An Emerging Poetry Renaissance

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An Emerging Poetry Renaissance

The last couple of years has seen a rise in artists publishing poetry collections. In 2018, two years after his death, 'The Flame' was published. A collection of the unpublished work of Leonard Cohen, became the 13th book of poetry for the Canadian poet and musician. Was this the point an emerging poetry renaissance took hold, or has it always been there and we were just waiting for the mainstream to catch up? At Jeeni, we welcome it.

Leonard Cohen poses for a portrait in April 1972 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)

Over the years we've grown up with the talents of Patti Smith, who celebrated 50 years of performance poetry this year. Smith marked the occasion with a spectacular take over of Piccadilly Circus, London for New Year's Eve 2020. We sympathised with the turmoil in PJ Harvey's tortured lyrics and Tom Waits' social commentry, but there are more varied artists now dipping their inked quills into the genre.

Black literature and music are blessed with plenty of talented wordsmiths, including Linton Kwesi-Johnson, Gil Scott Heron, Maya Angelou, Tupac, and Robert Hayden. Plus, the next generation of artists who include, Vanessa Kinsuule, Malika Booker, Raymond Antrobus and the moving performance at President Biden's inauguration of the American National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. Her performance, many claimed was the highlight of the ceremony.

Amanda Gorman - American National Youth Poet Laureate

There has always been verse and when music was added, the verses became songs. The emerging poetry renaissance seems to be more about an artists collective work being published as a complete and independent body of work. Individually dropping poems onto an EP or a social media post is a starting point for many and Jeeni is pleased the Poetry section of their platform is being used by many to showcase their work. Uploaded personal performances allow them to earn and reach out to an engaged audience and fanbase.

The words 'cathartic', 'soul-searching', 'lost love', 'healing', 'political', 'social voice', 'mental turmoil' have been used many times to decipher the minds and thoughts of poets. Throw in a global pandemic, coupled with international lockdowns and the perfect storm is created, enticing many to put pen to paper. Facebook and social media pages have members flocking to groups such as Poetry UK, Just Poetry and Arts Group and Spoken Word Artists. Meanwhile, sites such as the Poetry Foundation offer a platform of varied works, themes and history.

The best works of 2020 included, Lana Del Ray with 'Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass', which she also released as spoken word. Halsey released 'I would Leave if I Could', a body of work dealing with love, longing and the nuances of bipolar disorder.

Courtenay Marie Andrews - Photo *Jordi Vidal/Redferns*

For 2021, we are looking forward to the release from, Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan - 'Leaving California', a collection of 76 poems following on from his well received grunge memoir of last year and Courtney Marie Andrew's collection entitled 'Old Monarch', to be released in May. The Alt-Country singer has created a collection in three parts and draws on the themes of childhood, family, leaving home, falling in love and becoming an adult.

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31
Jul

NEW OPERA ACHIEVES ROCK STAR STATUS

It's the sort of statistic that music promoters dream of. An audience of ten thousand in less than one hour, and for a first-time performance. But this massive audience didn't turn up to watch a new boy band or the latest rap sensation, they came to the opera! A brand new opera called Spring Street is set in Manhattan, and it mixes classical arias, string quartets, jazz, blues and even acid rock. The opera was streamed on Jeeni, the self-styled "ethical alternative" to the big streaming giants, and opera composer Pete Wyer is ecstatic about Jeeni’s methodology and success. “I’m really thrilled. My expectation was we’d get to the magic 10,000 mark in a month, but this is quite incredible - especially when I compare it to operas I’ve had performed on stage! Without Jeeni’s help my piece might be languishing with a few hundred hits.” Wyer is being modest. An award-winning composer for the English National Ballet and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, his biggest audience before the Jeeni event was when 60,000 people enjoyed his celebration Liverpool waterfront concert, and the performance and publicity costs for that were considerable. By contrast, the Jeeni audience for his new event has already topped 66,000 and the costs have been zero. Everything has been achieved by the publicity and marketing systems built in to the Jeeni platform, which makes it unique when compared with the likes of Spotify or Netflix. Pete Wyer continues, "I looked at the Jeeni platform doing really good work for independent artists, and the more I learned the more I liked. It's been a very happy experience." The opera stars the soprano and triple-GRAMMY award-winner Maren Montalbano, who says, "Power is shifting from large organisations to the individual, and platforms like Jeeni are on the rise because they give artists the opportunity to lift themselves up and lift each other up." Her co-star, the bass-baritone and Netflix superhero Heday Inoue adds, "Jeeni is allowing us to have more exposure. I think it's amazing, and I'm really, really happy to be part of it." What is even more amazing is the fact that the cast and musicians have never actually met except on the Jeeni platform. Everything was composed, rehearsed and performed remotely in lockdown. Jeeni founder Shena Mitchell says, “When we first launched Jeeni a few months ago, it took days to hit audience figures of ten thousand for an online concert or festival, and I was delighted with that. But here we are, achieving the same thing in under an hour, and for an unknown opera. Imagine what we can do next. We already have more than two thousand artist showcases and an audience outreach of over two million." Now Jeeni.com needs to scale up to meet the technical demands for handling more artists and bigger audiences, so they have turned to crowdfunding. Shena Mitchell says, "Everybody knows that the big streaming companies rip artists off. We don't do that. Our artists keep 100% of everything they earn with us. Now we are allowing the public to invest as little as £10 to buy a part of us, and own a stake in what could be the ethical future of entertainment.” More information: shena@jeeni.comjeeni.com/investjeeni.com/springstreet *Capital at Risk

