Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Can Twitch ‘Change the Economics’ for Artists?

Why channel subscriptions and “tipping” on the Amazon-owned platform could open up a significant new revenue stream for artists in the future.

The explosion of music live-streaming during lockdown means most of the music business is now au fait with Twitch, but just for the newcomers: Twitch is an online platform that allows “creators” to host live video channels on its service. Fans can subscribe to these channels for three distinct price points: $4.99 a month, $9.99 a month, or $24.99 per month. Viewers of a channel can also tip (“Cheer”) creators using the platform’s fake money (Bits) that, obviously, actually costs real money ($1.40 for 100 Bits).

Revenue paid for those subscriptions is split 50/50 (minus tax and processing fees) between Twitch and the creator, while the money fans Cheer is split approximately 70/30 in favor of the creator. A less-than-well-known fact: If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can opt-in to Twitch Prime, which then supplies you with a cost-free subscription to any Twitch channel of your choosing. Or to put it another way: If an artist you love has a channel on Twitch, opting in to Twitch Prime allows you to pay them $2.50 per month, out of your existing Amazon Prime membership.

Quarantine has brought more musicians flocking to Twitch than ever before, including the likes of Charlie Puth, Diplo and John Legend — who all appeared on Twitch’s Stream Aid in March to raise money for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Twitch avoids the problematic “begging bowl” undertone that can plague artists on other direct subscription services like Patreon by offering fans something in return — an exclusive, interactive live video experience — that Olson believes has an immediate premium value in the mind of the audience.

Twitch comments: “Ultimately the future of entertainment is live, interactive and community driven. It’s where anyone can play a role in creating a moment, and where the audience likes to participate and actually engage in the entertainment.” Twitch is particularly enthused about the idea of Gifted Subs, which enable someone to buy another fan of a Creator a subscription to their channel.

“If you want to demonstrate your fandom and support an artist, right now there’s only so much you can pay for that Spotify subscription, only so much you can pay for a meet-and-greet, only so much you can pay for merchandise. We take the top off; you could contribute as many gift subscriptions as you want for that artist, you can Cheer as many Bits as you want for that artist.”

Facebook Live and YouTube have presented their fair share of popular artist-to-camera performances of late, while Instagram has hosted arguably music’s most memorable recent live-stream series, the Verzuz battles (including RZA vs. DJ Premier, Swizz Beats vs. Timbaland, Babyface vs. Teddy Riley, and Erykah Badu vs. Jill Scott).

Facebook last month announced that it will soon introduce the ability for live-streamers to charge fans for access to “events,” but made no mention of matching Twitch’s direct subscription offering. Twitch argues that its monetization options, which also include ad revenue sharing tools, set it apart from rival platforms.

Even when physical venues are back to full strength, Twitch believes it will establish itself as a significant way for artists to generate money outside of their recorded music catalog, their publishing catalog and their ticketed live appearances.

“We know artists make the vast majority of their take home revenue from live events, and we believe Twitch can be additive to that. Where it gets interesting is when you start to think about things you can do in a digital world that you couldn’t do in the [live] space. You couldn’t allow millions of fans into an intimate setting during a creative session, or [hold] an Ask Me Anything kind of Q&A roundtable. That feeling of VIP access is something we’re seeing a lot of artists leverage.”

DJ/producer Illenium and rapper T-Pain, have both recently invited their Twitch fanbase to contribute to writing sessions, via the service’s in-built chat mechanic.

It is certainly early days for Twitch as a significant player in music. According to one recent report, Twitch welcomed 17 million hours of watch-time on “Music & Performing Arts” channels in April, up 385% year-on-year; but that 17 million figure made up just 1% of total viewing hours on Twitch in the month, dwarfed by the hundreds of hours of watch-time on video games-related channels.

Another big challenge: Prominent songwriter and music publisher advocates have voiced concern over elements of Twitch’s licensing. David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers Association, the D.C-based body that is currently threatening to sue TikTok for an alleged lack of licensing, says: “While some portions of Twitch’s platform are licensed properly, there are other large segments that contain massive infringement of musical works and it is disappointing Twitch does not do more to license its content properly. All social media sites and digital streaming services need to realize that music has value.”

Twitch’s in-built karaoke service for its Creators, Twitch Sings, has been licensed by over 180 music publishers worldwide. “We have been working very directly with rights-holders as music evolves on Twitch.”

