Legendary Teddy Hayes has joined the Jeeni advisory board

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

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.”

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.

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05
Jun

Independent Musicians and Performers Community Group

The Independent Musicians and Performers Community (IMAP) has been set up by the founders of Jeeni. Our Community is for everyone and anyone creative: musicians, voice-artists, performers, poets, singer-songwriters ... the list is endless. We connect, collaborate, share and support each other, while we have some fun and make a real difference. We are a completely independent group and have no interest in political debate in this community. We encourage our members to share their original music and performances. Jeeni launched IMAP 28 days ago today with the single purpose of helping and supporting fellow artists with relevant news, blogs, stories, videos and top tips on how to cope in these challenging times. We scan the media every day for what support is available for musicians and performers. We make it our mission to wade through lengthy documents and policies so you don't have to, and we grab the main highlights and takeaways to make it easy for you to absorb the plethora of information swimming around. The industry is being very responsive and coming up with lots of ideas, like allowing artists to keep earning by adding donate buttons on streaming platforms. Some organisations are making grants available, some are discounting their streaming platforms, whereas others are allowing artists and fans to sign up for free. We expect to see many online services partnering with one another to combine their overall membership offerings, such as Soundcloud and Twitch. And we are very interested to see what the major global companies do and how they respond to these new and unknown market conditions. How practical these ideas are in real terms, only time will tell, and we will keep an eye out for scams, as in this very sad and challenging time it's inevitable that many will try to profit from COVID - 19, by introducing unethical and downrights crooked practices. We are making it our mission to name and shame projects and organisations that are under scrutiny and suspect, and encourage our members to do the same. IMAP is an active community group with over 1.2K new members in 28 days 2.8K approved for sign up, and 2.2K posts, comments and reactions. We very much want our members to invite their friends, families and other artists, we are all in this together and your great ideas need to shared. It doesn't matter where you are around the globe, and we would love to hear more about what other community groups are doing to support their members. Take a look at the Independent Musicians and Performers Community and join us today. You will be welcomed with open arms. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2529935880656436/about/ Shena and Mel

11
Feb

Weekly Round-Up #9

The latest developments and additions to Jeeni’s mission! New Content Contributed to Jeeni’s Database of Talent! New and exciting content is always being added to Jeeni’s library and the past two weeks have not been an exception. Award-winning rock-star, Eden James has added two more tracks from his extensive rock discography to Jeeni’s database. ‘Don’t Give Up’ and a live performance of ‘Bad Girl’ are now available on Jeeni. Three new artists to Jeeni have also been uploading new music this week. Hip-hop and electronic collective, Ace Bermuda have uploaded their debut single, ‘WTF Is Ace Bermuda’, as has brand-new Jeeni artist, Julience with his track, ‘Alcohol’. Alana Sukul has also put forward five new additions to Jeeni, including her newest track, ‘Good To You’ and her hit track, ‘Closer’. Jeeni regulars have also been contributing exciting new music such as Zeeteah’s brilliant ‘Wat A Ting’, Nnaomi’s ‘Hate Me’ and Maple Sky’s ‘Vision’, all three of which have been reviewed and published onto Jeeni’s blog page: https://jeeni.com/blog/ . Here are more details about the blogs we’ve published in the last two weeks. Six new reviews for Jeeni artists’ newest projects have been published since our last Weekly Round-Up! Jeeni published a full review of Nnaomi’s incredible new single, ‘Hate Me’, “Nnaomi evokes even more emotion and sentiment with her swirling, impactful and atmospheric new single, ‘Hate Me’”. Read the full review here: https://jeeni.com/blog/nnaomi-hate-me-single-review-blog-jeeni/ Listen to ‘Hate Me’ here: https://jeeni.com/nnaomi-hate-me/ Also, this week, Jeeni ambassador, Zeeteah Massiah released the playful yet important, ‘Wat A Ting’, “Zeeteah’s newest single is a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek poke at misinformation and its relentless spreading, all the while being a dancehall banger in its own right.” Read the full review here: https://jeeni.com/blog/zeeteah-massiah-wat-a-ting-single-review/ ‘Wat A Ting’ is available on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/wat-a-ting-zeeteah-massiah/?channel=zeeteah- Released last Saturday, “Maple Sky broaden their sound once more with this explosive, brand-new funk banger, named ‘Vision’”. Read the full review here: https://jeeni.com/blog/maple-sky-vision-single-review/ Check out the jazz quartet’s newest single here: https://jeeni.com/vision-maple-sky/?channel=maple-sky&rtn=btasc&artist=maple-sky Multi-instrumentalist and folk singer, Daisy Chute blessed the Jeeni library of talent with her newest EP, ‘Cradle Songs’. “Daisy Chute’s newest EP consists of three sonic fairytales, crafted with swelling strings, twinkling percussion and her bewitching vocals.” Read the full review here: https://jeeni.com/blog/daisy-chute-cradle-songs-ep-review/ Listen to Daisy’s new EP here: https://jeeni.com/cradle-song-daisy-chute/?channel=daisy-chute&rtn=btasc&artist=daisy-chute-2 Another review published to Jeeni this week was for Nigerian/British rapper, I K 8OY’s debut single, ‘Let You Know’, “Stirring together afroswing with tuneful rapping, the first official release from I K 8OY is a shimmering and glossy UK hip-hop achievement.” Read the full review here: https://jeeni.com/blog/i-k-8oy-let-you-know-single-review/ Listen to I K 8OY’s debut single here: https://jeeni.com/let-you-know-i-k-8oy/ And finally, a review of yet another debut was published this Monday for Ace Bermuda’s ‘WTF Is Ace Bermuda’. “If the elusive, grand and electrifying Ace Bermuda were a TV show, ‘WTF Is Ace Bermuda’ would be their theme song. The collective’s first official release perfectly encapsulates the group’s innovative intentions and collaborative nature.” Read the full review here: https://jeeni.com/blog/ace-bermuda-wtf-is-ace-bermuda-feat-jada-freeman-profiiit-single-review/ Check out the collective’s debut here: https://jeeni.com/wtf-is-ace-bermuda/?channel=ixohnlybtrod&rtn=btasc&artist=ace-bermuda Calling All Graduates Looking for Work, Jeeni Officially Partners with Gradfuel to Create 654 New Jobs! Among the 654 new roles available across England include; 116 sales positions, with a focus in London, Manchester and remote situations, 143 roles in Marketing, also for people based in London, Manchester or remote, 118 hospitality roles particularly in London and Birmingham, 121 admin positions focused on remote and London. There are also 31 roles for those specialised in graphic design such as Photoshop and Adobe for remote and London-based applicants. IT and data have 81 roles for London-based and remote situations and finally, there are 25 roles in finance, also for London and remotely working applicants. Check out our full blog on Jeeni’s partnership with Gradfuel: https://jeeni.com/blog/calling-all-graduates-looking-for-work-jeeni-officially-partners-with-gradfuel-to-create-654-new-jobs/ Reach out to the Jeeni marketing team at doug@jeeni.com or ella@jeeni.com. Make sure you’re following us on social media to keep up to date with new releases from our artists, our blogs and any job openings. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeenimusic/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeenimusic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeenimusic Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/33222018/admin/

