Investors flock to back anti-rip-off crowdfunder

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Investors flock to back anti-rip-off crowdfunder

Yesterday's Government report took months to come to a conclusion that every musician has known for years. Performers are getting ripped off by the streamed music giants. "While streaming has brought significant profits to the recorded music industry, the talent behind it sees pitiful returns," said Julian Knight, MP. Now, Her Majesty's Government intends new legislation to give musicians and songwriters the right to "equitable remuneration", but like so many empty promises and good intentions that may be an ambition which proves impossible to deliver.

But there is an ethical alternative to the problem. It's an online app called Jeeni. On Jeeni, artists and creatives keep 100% of everything they earn, and thousands of performers are already on board, with an audience outreach that has grown to over two million. The growth of Jeeni has been so fast that they marked yesterday's Government promises by turning to crowdfunding to expand their capacity to meet demand, raising over £46,000 in a few hours.

Check out their campaign HERE and join the list of supporters and celebrities who are flocking to the cause.

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06
Jan

DarkStarGraver - 'Over The Bridge & Far Away' Album Review

If you had any familiarity with this Portsmouth rapper's refreshing and inventive brand of UK hip-hop, then it should be of no surprise that his newest album is as buoyant, animated and thought-out as it is. This is the first album DSG has released since becoming an integral part of the Jeeni mission. DarkStar has been an avid Jeenius since Summer last year and has been blessing the Jeeni database with vibrant and innovative artistry ever since. All seven tracks of this incredible project are on Jeeni right now. Jeeni is always looking to represent and uplift artists with visions as clear and focused as DarkStar. DarkStarGraver's biggest crime here is leaving us wanting for more content because although he's cohesively expressed a giant variety of emotions, styles and influences, he took just 18 minutes to do it! He justified the choice of a shorter album on Instagram, "New album is 7 tracks in total, could’ve been more but I like that number", DSG cleverly released this record knowing he has so much more in his artistic tank for the next project. A clear highlight on this record is the early, consecutive killer features on ‘Running Man’ and ‘No Brainer’ from Kid Crayy and Baby Panna respectively. DSG takes the reigns on these tracks at first and allows his fellow Portsmouth MCs to embellish the final push and create a rememberable climax for these standout tracks. Kid Crayy's attacking flow is restless and constantly bops and weaves around the beat. Baby Panna, however takes his time and makes each syllable hit harder than the last. Panna also performs the ear-worm 'Ride with me' hooks just before and after his verse which just completes the track. DarkStar made it clear that “This project is dedicated to the Portsmouth Hip Hop scene” and made a specific mention to the Portsmouth artists that predate him and thanked them for “Sparking the fire that made me want to rep my hometown as an artist”. A meaningful dedication to a blossoming music scene is a suitable sentiment for such an excellently put together and varied album. DSG uses his robust and adaptable voice so well on this project that at times, it sounds like extra, unlisted features. For example, a rather high-pitch singing voice for the hooks on ‘On My Way’ is then met with a deep and resonant rapped verse to finish off the short opening track. ‘Gohan’ (review) which was a single teaser for this album, features more of DarkStar’s contagious melodic rapping which is enhanced and made all the more effective with the excellent production of Zack Nailor at WRS Studios. The hi-hats and 808 bass in the beat for ‘Juice & Gems’ works so well with the jangly acoustic guitar sample, as though they were always meant to be heard together. In fact, the entire album makes such an effective use of samples throughout; ‘Slow Jamz’ has a romantic and theatrical strings sample which turns the rapid, trap-esque beat into a dramatic, epic cut that is just too short. DarkStar also hints at a feral, almost growling voice on this track which provides yet more evidence that DSG will never settle or stop experimenting with what his voice can achieve. The album ends with class and impact. ‘Over Time’ features a melodramatic female vocal sample which wails over a seductive lounge piano, sparkling under the rumbling beat. The bonus, shorter track, ‘Justice League’ is a moody album finisher containing reams of witty wordplay which flows like water. Once again, a feat like this album is a credit to producer, Zack Nailor as well as DarkStar himself of course for containing the talent, passion and vision to pull something like this off so seamlessly. How can Jeeni support artists like DarkStarGraver? 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 DarkStarGraver’s Jeeni showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/darkstargraver/

