Live Life Fully and Mindfully — Things Change Quickly

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Live Life Fully and Mindfully — Things Change Quickly

by Kelli Richards Jeeni MD USA

Most of us coast along in life day-to-day, and we don’t always think and act mindfully in the moment. There are many reasons why it’s important to practice doing so most of the time, but perhaps the biggest one is that things change quickly in life — and often unexpectedly. When you’re mindful, you have fewer regrets when they do. Here are a couple of examples that have happened to me recently.

Many of you are aware that I’ve been in the music/tech space as a veteran for most of my career, since the dawn of the digital music revolution. I’m proud not only of having been a pioneer steeped in co-creating many of the key milestones that have impacted the evolution along the way, BUT also in having shared those experiences with a cadre of cherished colleagues alongside — many of them for over 25 years now. One off those fellow visionaries was Jay Frank. Jay was instrumental in envisioning the future of streaming driven by user-influenced playlists years before that took off. Feel free to review more about Jay in this obituary on Billboard. He was only 47 when he passed of cancer; he hadn’t told many of us about it — and his loss was a real shock. He certainly accomplished a lot in his years on the planet and left a lasting and palpable legacy. I hadn’t been in as active touch with him during the past couple of years, which I regret, but he knew how much I respected him.

I’m proud to be on the advisory council of Harvest Summit, an annual ‘field trip’ gathering of successful high achievers from different industries who come together in wine country to embrace innovation. Each year we feature a powerful keynote speaker to wrap up the event, and at this year’s event just a few weeks ago in mid-October we were fortunate enough to have Bernard Tyson join us. Bernard was the beloved CEO of Kaiser Permanente, the huge healthcare system, and he was responsible for creating some of Kaiser’s most progressive and innovative efforts during his nearly three decades with the company. He was someone who made a real impact & a lasting legacy. At Harvest Summit he was inspiring and infectious. And when I approached him afterwards, we had a brief chat and he was very warm and gracious. Just a few weeks later, Bernard passed suddenly at 60. His wife is a colleague of mine, and I’d heard about how wonderful he was for quite some time. I was so pleased I had the opportunity to connect with him and got to experience his presence firsthand.

Finally, I’m enamored of wine country and Sonoma County at large; so much so that I intend to re-locate there in the coming years. I’ve built a large community of people I care about greatly in that region. Two years ago, over 5000 homes were lost to the devastating Tubbs Fire there. The week after I was at Harvest Summit in mid-October — right in that same location — the unthinkable happened in that the Kincade Fire took off like crazy with flames fanned by strong Santa Ana-like winds in that same general region causing widespread evacuation, power outages and unrest in that same region for over a week. Some homes were lost again, but owing to the brave firefighters who were determined to save lives and properties (and with some support from winds dying down), the fire was brought under control at last. This has all reinforced for me just how important it is to be prepared for natural disasters — I’ll be putting together an emergency “go bag/kit” shortly as a result.

I guess in summary, the common thread here is that’s important to be present and mindful in all our interactions with others, and not take anyone or anything for granted. Because life is truly fragile, and what we’re privileged to enjoy today could be taken away without warning tomorrow.

Be here now.

