Jeeni Blog

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How to Stay Sane While Sheltering in Place

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How to Stay Sane While Sheltering in Place

by Kelli Richards, Jeeni MD USA

Many of us have been going a little stir crazy after several weeks of sheltering in place. But given it’s likely we’ll be in this situation for quite a while longer, it’s to our benefit to find ways to retain our sanity during these challenging times. Here are a few ideas to share that I’ve found have been working for me.

Stick with a schedule and routine — what worked for you when things were ‘normal’? Keep doing those things now. For me, it includes getting up early, exercising, meditating, good nutrition, getting outdoors every day, sticking with my work routines (work bursts, scheduling calls and Zoom video chats), stretching, staying hydrated, and getting plenty of sleep. I’m getting an extra hour daily now to boost my immune system — and of course the additional rest has all kinds of extra benefits for your mind and body as well.

Reading daily is also an anchor for me, so it’s paramount (at least for me) that I make time for that.

Make time to connect with friends, family, colleagues and loved ones. Make sure you balance your time between work and play/rest. Move your body daily, however that works for you. Take time to make nutritious meals for yourself and keep your house clean and tidy. Watch something funny, educational, or inspiring on TV if it moves you. Minimize your exposure to news — limit your intake to maybe 2x/day. Listen to great music throughout the day. Have fresh flowers around and get your nature intake daily.

Those are some of my tips — I’d love to know what some of yours are that are helping you in these times. Be sure to leave a comment!

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24
Feb

Jada Freeman, ‘Vibe With Me’ - Single Review

Last year’s 'Vibe With Me’ is a seductive, inviting and playful single from Jada Freeman. The track has hugely diversified her style and expanded expectations for her work ever since.  Brand new to Jeeni, Jada Freeman is an exhilarating producer, singer and songwriter from East London. Although she thrives in the world of RnB, Jada casts a wide net of styles and approaches to her music that will catch you off-guard in the best possible ways. Jada has contributed all of her singles so far to Jeeni, including her successful track, ‘Illusions’ which has nearly 10,000 listens and is only available on Jeeni and Soundcloud. Check out her Jeeni showcase to listen to all of her music: https://jeeni.com/showcase/adkcmyfeevyu/   The first thing ‘Vibe With Me’ plays you is a creeping, mischievous bass line that darts around the beat and contains a lot of personality for a bass part. Underneath the bass is a warbling synth which acts as a sort of bed of sound and comfort. The flickering low-pass filter on the synth gives the entire track a relaxing, under-water tone which entices the listener in, hence the apt title. The beat is so fitting for this tranquil, yet alluring track. Alternative, new-age percussion is used to provide the beat instead of just kicks, snares and hi-hats. This choice makes the track entirely more interesting and stylistically layered than many other artists in this corner of contemporary music.  The more obviously captivating component of this single is Jada’s vocal talent. Occasionally conversational like her named influence, Lilly Allen and other times soulful and staggering, Jada’s voice is a powerful tool in carrying her creative intentions and in ‘Vibe With Me’, that weapon is in full force. Jada also makes an experimental use of her voice as backing vocals that echo the welcoming title. Pitch-shifted both up and down at the same time and synthesised, Jada makes her voice into an entirely different type of instrument to emphasise the title and sentiment of the track throughout; a genius production device from the upcoming artist.  Check out this brilliant track on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/vibe-with-me-jada-freeman/  How can Jeeni support artists like Jada Freeman? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience.  Album Review album review album review • 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. 

10
Jun

Spotify Billionaire CEO Daniel Ek is out of touch with reality.

Spotify’s economic model has been widely condemned by musicians and songwriters for years, with critics claiming that the service pays out paltry royalties and gives major-label artists an unfair advantage via playlist placement and other promotional avenues. But according to CEO Daniel Ek, the problem is not Spotify, it’s those lazy musicians! The response among musicians and performers on social media has been extremely negative with many paying subscribers boycotting Spotify because of how badly it treats musicians. In 2020 more than any other year since Spotify launched, there’s been a surge of musicians talking publicly about their streaming royalties not being enough to live on – including a campaign in the UK (#BrokenRecord) that has trained its sights not just on streaming services, but on labels and the wider industry structures. Tom Gray who started #BrokneRecord campaign states: "This has been problematic for such a long time, and that’s why I call it ‘Broken Record’ because there’s nothing new about this. I’m just saying basically the same things that you’ve heard a million times. But the context has completely changed.” Many artists and fans believe there are no alternatives or options when it comes to music streaming. Being told by a billionaire to work harder and faster, isn’t likely to be the best artistic motivator, either. According to Ek, musicians need to get with the times and keep up a steady stream of content: “There is a narrative fallacy here, combined with the fact that, obviously, some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough. The artists today that are making it realize that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.” He concluded, “I feel, really, that the ones that aren’t doing well in streaming are predominantly people who want to release music the way it used to be released.” Jeeni is the newest offering in this, the fastest growing media sector. Created by Mel Coucher, a digital guru who wants the musicians and performers to take 100% of the money they earn - yes, you did read that correctly! Currently in the last 5 days of its 3rd crowd funding event, Jeeni smashed its £100k target in the first 6 days! Find out more at www.crowdcube.com/jeeni but you’ll need to be quick to invest, only 5 days left! If you’re an artist or performer, or just a follower of music who is wanting a better system, which offers everyone a service based on ethics, honesty and fairness then come and see how we do it, at www.jeeni.com Or, you can just stick with what you know and keep filling the pockets of billionaires? Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

05
Jun

How to Build Your Own Playlist

In our previous blog called, "Top Ten Tips on How to Promote your Music Independently" http://bit.ly/2W2nCJ5 we suggested you get yourself PLAYLISTED. Maybe we should have said, Build your own Playlist and then get yourself Playlisted. So what is the difference? Building your own PLAYLIST is an easy way to boost the promotion of your own music, so why not give it a go. The video is 3 minutes long so I have taken the highlight. (Approx. 60 second read time) Start by creating your own public playlist filled with great music, and include your own tracks too. With a small amount of work you you could get a few hundred followers, it'll still help your chance of landing on other, bigger playlists. With a lot of work and fun, you could build your playlist to have thousands or even millions of followers over time. Discover Weekly algorithm takes EVERY playlist into account, no matter how small. The algorithms behind Discover Weekly find users who have built playlists featuring the songs and artists you love. It then goes through songs that a number of your kindred spirits have added to playlists but you haven't heard, knowing there is a good chance you might like them too.Ideally, you want to be uploading & submitting your tracks to playlists weeks in advance of your release. For example Spotify alone get 20,000 new tracks every day. Make sure you get your tags rights so you can be featured automatically and help the editors find you. No guarantee, but you need to start somewhere. Share your music on your own social media platforms to get on a playlist, stay on a playlist and grow your fanbase. Drive traffic from off platform, that means share your links everywhere. Post them on your socials, website and other channels. You can only submit one track per release, so if you're releasing an album or an EP, have a good think about which track is most likely to get picked by a playlist. Pitch your music to independent curators, if you are not sure how to do this, keep a eye out for our next blog. Try not to disheartened if you do not get thousands of followers straightaway, keep choosing music you love and keep adding to your playlist, be true to yourself, only add your favorite tracks and have some fun. Check out our new community of facebook, called: Unsigned Artist Community and join today. http://bit.ly/2Q45ri8 https://vimeo.com/396927442