies do you use to curate playlists? The strategy is based on the playlist itself. Each has its own hypothesis, theme, or audience that we’re thinking about. If it’s one of the genre-specific playlists, like Are & Be, that’s the home for the current, biggest songs in that space. The Newness is new releases or developing artists. Chilled R&B, Soul Coffee, those playlists have a mix of current and some legacy and catalog artists. It really all depends on what the goal of the specific playlist is. What are you listening for when you’re curating? I’m listening for lyrics. I’m listening for melody. A lot depends on the playlist itself, and sometimes that’s the filter that I have. When I’m listening, [I’m like] Oh, this song would do good in this playlist or, This song could fit here for this moment. A lot of it is based on the audience. You have the specific genres, but then there’s a lot of cases where those lines are blurred. The instrumentation and the beat can determine an audience, so [we think about] where we believe the audience is for that particular song. Does song length play a role in how you’re curating? It depends on the playlist. Soul Coffee is more of a relaxing [vibe]. In our minds, that’s one of those where you would just get up in the morning and that’s what you throw on while you’re getting ready, eating breakfast, or reading a book on Sunday. I know that the people will just have it on, so that playlist has a longer time spent listening as opposed to the flagship, Are & Be, and The Newness. For The Newness, when people are listening to that or one where it’s developing artists and new releases, that’s more about discovery. People may not spend a lot of time listening to that playlist—it’s about skimming and seeing what’s out. Can you walk me through how you use the submission tool to discover music? Labels pitch to us every week. We’re able to get their submissions through there, but they also communicate with our Artist Label Partnership team. We’ll talk to them [about] what their plan is for their priorities. There’s a ton of music—it’s countless. That’s pretty much the majority of Mondays and Tuesdays, listening to the pitches that come in for that week. It goes to our whole team. We listen to everything. The rest of the week is updating the playlists and finding the space for them, reviewing what songs are already in the playlist, looking at the performance, and things like that. When it comes to tags in the submission form, what advice do you have? People should be as specific as possible and fill out every single thing to make sure it goes to the right people. Different editors might have different filters to differentiate. I’m listening for if it’s a cool song first and foremost, but past my opinion of it, do I know if there’s a home for it? It’s about being able to find it and [seeing] where it can fit. I’ve seen entries where it would literally just be the artist name and their title—that’s how it gets lost in the abyss. We’re not omnipotent, so we don’t know what we don’t know. Are there any rules about how many times an artist can be playlisted? No. Every curator is different and has [their] own philosophy on what songs are in a playlist. There’s no concrete rule. Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

11
Oct

Jeeni's Pick of the Week - Flamingods

Jeeni's Pick of the Week is International psych explorers Flamingods. A four-piece, multi-instrumental band from Bahrain & London who were founded in 2010. The group explores and experiments with an array of influences from western psychedelia, jazz and indie to a wide-eyed obsession with music from the East. Using a vast selection of instruments from the Middle East and Asia. The band marries this with western instrumentations of synthesisers, guitars and drums. To create a potent sound all of its own that they call ‘Exotic Psychedelia’. As well as touring the UK and Europe numerous times the band have played at many festivals. Including Glastonbury, End of the Road, Green Man, Fusion, Into the Great Wide Open, The Great Escape and SXSW. Bands like Flamingods are the type of exciting artists that Jeeni supports on our platform. By creating showcases, supporting creative talent and promoting them to an audience on jeeni.com Flamingods newest album ‘Levitation’ digs deep into themes and sounds of the early Middle East and South Asia 70s psychedelia, proto-metal and British pop. The Bahrani-bred and London-based band pull out a masterful collage. During the process of writing and recording ‘Levitation’, Flamingods found themselves living in the same continent for the first time in four years. It’s this unified process that lends a feel to the new music and has allowed them to make good on their early potential. ‘Levitation’ is the follow-up to their breakthrough 2016 album ‘Majesty’ and follows their ‘Kewali’ EP release for Moshi Moshi in 2017 and a one-off release with Dan Carey for his Speedy Wunderground singles club. Since the release of ‘Majesty’, Flamingods have been travelling the globe. Spreading their exotic psychedelia to the masses and getting people dancing from Austin to Amsterdam. You can catch Flamingods performing live Saturday, October 16th at the Wild Paths Festival in Norwich. JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. Firstly we give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. Secondly we empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.Thirdly we promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. Lastly and most importantly they keep 100% of everything they make. Check out Flamingods showcase here on Jeeni: Flamingods | Showcase | JEENI. Along with other showcases to add to your playlist.

12
Mar

Award-Winning Photographer Shoots Via 'Virtual World'

As the official photographer in the Jeeni team, Sharron Goodyear is an Award-Winning International Photographer and Film Maker, having won Fashion & Boudoir Photographer of the Year through the Master Photographer Association, with 14 years of industry experience. She has now taken her award-winning talents to shoots via the 'Virtual World' and Jeeni CEO, Shena Mitchell, put her to the test. Sharron Goodyear - Award-winning photographer Sharron specialises in working with entrepreneurs, musicians, performers and artists from around the world. Her photo-shoots are VIRTUAL, enabling her to work with a global client base, directing her subjects in their homes or on location, from her UK studio via the internet. Sharron took the below photographs of Shena, more than 50 miles from her subject! However, having an eye for positioning the camera, perfect attention to detail and the ability to put Shena or any subject at their ease. Eliminating any self-consciousness or embarrassment, meant the whole event was simple and painless. The results speak for themselves. Shena Mitchell - CEO & Founding Partner of Jeeni Shena described her virtual shoot experience, "As Founding Director of Jeeni, I wanted to make sure our subscribers are in great hands, so I booked a VIRTUAL shoot in the comfort of my own home. The intention was to increase my social media presence. I had so much fun and Sharron created over 30 shots to choose from. I picked my favourites and changed my profile picture on Facebook. Within a few hours I had gained 210+ likes, 134 comments and 4 shares. Instant success!" Getting ahead of your competition, is tough on so many levels and from a marketing perspective, there comes a point when 'selfies' just aren't up to the task. Whether you need portraits for profiles, album covers or merchandise, investing in proper photography is always money well spent. It also allows you to get creative and experiment with a different 'look' or a new 'style' to help with your branding. Whatever your skills and talents, Jeeni subscribers will be able to realise the benefits of Sharron's award-winning expertise via her website, plus she is offering a special rate of £95 to Jeeni subscribers for the month of March. So, book your slot, check your internet connection and double-check your teeth for spinach! www.jeeni.com www.sharrongoodyear.com