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04
Apr

Zeeteah Massiah on Music, Performing and Life during 2020

Zeeteah Massiah is a Number One Billboard Dance Chart star who specialises in Reggae, Jazz and house music. Like many artists, the last year has provided many challenges for Zeeteah, but also a host of new opportunities and ventures that would have never otherwise have been possible. We asked her to tell us about her experiences over the last year whilst we count down to Jeeni's online JAM festival. It’s been the craziest year ever, but we’ve made it through thirteen months in and out of lockdown. At the beginning of 2020, I unveiled a brand-new sound and a wicked new band, and I was full of high hopes for the year. I was excited and ready to go. And then Covid hit. It took me three weeks into the first lockdown to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t be going on stage again for a long time. I was in a fog for weeks and then I thought: just because I can’t be on stage doesn’t mean I can’t make music. I suddenly had an impulse to record a new version of an old song that I’ve always loved – United We Stand by Brotherhood of Man. It seemed so right for that moment. Paul, my husband and musical partner, understood immediately the sound I was looking for, and we set to work in our studio. Three of my favourite musicians played on the track – remotely, of course – and family and friends in London, Germany and the Caribbean filmed lovely cameos for the video. It was such fun to do, and it got a wonderful response. You can check it out on Jeeni. And then a man called George Floyd died in Minnesota, and we were all plunged into a very different mood. I didn’t realise how painful many of my feelings about race were, and how deeply they were buried, until I started telling Paul, with tears in my eyes, about growing up in London as a young black girl from Barbados. I was constantly made to feel a certain way simply because of the colour of my skin. Here we are in 2021 and, sadly, many things are still the same. At one point I blurted out to Paul, “You don’t know how it feels to be Black”. He took those words and turned them into a song called You Don’t Know. We recorded it and made the video in July. It’s one of the most heartfelt things I’ve done, and I’ve been amazed by the incredible response it’s had and so grateful for the wonderful feedback. I did manage to squeeze in three London gigs in the gaps between the lockdowns: a reggae gig in Chelsea, and jazz gigs in Hampstead and in the West End. Better than nothing – and in fact, they were all lovely events. When it became clear that there weren’t going to be any more gigs, I decided to start doing live sessions at home with some of my favourite musicians and sharing them on YouTube. And so, the Massiah Sessions were born. We’ve released nine videos so far, in a variety of styles, and there are more to come. I was also invited to add vocals to a new rock album by a dear friend in Germany. Thanks, Günther – it was a blast. In February, I did a livestream with guitarist Marcin Bobkowski for a charity called Educ’aid Africa, run by Isa Bell, which is helping to provide music education to schools in Benin. A recent DNA test revealed that many of my ancestors were from Benin, and so the project had a special meaning for me. It was my first livestream, and I loved it. I’m going to be doing another one on 10 April, and hopefully regularly after that – join us at zeestream.live if you can! And so now here we are, approaching the end of what we pray will be the final lockdown. And soon I’ll be back on stage in front of a live audience doing what I love best. My first live gig of 2021 will be on Thursday 27 May at Crazy Coqs in London’s West End. Maybe see you there? In the meantime, I wish you all the best for what will, hopefully, end up being a much better year. Zeeteah will also be performing in the JAM festival which is a collaboration between Jeeni, AmplifyX and MultiView Media and will be held at 12 noon Los Angeles time, 8pm London time on Saturday April 10th 2021. To find out more about the JAM Festival check out our events on Facebook. https://fb.me/e/1etPauFMV