However many artists Twitch attracts to its platform in future — and however many music licensing deals it signs — the company is clearly making an effort to establish its name in music circles during the current COVID-hit period. Twitch recently built a music directory that Olson says was “a real investment for us as a company”, and also launched a dedicated on-boarding area for artists.

Tim Ingham is the founder and publisher of Music Business Worldwide, which has serviced the global industry with news, analysis, and jobs since 2015. He writes a weekly column for Rolling Stone.

Here at Jeeni HQ, we think that Tim is a brilliant writer and clearly knows his stuff so we will be curating his work for all our members.

#jeeni #unsigned #musicians #performers #timingham #musicbusinessworldwide #twitch

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03
Sep

The Creator of Jeeni.

Jeeni has returned to Crowdcube to raise more funds for helping new talent. Jeeni founding director Mel Croucher says, “I admit we're ahead of our original schedule, but there's still so much more to do. We need to scale our online platform globally now and build our mass artist showcases. Then we can hit all our targets, and give our new artists the recognition they deserve.” It is day 5 today and we have raised 98% of our target £100K. If you want to see our pitch click HERE. Mel has been writing the best-loved column in top-selling tech magazines for over 30 years. Now he's agreed to share his work with all our members. He's a video games pioneer and musician, and to to find out more about Mel check out his Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Croucher. Here's one of Mel's latest! There was once a little Quaker boy called Charlton, who got sent off to a nice school in Oxfordshire. Charlton liked videogames very much indeed, and when he turned thirteen he became a fan of one particular game which was called Deus Ex Machina. It was hopelessly life-affirming and it allowed him to influence the plotline and outcome, just like a load of similar games. But it was also the first truly interactive movie, running in real time, with voice actors and a full music soundtrack. It came with a large monochrome poster of the face of a beautiful, innocent, yet alluring lady robot, which the boy hung on his wall. And that thought pleases me, because I was the creator of the game, and my intention was to blow the minds of children just like Charlton. Ten years later, he was no longer a Quaker schoolboy but a stroppy atheist, and he was making a living writing very naughty cartoon strips and highly scurrilous columns for a computer magazine called PC Zone. I hope his career choice was influenced by the naughty cartoon strips and scurrilous columns I was writing for the rival magazines he devoured, but I suspect he already considered me to be an old fart. Back then I believed it was my mission to take the piss out of anyone and everyone in the computer industry, and so did young Charlton. He was calling himself Charlie by then. Charlie Brooker. Today, Charlie Brooker is probably best known as the creator of the Netflix phenomenon Black Mirror. In a brilliant episode, he didn’t just nick my idea of an interactive movie where players influence the plotline and outcome, he went and did it for real. He set his episode in 1984, which was the year of my game’s release, and he hung my old poster on the wall for a touch of authenticity. And yes, he did ask permission. And yes, I was more than happy to give it to him. And no, he didn’t pay me. Brooker’s use of the branching narrative was absolutely seamless, and when the viewer-player-actor makes a choice via a mouse or remote control there is absolutely no buffering involved. And just like in my old game, if the viewer-player-actor refuses to make a choice, then the movie-game-stage makes it for them. In the future, I am sure this technique will become an active tool of the porn and ultra-violence industries, but consumers of mainstream entertainment have become more and more bone idle over the years. In fact vast numbers can’t even be bothered to select the crap entertainment they watch or play, but allow algorithms to select for them. So no, this is not the future of movies, it’s the past. Charlie Brooker didn’t predict this, and neither did I. It was predicted by Ray Bradbury in his 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451, where books have been banned because they encourage people to think, and the 1966 film of that story was one of my greatest influences. In the movie, the writer/director François Truffaut introduces us to a world in which the masses consume pap via personal screens, and believe they have choice in determining the outcome of all sorts of vacuous plotlines. They don’t, of course, and the purpose of such so-called entertainments is to pretend the people have a say in the way things are run, what choices they have, and what garbage they believe in. And here we are, more than half a century later, living in just such a society. And we don’t even need movies to condition the masses, we can use videogames. People who live-stream their gameplay are called streamers. People who watch them playing are called lost souls. Today more people watch streamers play sports simulations than watch live sport. This passive practice is ridiculously popular on streaming sites like Twitch, YouTube and a whole host of others. Even back in 2014, Twitch streams for computer games attracted more traffic than America’s leading cable and satellite network HBO, with professional streamers mashing up high-level play and banal commentary. Now they can extort big money from sponsors, subscriptions, and donations. Last year, passive viewers watched active players for more than 450 billion minutes of streamed content on Twitch alone, as the streamers jiggled and babbled while playing with themselves at FIFA 19, Monster Hunter World and all the rest. One such streamer is a charming young man called Richard Tyler Blevins, who sports attractive neon-tinted hair and goes by the name of Ninja. He has minted around ten million dollars from subscribers who pay to watch him play a game called Fortnight. Let me just make that clear – they are not paying to play Fortnite themselves, they are paying to watch Mr Ninja play. Fortnite involves a hundred players at a time who fight and butcher one other to the death until only one is left alive, all in high-definition video. There are currently 200 million players of the game. The youngest players are aged eight, which should worry their parents, but probably doesn’t because mom and pop are too busy passively watching some other streamer. The average age of a Fortnite player is 13, which is the same age as the schoolboy Charlie Brooker was when my hopelessly life-affirming game helped turn him into a potty-mouthed cynic. At least I know I succeeded in something. Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