10
Jun

Top 5 Acoustic Guitar Brands

Here at Jeeni.com we celebrate and support all musicians and performers to showcase their work and earn 100% of their sales, ticketing, merchandise and donations. Last week Jeeni returned to Crowdcube to raise more funds for helping new talent. We have been very encouraged with the positive response as we reached our target in just 6 days and are now overfunding. If you want to see our pitch click HERE. Here is a really interesting blog by Bree Noble. Who produces the best acoustic guitars in the world? What brand is great for beginners? What price range fits me well? The answer to these questions can be subjective. Everybody has their parameters to judge the quality of the instruments. To be purely objective, we will be looking at overall instrument quality, brand reputation, and popularity. With these parameters, it’s possible for us to at least come up with a list of the best acoustic guitar brands. We’ve included a range of brands–some are known for making some of the world’s best-sounding guitars, and others are known for making economically priced guitars that swing well above their weight class in terms of build quality, tone and playability, Here are our top picks: #5. Yamaha–The Best Value Guitars You probably weren’t expecting to see Yamaha as our 5th pick on a list of top acoustic guitar brands. However, Yamaha is a brand that’s been praised for consistent quality and economical price range, allowing them to provide the best value for money. Most leading manufacturers have an economical line of guitars that caters to all budgets. Still, you often end up paying more for the brand itself rather than paying for the quality of the instrument. And like us, if you ever played a poorly-made acoustic while learning, you know just how frustrating the endeavour can get. However, while Yamaha guitars are recognised for value, many influential and legendary musicians have performed with Yamaha instruments, especially in the 70s such as John Lennon, John Denver, Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana. Today, it can be quite rare to see experts playing Yamaha acoustics, but the brand remains an excellent choice for those looking out for quality construction at an affordable price. You also can find some of the high-end Yamaha acoustics at most major music stores. #4. Gibson–For Players Who Want A Piece Of History Most novices and regular people have likely heard of Gibson–it’s a brand name seen on stages and in studios around the world. Gibson has been making quality guitars for over 100 years. Professional & expert musicians widely use both their acoustic-guitars and their electric guitars. Most Gibson acoustic-guitars are made of all solid wood, and even though Gibson is a large corporation, their acoustics are all still made by hand at their factory in Montana rather than a cheap, mass-produced guitar. The difference between a high-end, handmade one and factory mass-produced one can be significant. #3. Guild–For Those Looking For A Player’s Guitar Guild has been making and producing quality guitars since the 1950s. The guild as a brand, unfortunately, doesn’t have the mainstream popularity of Gibson or Fender yet, it’s still the preferred instrument of many professionals such as legendary musician Doyle Dykes who plays a Guild guitar and has his signature model, a stunning grand orchestra guitar launched in 2012. Guild guitars are frequently described as having a unique ‘sound’. To us, they have a brilliant sort of clarity about them, with punchy and natural-sounding bass. Guild is a company that has been bought out several times, and its tumultuous history may explain why it isn’t as well known or as mainstream as Martin or Taylor. The company was also famous for producing electric archtop guitars during the 1950s and 1960s. As archtops fell out of favour, the guild began moving back to creating acoustics. The company’s focus on excellent build quality and top-class materials means that their guitars are a pure joy to play. #2. Martin–Classic Tone, Classic Style Martin is the manufacturer responsible for introducing the dreadnought body shape, X bracing, and other key innovations to the world of acoustic guitars. Their amazingly responsive dreadnoughts are often used as bluegrass instruments, and they sound great when being played fingerstyle, too. However, their rich tone lends itself well to just about any musical style. The best-known Martin guitar is probably the D-28. This all solid spruce and rosewood dreadnought has both deep bass response and the sparkling nuances of rosewood. From the body shape to the tonewood configuration, it’s what a lot of people would consider the classical acoustic guitar. Martin is a brand steeped in history, but their guitars aren’t without modern touches–acoustic-electric models have sophisticated electronics (usually by Fishman), and the brand has a connection to pop superstar Ed Sheeran. Because Sheeran often played Little Martins onstage, he collaborated with Martin to produce his signature, Little Martins. #1. Taylor–Nuanced, Modern Sound Taylor produces almost every conceivable type of acoustic guitar you could ask for. From ornately-inlaid limited editions to affordable, durable instruments, you can find something that’s perfect for most budgets and playing styles. They’re also refreshing to listen to. To our ears, Taylor guitars have a light, almost airy sound that suits modern singer-songwriters exceptionally well. One thing that really sets a Taylor guitar apart is the Expression System pickups on acoustic-electric models. The pickup system sits behind the saddle (rather than under it). The pickup isn’t compressed like a standard under-saddle pickup; the sound ends up being more natural. Taylor has also pioneered a new bracing style, which experts believe is a step up from traditional X bracing. Taylor’s V-class bracing is designed to let the soundboard vibrate more freely, resulting in improved sound and sustain. This video offers a demo of some of V-class Taylor guitars. Whether you’re in search of a fast-playing bluegrass guitar or something to play relaxing slow songs on, one of these brands offers it. Let us know who your top picks/brands are? Add your thoughts in the comments section, and please share this article if you liked it! Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

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

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