Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Kissing the Flint – ‘100 Or Less’ Single Review

/ By Doug Phillips
Kissing the Flint – ‘100 Or Less’ Single Review

Australian singer songwriter, Leah Chynoweth-Tidy takes a break from the bohemian, Celtic-inspired tracks with her group’s newest single, ‘100 Or Less’ taking the form of a rebellious alt-rock track with attitude, passion and a clear message. As they put it themselves, “100 Or Less is a music mission to rock the foundations of a bureaucratic lack of support for the undervalued Arts”.

The track opens with a fiery guitar performance, reminiscent of the great Neil Young, specifically tracks like ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ that feature powerful, striking guitar solos with plenty of distortion and fuzz. Add to the mix a rolling bassline and a heavy beat in with Leah’s feisty vocals and you have Kissing the Flint’s lively new single, ‘100 Or Less’. 

Kissing the Flint release a pent-up frustration in the prolonged pandemic and various restrictions and choices made by the government. This frustration seems to come as a result of a clear and evident passion for performing the music that they love for the people who love it.  

The single ends with an almost hopeless and exasperated “Why won’t you let us play?” which holds an emotional and pained impact for the final moment of the track. Despite such a heart-aching close, electric and powerful tracks like ‘100 Or Less’ certainly helps those that miss the thrill and fun of live music. 

Check out ‘100 Or Less’ and the dynamic music video now on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/100-or-less-kissing-the-flint-official-music-video/ 

How can Jeeni support artists like Kissing the Flint?  

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 Kissing the Flint’s Jeeni page: https://jeeni.com/?s=kissing+the+flint 

05
May

Artists' rights have been stuck like a broken record, until Broken Record asked for Reform

An open letter was sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the 20th of April, demanding, finally, that there be a reform in music streaming services. Hoorah! We hear you say, but what does this mean? Well, everything that Jeeni stands for, in essence the fair and equal treatment of music makers and artists.  High profile artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Boy George and Jessie Ware, have all signed the open letter and petition asking for a regulator to ensure these actions, in order to make the UK “…the best place in the world to be a musician or songwriter.” The move was spearheaded by the Musicians’ Union and the Broken Record campaign but has garnered more than 150 signatures from famous faces across the UK music industry and the support of over 5000 musicians and fans.  Since the launch of Spotify in 2008, streaming services have quickly become our primary method for listening to music instead of through the more traditional methods of radio and Television. What these streaming services don’t offer however, is protection and fair treatment of the artists and songwriters.  In November 2020, as part of an investigation into streaming royalties, it was found that some artists were receiving just a fraction of a US cent per song streamed and worse, some no compensation at all.  In order for this to change, only small amendments need to be made to the 1998 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, however the outcome for artists could mean the difference in being able to pay next month’s rent or not as many have unfortunately experienced. At a time when we need to be looking for ways to restart the post-Covid financial recovery, a truly free market would allow a song to achieve greater profits and therefore, as the letter addresses, put more money in the pockets of UK taxpayers which can only benefit our economy.  Fundamentally we don’t want to stop listening to and seeing the artists and musicians we love. When we are able, we want to dance along at concerts, sing our hearts out at gigs and sway to the rhythm that an artist has worked hard to create for us, so why should they not be paid and treated fairly?  We want the music industry to thrive, and it is why we at Jeeni believe that it is so important to do this.  You can support the petition at  https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-put-the-value-of-music-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-hands-of-music-makers Let’s make 2021 a great and fair one.

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!

26
Aug

Jeeni hits another milestone! 85% of £150,000 target on Crowdcube

Jeeni has reached 85% of its £150,000 target on Crowdcube, thanks to over 130 investors who are celebrating their amazing investor rewards. Jeeni is a fast-growing entertainment company that promotes independent musicians and performers ethically and safely, and where artists get to keep 100% of everything they make. over 2,300 brilliant artist showcasesover 2.7 million audience outreachbuilt-in marketing tools for successGRAMMY-Award-Winning supporters We invite you to help us accelerate our success and scale-up for the best benefit of our members and investors. Join our fast-growing family of investors, and grab your rewards as you help us reach our target! Check out our pitch here. https://bit.ly/3BhEeia