18
Jul

LOCKDOWN OPERA GOES GLOBAL

Ten years ago Pete Wyer won the Best Composer Award for his work with the English National Ballet and London Symphony Orchestra. When his celebration concert was performed in Liverpool, it drew crowds of 60,000. But today, because of Covid restrictions, he can't find a venue anywhere in the world to stage his latest work. SPRING STREET is a new opera, composed, rehearsed and performed during lockdown. The multinational stars and musicians have never even met, except on Zoom. But now they are turning the whole situation to their advantage, and Wyer has decided to release everything for free globally, using social media. He says, "It's been a very happy experience, and we're reaching out to a world-wide audience far bigger than any performance any of us have ever achieved before." Pete Wyer has teamed up with the Jeeni network, who specialise in putting performers in direct contact with their fans. "If a performer sells one T-shirt to a fan on Jeeni, they can make more in a minute than most performers make in a month from streaming services like Spotify and the rest. Jeeni is run by the artists themselves, and that's what appeals to me." SPRING STREET stars Japanese Netflix heartthrob Heday Inoue as The Caretaker, and triple-GRAMMY-Award-Winner Maren Montalbano as The Watcher. SPRING STREET will be premièred throughout the day on Saturday 24th July 2021 on jeeni.com/springstreet and simultaneously released across all social media by a network of thirty-four thousand fans of opera, jazz, poetry and rock music. contact: Shena Mitchell FOUNDING DIRECTOR, JEENI t: +44 7703 567 196e: shena@jeeni.com

