Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Legendary Teddy Hayes has joined the Jeeni advisory board

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Legendary Teddy Hayes has joined the Jeeni advisory board

We are proud to announce that the legendary Teddy Hayes has joined the Jeeni advisory board. Teddy is an Award-winning producer, film-maker and composer, working alongside the likes of Quincy Jones and Roberta Flack. Teddy pioneered the concept of creating new wealth for music artists by monetizing their fan base. His London-based talent company DaBlockOnline offered a win-win solution for everyone involved in the entertainment industry, creating a platform that gave both signed and unsigned music talent a chance to benefit from new technology.

Teddy says, "The evolution of Jeeni is remarkable, and because I have already been through this process and experienced all the challenges, I know I can add value to the team. I want artists to get the recognition they deserve and earn cash in the process, but I also want to offer an opportunity for music companies to retool their thinking and create new products designed to increase sales and earn profits from a new segment of the marketplace.”

Teddy Hayes

Born in Cleveland Ohio, Teddy grew up with neighbour Bobby Womack, and hung out with Quincy Jones among many other music legends, before becoming tour manager for Roberta Flack. Quincy’s friend Pete Long (who discovered Luther Vandross), gave Teddy the chance to turn his talents to theatre writing which set him on the road to stardom in his own right, directing music videos, and writing and producing musical theatre.

As one of the founding directors of Hip Hop in 1979 in New York, he achieved a place in hip hop history with his rap band The Funky Constellation, that produced the break beat sensation “Street Talk (Madam rapper)” promoted early on by Russell Simmons, the record mogul and creator of Def Jam Records. An accomplished singer and composer, Teddy was the main producer and creative force behind the sell-out hit theatre show “I Remember Marvin”, about the life and music of Marvin Gaye. He recently penned a book called “The Guerrilla Guide to Being a Theatrical Producer”, a how to manual designed to help people understand and enter the world of commercial theatre.  In 2019 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his 40 years of pioneering work in the arts, and Jeeni is privileged to benefit from his experience and vision.

24
Mar

Jeeni is live on Crowdcube!

Grab your share of JEENI - the ethical entertainment platform.   It's official! Jeeni has been approved by market-leaders Crowdcube, with the Jeeni valuation up from £2.4million to £5million in the short time since Covid dealt musicians and performers a hammer-blow. Now you can help keep entertainment back where it belongs and boost the careers of new talent by investing in Jeeni's brand new funding round HERE.   With no adverts, no fakes and no hype, Jeeni is putting 5,000 musicians and performers in front of a 4 million audience, and promising that their artists keep 100% of everything their earn via the Jeeni platform. Jeeni promise to treat their artists and audiences ethically, fairly and with respect, and will use your investment to expand their databases and boost their value even more.   If you like the sound of that, then Jeeni is live on Crowdcube now, and ready to welcome you on board. Click on the link right here to find out more about investing in Jeeni.   * and of course, investments of this nature carry risks to your capital. Please invest aware.    

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!

12
Mar

Crowdfunding Prize Draw, Win-Win with #ilovelive

There is currently an event happening, which reads like a memorabilia collector's wishlist. Using the hashtag #ilovelive, a Crowdfunding prize draw is a win-win, for the donation recipients and the prize winners. The event has so far raised over £575,000 and seen 64 Lots offered up by a variety of artists from right across the music world. These lots have now closed but there are still 21 up for grabs, including a DJing gig with Idris Elba, a signed snare drum from Dave Grohl, the original Spice Girls Union Jack Sofa and Frank Turner offering a 'Lifetime' guest pass for two. #ilovelive - Idris Elba The fund was set up by charity, Stagehand to raise funds for the behind the scenes and backstage crew of gigs and live events. Many of these staff are self-employed, so did not qualify for furlough or any of the grants offered. Some have suffered real hardship over the last year due to the effect of the lockdowns on the music industry. #ilovelive - Dave Grohl With the same charitable intentions, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have set up their own Crowdfund prize draw. Nick and his band have generously collated over 100 items between them. The items being offered include, signed guitars and keyboards, plus gig tickets, art and gift vouchers. Having been forced to cancel their 2021 tour at the end of last year, the band realised the impact and knock on this would have on their support staff, so felt compelled to soften the blow for them. https://twitter.com/nickcave/status/1362352225780183047?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1362352225780183047%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fmusic%2Fnick-cave-foo-fighters-launch-new-crowdfunders-raise-funds-road-crew-2883669 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Entrants for both prize draws can purchase a single ticket for £5 and there is no limit on the amount of tickets you purchase. Both draws close in March 2021, so check the sites for details and to hand over your dosh to a great cause. ww.jeeni.com #ilovelive Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds