Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Jeeni crowdfunder success!

/ By Shena Mitchell
Jeeni crowdfunder success!

Fantastic news! Jeeni has reached its funding target and is now fully funded.

Thank you to all our investors for helping fund the wonderful artists! We are delighted that so many investors share our vision.

It's been a very happy, valuable experience, and our heartfelt thanks goes out to every one of our investors for making it such a success. You have been brilliant.

Thanks too to Crowdcube for all their help. As for Team Jeeni, we've been working seven days a week since the start of the campaign, so tomorrow is a day of rest.

First thing Monday morning our expansion and scaling up begins, on plan, on budget and on schedule.

Thank you all for your enthusiasm, your sanity checks, your due diligence, your discussions, your pledges and your support in helping us make it happen!

Here’s to a better future for online entertainment,

Mel Croucher and Shena Mitchell, Co-Founders, Jeeni

26
Jan

Baby Panna, ‘Golden’ - Single Review

The final track from Baby Panna’s debut mixtape, ‘Vibes and Energies’ leaves the project with an honest and powerful impression that’s not easy to forget. The track tackles issues of race that are fuelled from real-life experiences and personal struggles.   Baby Panna has been an essential component of Jeeni and its hip-hop and rap channels since last Summer. He performed and was interviewed as a part of last year’s Victorious festival and has been an incredibly important and keen artist for Jeeni’s mission.  The instrumental landscape set for this frank and passionate narrative is an atmospheric and soulful wave of spaced-out beats and crackly samples. The warm, vintage fuzz of the sample, which opens the track, lays out a wistful, lo-fi vibe, reminiscent of old-school hip-hop. The beat leaves room for Panna to say what he needs to, to conclude his impactful and polished mixtape. A reverbed clave ripples through the sample and the rumbling sub bass as an understated percussive snare keeps the pace.  Panna reflects on his blessed life as a comparison to his ancestors who lived through even more difficult and blatant times of discrimination and struggle, “The lifestyle that I live is golden”. The emotion carried in the lyrics almost conveys a sense of guilt and mixed emotions with his happiness when contrasted with the struggle embedded in his ancestry. However, in actuality, it's more likely that he’s reflecting on how lucky he is and that he should cherish his success, “I’ve got to make the most of this shit”.  The clarity and focus of Panna’s vocals play a huge role in carrying the intention and emotion on this track. Where other rappers mumble and obscure their lyrics behind a sleepy and dull delivery, Baby Panna does not once miss an opportunity to express himself on ’Golden’.   Check out the video for Baby Panna’s ‘Golden’ here: https://jeeni.com/baby-panna-golden/ Check out Baby Panna’s showcase on Jeeni, here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/babypanna/ How can Jeeni support artists like Baby Panna?   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. 

10
Jun

Global Music Match unites 14 Music Export Programs for a world first!

96 artists from 14 countries are taking part in what could be the largest online matchmaking of musicians ever undertaken. Created in a world first collaboration between founding partners Sounds Australia, Showcase Scotland Expo and Canada’s East Coast Music Association (ECMA), along with 11 other export organisations and showcase events from around the world, Global Music Match is a pilot initiative created to continue raising the profile of local artists in international music markets within the challenging parameters of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is a unique response to the limitations imposed on the music industry, that makes use of one of the only available platforms – social media and peer-to-peer collaboration – to increase networks and exposure for export-ready artists internationally. Breaking artists into a new territory or country is a challenging process, exacerbated by the pandemic as traditional international showcasing opportunities reduce. This programme aims to develop new audience bases for artists in a range of international locations, providing a groundwork for future international touring development. The programme will also support participating artists to upskill their social media activity, as well as encourage cross border artist collaboration by connecting musicians from around the world. Each week, one band/musician from each country will ‘introduce’ another artist from a different country, engaging with them on social media to cross promote to their audiences. This is reciprocated for everyone involved, meaning that participating artists will be presented via social networks across a range of participating international artist’s online audiences. For the pilot edition of Global Music Match, artists are steeped in the acoustic, folk, roots, traditional and world music genres. Lisa Whytock of Showcase Scotland Expo, one of the founding organisations said: “The idea came about on a zoom call between myself and Millie Millgate of Sounds Australia several months ago. We have since seen it grow to include so many export organisations and all of us have been meeting regularly to develop the initiative. It's great that we can all still connect through social media and we are really looking forward to seeing how all the artists work together. Most of them will never have met and many never have toured in the other countries, so it really is going to establish new international connections”. Search for the hashtag #globalmusicmatch to see some of the examples of the content each act shared during the pilot initiative – or head to globalmusicmatch.com to learn more and see examples. Global Music Match is supported by the following export organisations: Catalan Arts (Spain), East Coast Music Association, ECMA (Canada), English Folk Expo, FOCUS Wales, Folk Alliance International, Iceland Music, LUCfest Taiwan, Music Estonia, Music Finland, Music Norway, Puglia Sounds (Italy), Showcase Scotland Expo, Sounds Australia and Spectacle vivant Bretagne (Brittany, France). --END OF RELEASE--For more details, please contact your local export organisation listed above, or reach outto info@globalmusicmatch.com