12
Mar

Crunch Time for Festivals

January 2021 is going to be crunch time for festivals. In this still, uncertain time, the organisers of the UK's biggest events remain on a knife edge about festivals being able to go-ahead. Michael Eavis has pinned his hopes on mass vaccination of the country, so Glastonbury can still happen this year. He received his jab, just before new year. Whilst Emily Eavis has been countering claims their festival has already been cancelled and confirming tickets will be rolled over to 2022. Micheal Eavis at Glastonbury - Photo: Getty UK Music have shared a new report, Let the Music Play: Save Our Summer 2021, outlining their recommendations for how to restart the UK’s live music industry. As MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee open their inquiry into ‘The future of UK music festivals’ today (January 5), UK Music – whose CEO Jamie Njoku-Goodwin is among those set to give evidence to the inquiry stating the document “outlines a clear strategy to protect and support the multi-billion pound live music industry so it is ready to restart when safe to do so later this year”. Read the report below: https://www.ukmusic.org/assets/general/Let_The_Music_Play_Save_Our_Summer_2021.pdf “The music industry has worked hard to make event spaces as safe as they can possibly be,” UK Music said in a statement accompanying the new report. “This includes launching testing pilots to be able to hold mass events safely, working with government to develop guidance for how to hold events safely, and looking at new ventilation and air purification systems that would dramatically reduce the risk of transmission. “But there is no certainty about when the industry will be allowed to hold mass events once again.” The report warns that the lack of coronavirus cancellation insurance is “the biggest barrier to major events happening in 2021”, and calls on the UK Government to implement an insurance scheme as it has done for the film and TV sector. Key action points in the report are, “an indicative date for a full capacity restart” for venues and festivals, a government-backed indemnity scheme and targeted financial support for the live music industry. UK Music are also calling for an extension to the VAT rate reduction on tickets, a rollover of the paid 2020 Local Authority licence fees for festivals to 2021 and an extension to business rates relief. Up to 50% of the festival workforce faces possible redundancy if the 2021 season is cancelled and a report by the Musicians' Union stated 71% of musicians were considering leaving the sector or were unsure if they would continue. According to Steve Heap, the general secretary of the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), major music festivals would have to make a decision about their 2021 editions this month. Smaller festivals, however, could put off cancelling until April. Though the pandemic is still wreaking havoc across the UK the crunch time is definitely, now. The industry and the fans need to know!

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