Artist Focus: Barbudo

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Artist Focus: Barbudo

If you were to picture yourself at a beach festival, with an Aperol Spritz in hand, the funky sound of Barbudo would be sure to get you moving.

The brothers Ben & Harry Stanworth plus their best friend Elliott Salter, hailing from Havant (South of England) have created their own unique blend of modern Funk, Soul and Disco, with some Psychedelic chord progressions throughout their discography.

The sweet vibes of Barbudo take inspiration from Michael Jackson, Chic, The Bee Gees and Prince, artists that Ben & Harry’s parents would often play to them at home during their days out on the disco scene. Parliament, Funkadelic and Anderson .Paak are three names they said they would love to support at a live show, and this is hardly surprising considering their style!

Their track ‘Realise the Reality’ I found notably brilliant, with the knock of a ‘Thundercat’ beat, but written in a major key. The song encapsulates their playful, joyful identity. You could say they make you want to talk about that ‘Secret Admirer’ (their 2018 single). Ben’s seemingly nonchalant tone is brilliantly confident and elegant, with great vocal licks and kicks that are very original and identifiable.

Their track ‘Magnolia Mansion’ is a great flagship to their genre stirring pot. A classic bassline and an excellent, clean drum beat sure to get a crowd moving. Their cool use of chords on a Wurlitzer type electric piano gives a lovely chilled vibe to the verses, before the clearly disco influenced guitar brings us to the front and center stage of the ‘Magnolia Mansion’.

Overall, I have been blown away by Barbudo, and await their next release. Their melodies have definitely struck a chord with me (pun intended).

How can Jeeni support artists like Barbudo?

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 Barbudo’s Jeeni page: https://jeeni.com/?s=barbudo

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19
Mar

Something for the Weekend

Need a little listening inspiration? With all the new music on offer, across the many genres available, it's difficult to know where to start. Allison Hussey and Madison Bloom of Pitchfork create a Friday Newsletter each week, to keep you up to date with the weeks new releases. If you're trying to decide on something for the weekend, here are their recommendations from this weeks releases. Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club [Polydor/Interscope] Lana Del Rey Lana Del Rey announced Chemtrails Over the Country Club almost a year ago. The Norman Fucking Rockwell! follow-up, which was pushed back from an autumn 2020 release, was led by “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” and the title track. The album also includes"Tulsa Jesus Freak" which the singer had teased with an Instagram post last summer. Benny the Butcher/Harry Fraud: The Plugs I Met 2 [Black Soprano Family/SRFSCHL] Benny the Butcher Griselda MC Benny the Butcher and producer Harry Fraud have joined forces for The Plugs I Met 2, a nine-track release featuring 2 Chainz, Fat Joe, Jim Jones, and more. The new project follows Benny’s 2020 album Burden of Proof, which was recorded at the same time as The Plugs I Met 2. Check out the music videos for 2’s “Thanksgiving” and “Plug Talk.” Sofia Kourtesis: Fresia Magdalena EP [Technicolour] Sofia Kourtesis Fresia Magdalena is the third EP from Berlin-based electronic producer Sofia Kourtesis, joining last year’s Sarita Colonia and her 2019 self-titled EP. The project features four songs, including “La Perla,” which Kourtesis built around field recordings she made in her home city of Lima, Peru. Mare Cognitum: Solar Paroxysm [I, Voidhanger/ Extraconscious] Mare Cognitum Portland musician Jacob Buczarski makes black metal under the name Mare Cognitum. Solar Paroxysm is Buczarski’s fifth album under the moniker, following last year’s Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine. Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough [Legacy] Loretta Lynn Still Woman Enough is the 50th album from 88 year-old country star Loretta Lynn, following 2018’s Wouldn’t It Be Great. Intended to celebrate the presence of women in country music, the project features new songs, as well as re-interpretations of classics from Lynn’s catalog. Margo Price, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, and Tanya Tucker all make guest appearances on the record. Show Me the Body: SurviveEP [Loma Vista] Show Me The Body New York City hardcore punk band Show Me the Body are back with a new EP. Survive follows their 2019 full-length Dog Whistle. The group produced the three songs with Gabriel Millman and Patrik Berger; the EP is also mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk. Surviveis the first project that Show Me the Body wrote and recorded completely in their CORPUS studio. “The songs deal with spiritual and physical isolation, as well as staying ready and preparing for the next time we come together,” they said. www.jeeni.com www.pitchfork.com

25
Mar

McCartney & Beck Share New Disco-Funk Track

Paul McCartney and Beck share their new disco-funk track, "Find My Way". The single is from McCartney's album "McCartney III Imagined" and transforms his original classic rock track, into a disco-funk tune. The track is full of the usual fun you expect from Beck, including his use of a Vocoder. Streamed video below. Beck (Photo - Philip Cosores) McCartney (Photo - MJ Kim) “You never used to be afraid of days like these / But now you’re overwhelmed by your anxieties,” he sings on the chorus. “Let me help you out, let me be your guide / I can help you reach the love you feel inside.” https://youtu.be/rdYNPhaQ96Y "Find My Way" is the opening track on the new collaboration album, which sees McCartney teaming up with artists, Phoebe Bridgers, Anderson .Paak, St. Vincent, Blood Orange and Damon Albarn. Each artist has covered or reimagined a track from the "McCartney III" album, which The Beatles bassist released in December 2020, to critical acclaim. Earlier the month "The Kiss of Venus" by Dominic Fike was the first taster to be released from the upcoming album, dropping April 16 2021. McCartney III Imagined Tracklist:01. Find My Way (feat. Beck)02. The Kiss of Venus (Dominic Fike)03. Pretty Boys (feat. Khruangbin)04. Women And Wives (St. Vincent Remix)05. Deep Down (Blood Orange Remix)06. Seize The Day (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)07. Slidin’ (EOB Remix)08. Long Tailed Winter Bird (Damon Albarn Remix)09. Lavatory Lil (Josh Homme)10. When Winter Comes (Anderson .Paak Remix)11. Deep Deep Feeling (3D RDN Remix)12. Long Tailed Winter Bird (Idris Elba Remix) * * = Physical release exclusive track McCartney III Imagined www.jeeni.com www.youtube.com

04
Jun

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: “the platform aggregates all the streaming data and revenues from a specific market and product over a specific time period, divides an artist’s share by that sum, and allocates revenues proportionately. Get 1% of all the streams, and you’ll get 1% of all the money. This has spurred much debate within the industry, as heavy streamers are effectively subsidised by light streamers, or as Quartz controversially put it: Your Spotify and Apple Music subscriptions pay artists you never listen to.” 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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