25
Feb

Weekly Round-Up #10

The latest developments and additions to Jeeni! New Artists join Jeeni! New and interesting artists fuels Jeeni's mission, and with the latest additions or talent musicians, that mission is stronger than ever; Luca Chessa: “Luca Chessa Is a passionate and committed music professional, with the talent and drive to succeed. Growing up amongst the vibrant and diverse music scene in Italy, and studying music in London was an environment full of inspiration and stimulation for Luca to feed off. Luca has been gigging alongside different artists as a band member, as well as a session player, playing Rock, Funk, Pop, Blues and R&B.” Check out his Jeeni Showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/ghopvxaildzq/?view=about Jada Freeman: “Jada Freeman is a singer-songwriter/producer from East London. She combines her distinctive British tone with captivating RnB lyrics and melodies, creating catchy hooks for her audience to sing along to. Her lyrics delve into topics such as love, the importance of self-worth and the overall tribulations of day-to-day life. A few of her influences are Jhene Aiko, Erykah Badu, and Lilly Allen.” Here’s the link for Jada’s Showcase: https://jeeni.com/showcase/adkcmyfeevyu/ Big Frank: “Big Frank is a Hip Hop producer from Cornwall, based in London. Since moving to the city in 2017 he has worked as a producer and engineer, and established his sound. His style is a blend of classic Hip Hop sounds, and experimental textures. Expect more releases with the UK underground's best rappers and singers in 2022.” Big Frank’s Jeeni showcase: https://jeeni.com/showcase/bigfrank/?view=about WesLi D: “Hailing from North West London, artist and producer WesLi D brings a refreshing take to UK underground and alternative rap using a blend of styles; from melodic and bouncy to somber and thoughtful, his expression is not limited sonically by any means.” Here is WesLi D’s showcase on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/ctq6hi7bzb6e/?view=about Pat Spencer: “Raised in Bexleyheath, South East London, 23-year-old Pat Spencer has been exponentially growing his music career and experience since his promising musical journey began during the summer of 2021.” Check out Pat’s showcase on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/patspencer/?view=about New Content Contributed to Jeeni’s Database of Talent! This host of new Jeeni artists brought with them some of their incredible new music as well as other Jeeni artists which has broadened Jeeni’s database of art massively: WesLi D - ‘Walk Of Life’ Single: “‘Walk of Life’ is an enjoyable and upbeat track by WesLi D that presents themes of time and personal growth. The artist reflects on taking time to search and find himself throughout his journey in life as well as not letting his dreams pass him by. This track is relatable for the listener as it describes the growth and changes of a person travelling through life to figure themselves out.” Check out this chill single here: https://jeeni.com/walk-of-life-wesli-d/ Pat Spencer & Joe Sach - ‘Alive & Surviving’ EP: Pat Spencer’s collaboration with Jeeni artist, Joe Sach “results in a sweet and layered three-track project.” Pat Spencer’s sweet lyrics and vocal talent provide the heart to this project, while producer, Joe Sach forms the body, with day-dreamy and mellow instrumentals. Check out the review of ‘Alive & Surviving’ here: https://jeeni.com/blog/pat-spencer-joesach-alive-surviving-ep-review/ Check out Pat Spencer’s showcase on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/patspencer/?view=videos Big Frank & MazeyJune - ‘Sun Outside’ Single: “This chilled out hip-hop callback from Big Frank beckons the summer with the help of MazeyJune’s soulful voice. ‘Sun Outside’ sees Frank with his staple effortlessly serene and well-rounded beats accompanying MazeyJune’s free-flowing, enchanting melodies.” Check out Jeeni’s review of ‘Sun Outside’ here: https://jeeni.com/blog/big-frank-mazeyjune-sun-outside-single-review-blog-jeeni/ Check out the single here: https://jeeni.com/sun-outside-mazeyjune-and-big-frank/ Jada Freeman - ‘Vibe With Me’, ‘Illusions’, ‘Willingly’, ‘You’re Not the One’, ‘Devil in the White Cloak’ and ‘Trippin’’ Singles collection: Jada Freeman has contributed all six of her incredible singles, including 2021’s ‘Vibe With Me’, “a seductive, inviting and playful single from Jada Freeman. The track has hugely diversified her style and expanded expectations for her work ever since.” After featuring on Jeeni artist, Ace Bermuda’s debut single, Jada joined Jeeni shortly after the review of the track was published on Jeeni’s blog page. And check out the full review of ‘Vibe With Me’: https://jeeni.com/blog/jada-freeman-vibe-with-me-single-review/ Check out her showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/adkcmyfeevyu/ Ariana May - ‘First Love’ Album: Classically trained singer and composer, Ariana May has recently released the entirety of her debut album, ‘First Love’ on Jeeni. “The album of piano compositions: ‘First Love’, charts an emotional voyage through the depths of the heart. The album possesses a combination of nostalgic, poignant and optimistic pieces that each reflect different stages of a relationship and, on a deeper level, of our mercurial emotions as we experience the elasticity and unpredictability of life.” Check out Ariana’s incredible showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/arianamay/ Giack Bazz – ‘Giack Bazz Is Not Famous’ Exclusive Single: Giack Bazz is an alternative Rock singer-songwriter based in London. Giack takes the listener on a tour inside his mind, criticising society and discussing mental health, from love to loss.” ‘Giack Bazz Is Not Famous’ is the title track of Giack’s 2018 album. Deliberately present only on the vinyl edition and now, Jeeni, this single is an exciting and fresh take on indie rock. Check out the exclusive single here: https://jeeni.com/giack-bazz-is-not-famous-giack-bazz/ New Artist Focus blogs: In addition to 4 new review blogs, two new biographical, ‘Artist Focus’ blogs have been added to Jeeni’s blog page, https://jeeni.com/blog/ . Alana Sukul: https://jeeni.com/blog/alana-sukul-artist-focus-blog-jeeni/ “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. Stirring together funk, dancehall and electronic ingredients, Alana Sukul is rapidly building momentum with her unique take on modern pop.” Cassius Gray: https://jeeni.com/blog/artist-focus-cassius-gray-blog-jeeni/ “Cassius Gray has expanded and diversified Jeeni’s hip-hop, rap and RnB channels with six incredible tracks, each one different to the last and totally refreshing. With casual, effortless rhymes and relatable vibes, Cassius Gray is making huge waves in the UK jazz rap scene.” Reach out to the Jeeni marketing team at doug@jeeni.com or ella@jeeni.com. Make sure you’re following us on social media to keep up to date with new releases from our artists, our blogs and any job openings. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeenimusic/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeenimusic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeenimusic Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/33222018/admin/