11
Mar

A Legend, A Bus, A Fan and A New Chapter

A Legend, A Bus, A Fan and A New Chapter. In 2018, our chosen charity ‘Arms Around the Child’ reached out for Jeeni’s help. In their efforts to help their cause, the charity had acquired a vehicle with history, was completely unique and of significance to its previous owner and his fans. However, at this stage it needed serious help. That help sadly, became a burden to the charity and its finances, so the vehicle had to be sold. Here the story unfolds............... A Legend Back in 1970, Sir Paul McCartney had a life-changing moment. We’ve all had them. Life takes a turn and you find yourself going in a slightly, or very different direction. For legend Sir Paul, it was one door closing and another opening. A year later, he formed a band called Wings, with Denny Seiwell and Denny Laine, plus his wife, Linda. After an initial album release and some university gigging, McCartney was enjoying his simpler life away from the fast lane. He decided to take the band on the road for the summer, touring Europe. Sir Paul McCartney - A Legend Wings on their Tour Bus A Bus In 1972 the ‘Wings Over Europe’ tour took place – 25 dates over two months and 7,500 miles. All fairly standard stuff for any band, apart from the mode of transport. McCartney decided the band would be travelling in style, in the form of a vintage 1953 Bristol Double Decker ‘Open Topped’ bus, registration WNO 481. Carnaby Street boutique owner, Tom Slater was charged with fitting out the bus, giving it a bright paint job and livery announcing the tour and band had arrived. The band ate, slept and practiced on the bus, lying in the sun on the top deck writing their next album ‘Red Rose Speedway’ and even the track ‘Live and Let Die’ for the first James Bond movie for Roger Moore. WNO 481 - Wings Tour Bus A Fan(s) After the successful tour, a handful of other worldly adventures and a 2017 tweet from Sir Paul asking if anyone knew where the bus might be, WNO 481 (as it’s affectionately known) ended up being rescued and returned to the UK by ‘Arms Around the Child’ trustee Justin James. It was his difficult decision in 2018, to have to sell the bus and relieve the charity of the financial burden it had become. However, for Super-Fan Tom Jennings and his wife Rose, it was a dream come true and a life ambition fulfilled. Tom has since set about completing the restoration of the bus, bringing in fans from all over the world and setting up a fabulous site www.1972wingstourbus.com giving regular updates on progress of WNO 481, as well as the bus’s colourful history. It’s a fabulous read! A New Chapter On the back of this new connection, Jeeni are very pleased to have created a working partnership with Tom and Rose, and their merry band of ‘Busketeers’. We hope to work with them, their amazing bus, Sir Paul and our hefty music connections to create new and positive adventures for WNO 481. Jeeni have been granted access to the bus for a certain number of weeks per year and our intention is to use these weeks to create events and gigs for our Jeeni artists to perform. For Jeeni SuperFans there will be the chance to secure early tickets and memorabilia for the events and the bands performing. As with the emergence of Wings, the band and their music, we would like the bus to play a part in the launch of new music talent, giving performers the chance to thank supportive fans, share the experience and excitement of live performing, as well as creating new fanbases. Jeeni as a platform, has a large, growing audience of music lovers, as well as performers. The instant opportunities offered with their engaged social media, allows for followers to be ‘teased’ with where upcoming venues may be, before official announcements and tickets are released, creating a buzz and anticipating excitement. This cool, utterly unique piece of British rock and roll and engineering history has much to look forward to, as do the generations of music fans past and present, who will have the opportunity to be entertained by the Jeeni and ‘Wings Over Europe’ bus and events. www.jeeni.com www.1972wingstourbus.com www.armsaroundthechild.org

12
Oct

Jeeni Monthy Round-Up, September

Welcome to our new monthly blog update where we will discuss the latest news on topics such as streaming, music, performing, tech and all the other industries Jeeni aims to support. Firstly, seeing as this is the beginning of the monthly round-ups we have broadened our news to cover the last few months. We wanted to begin by highlighting the long-awaited reopening of live music venues and the return of festivals to the UK! A Mast Journal on COVID-19 stated, “the COVID-19 outbreak has been framed primarily as an economic crisis, in which the music-based products and practices through which revenue is derived have been abruptly and, arguably, irreparably disrupted by a global public health emergency.” Many musicians struggled financially during this time, with many pleading to the public to help the industry. Thankfully by June 2021, the venues were able to reopen and festivals such as Reading, TRNSMT and Victorious were able to run once again. Members of Team Jeeni did an amazing job at Victorious, interviewing artists and showing our support to the industry and independent musicians. A BBC article stated “Artists cannot truly operate without their fandoms. Fans can still congregate online while we wait for their return.” While everything was shut down artists had to change the way they communicated with their fans and find ways to gather in virtual spaces. Jeeni believes that even now when venues are open, artists and creatives will use online spaces more and more. Jeeni is a great platform for them to do this as it is more ethical than most of the larger corporations and Jeeni artists keep 100% of everything they earn. The next topic we wanted to highlight was brought to our attention from an NME article: “Fewer than 800 UK musicians make a living solely from online streaming,” and also “A particular finding points to artists making a “sustainable living” from streaming alone, revealing that approximately 720 British artists are able to. Those 720 musicians fall into the 0.4 per cent category of those who are achieving more than one million UK streams.” It is clear it is already challenging for independent artists to make decent earnings from streaming but "Spotify’s New Marquee Promotion Feature Is Forcing Artists to Pay to Reach Fans They Already Have — As Much as $0.50 Per Click” says Digital Music News. The big players in streaming are continuing to rip off artists and their fans alike. The article goes on to state that “it would take artists anywhere from 100 to 167 streams (on Spotify) to break even on just one sponsored click. That means each person who clicks on a sponsored Marquee campaign would have to listen to a new album roughly 12 times for the artist to break even on that fan’s interest." Thirdly, Twitch and the music industry clashed back in 2020 over licensing streamed music. Now a deal has been struck, but streamers are unhappy. Many streamers on the platform were hoping for a change but the deal remained virtually the same. "Only listen to safe music." All Jeeni royalty-free songs on the site are safe to use while streaming. Fourthly, the New York Digital News site published a story surrounding TikTok and the platform’s new massive impact on music. Stating “TikTok is evolving into a very different kind of music streaming giant. TikTok creators who aren’t musical creators themselves are using music. Musicians get paid off the back of that, and it can become a healthy revenue stream. It helps break songs and artists, consumption goes up on the other platforms, more tickets are sold, a bigger live-streaming event can happen etc.” Lastly, only just falling into the monthly round-up we wanted to highlight the release of the latest James Bond film No Time To Die. “One of the most famous pieces of film music of all time, this has featured in every single Bond film in some form or another since it played over the opening credits of Dr No back in 1962 is the John Barry & Orchestra, Monty Norman – James Bond Theme (1962)” Each film has a title song dedicated to it including the new track by Billie Eilish- No Time To Die. But the all-time Jeeni favourite has to be Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die", which was written on the Wings Bus that Jeeni helped to rescue, and which goes back on the road next year. Watch this space for exclusive info on that one!

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