15
Feb

Artist Focus: Alana Sukul

Stirring together funk, dancehall and electronic ingredients, Alana Sukul is rapidly building momentum with her unique take on modern pop.  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. Born and raised in Fulham, Alana is currently studying Popular Performance, Vocals at BIMM, London where she continues to hone her already impressive skills as a vocalist, instrumentalist, producer and songwriter. Only recently, for her more dancehall inspired tracks, has Alana used external talent in the form of a producer to help her capture the tone and intention she has in mind. Aside from that, Alana is a total DIY bedroom pop artist and has done extraordinarily well for herself, particularly with her recent track, ‘Closer’ which currently has over 50,000 listens. Check out Alana’s Jeeni showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/alana-sukul/   The poeticism in Alana’s lyrics is perfect for expressing emotive imagery that plain language simply can’t. ‘Emotions, heavy like water and you let me drown’, this particular line from ‘Healing’ seems reminiscent of the Mexican idiom, ‘blood is thicker than water’ meaning that family bonds are stronger than that of friends or love; the connection between the two adages is especially relevant considering the heart-broken yet regenerative narrative of this stellar track from 2020.  Although it would seem that the double single of the aforementioned ‘Healing’ and ‘IDNYT’ is Alana’s first release, she actually created a since-deleted concept project in college, as Alana puts it herself, “I made my first EP called ‘Genesis’ purely based around the struggle of mental health and how it can take a toll on one person.’   Nobly, Alana decided that the EP could be too honest and beak a project for fans to initially be exposed to, “I decided at 19 to remove the EP since I wanted to become a better inspiration for those who listen to my music and encourage them more lightly”. Ironically however, the ‘Genesis’ project and the creative decision that it inspired still formed her origin as an artist as is inspired her to begin again with a new mindset. This is when Alana began to work on ‘Healing’ and ‘IDNYT’ from her bedroom.  Alana’s broad sense of style is of no surprise when you consider the colourful collection of inspirations that she collected growing up. Motown, soul and hip-hop have influenced a lot of creative choices from Alana, however Caribbean-originated genres literally run through the veins of her more recent singles. Alana grew up with a variety of Caribbean styles thanks to her parents, “dancehall, soca and bashment have greatly influenced me since my parents are from the Caribbean”.  Alana also has an extensive list of artists she looks up to and dreams to collaborate with, “Vocally, my favourite artists nowadays who have impacted me would be Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Kehlani, H.E.R, Beyoncé and so much more.” Alana specifically credits Korean group, BTS for inspiring more in-depth meaning behind her music and lyrics. The newest track from Alana, ‘Good to you’ is an atmospheric and stunning single and is available on streaming platforms now. Check it out on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/good-to-you-alana-sukul/?channel=alana-sukul&rtn=btasc&artist=alana-sukul   How can Jeeni support artists like Alana Sukul?   JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience.  artist biography • 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.