01
Jul

Zeeteah Massiah - ‘Bad Guy’ Single Review

Zeeteah’s newest release is a genius reggae reimagining of Billie Eilish’s breakthrough hit, ‘Bad Guy’. Jeeni ambassador and long-term supporter, Zeeteah Massiah has now provided Jeeni with 21 individual pieces of her unique brand of jazz and reggae, all of which are available at her showcase. Her husband, Paul Caplin acts as both songwriter and producer for Zeeteah and the two of them have released two albums together, ‘Juice’ and ‘Maybe Tomorrow’. A certain level of musical depth and understanding is needed to undergo a stylistic transformation of an existing song. To some, it’s merely a process of downgrading the intensity and presence of the piece to a slow, acoustic setting. However, in a lot of these cases, the essence and arrangement of the pieces are largely unchanged. On the other end of that spectrum of effort and passion, you’ll find artists like Zeeteah Massiah who listened to the ‘Old Town Road’ dethroner and heard a hidden stylistic potential held in Billie’s hit that she knew would effortlessly make sense to any listener. Zeeteah set out to not just echo Billie’s Grammy-winning hit in a slightly different accent, but instead, wanted to transpose it into a completely different musical language. The result is a rejuvenated and refreshing take on ‘Bad Guy’ that has a vivid coat of Caribbean-styled paint applied to just about every element of the source material. Where the original was dark, somber yet playful, Zeeteah’s keeps just the playfulness for her rendition. The slow, creeping tempo compliments the lyrics and performance from Zeeteah in a way that could make you think that this might actually be the original. This almost sinister embrace of the villainous title is enhanced by the harmony that dips in and out of jazzy minor chords that keep the listener in a subtle state of unsettlement, and curiosity. As is to be expected from Zeeteah and her artistic proclivities, bright and colourful instrumentation commands the tone of this arrangement. Being the first component heard; a classic reggae drum roll makes the genre-shift immediately apparent. This Caribbean staple is then joined by its good friends; short offbeat guitar stabs and deep, bouncy basslines. In this introduction, we also hear a brilliant alteration from Billie and Finneas’ original arrangement. The quirky, recognisable synth melody heard after Billie’s isolated ‘Duh!’ is instead taken up by a muted trumpet, heard before the vocals even enter. This is a clever embrace of the fact that Zeeteah’s choice of cover is of course a colossal hit, so there’s no sense in shying away from its most recognisable moments. That melody is also expanded on later for a phenomenal trumpet solo towards the end of the cover that acts as a sort of replacement for the sudden shift in pace, heard at the end of the original. Considered a part of Billie Eilish’s brand as both a performer and a person, her vocals are often intentionally sleepy and low-energy, something that Zeeteah decided not to adopt for her interpretation. The vocal performance here is mischievous and rebellious to the core as opposed to Billie’s more disinterested and indifferent approach. Zeeteah also uses next to no effects on her voice compared to the first version, which is just as well because it would be a shame to distract from the raw talent and personality held in Zeeteah’s performance on ‘Bad Guy’. This task of reinventing one of the biggest hits from the last 10 years was a tall order, however, unsurprisingly, Zeeteah Massiah’s ‘Bad Guy’ is nothing but a triumph.

01
Aug

4 reasons why the current music-streaming model is not working.

The global pandemic has exposed major problems in streamed music. Musicians couldn't tour or give live performances, so they have become reliant on revenue from their recorded music. Now, a shocking inquiry by the UK Government shows that even successful, critically acclaimed artists cannot live off their streaming revenue. But there is an alternative. Jeeni is a platform that puts control back into the artist's hands. On Jeeni, performers and creatives keep 100% of everything they earn, and thousands of artists are already on board, with an audience outreach that has grown to over two million. In fact Jeeni's growth has been so successful that they have turned to crowdfunding to expand their capacity to meet demand, and raised over £61,000 in a few days. The Government report reveals 4 reasons why the current music streaming model is not working: 1. Even successful artists get pitiful returns from streaming Fair reward is a performer's right to share in the recording revenues of a song by law, regardless of their royalty rates and their outstanding debts. However, streaming means that performers are paid according to the terms of their record deal. Depending on when they started out in their careers, their royalties can fall to as low as 2%. At Jeeni the artists get to keep 100% of everything they make, no limits. 2. Pay disparity between song and record rightsholders The current revenue share from streaming gives the record label the majority of a track's revenue. This comes from a model that applied to physical sales, where labels had overheads such as manufacturing, storing and transporting CDs, cassettes and vinyl. This leaves songwriters and publishers with the smallest share of revenue, even though they are vital to the creative process. Music creators and publishers are furious with this model. It's outdated and unfair because these overheads don't apply to digital music production. 3. Just three major music companies control the majority of the market Digital piracy and new technologies like streaming have disrupted the traditional music industry, and led to a state of play where three major labels now have a 75% share of the UK recording market. They also dominate music publishing, which is the part of the industry that deals with the rights to the words and music of a track. Jeeni's CEO & Founding Director Dr Shena Mitchell says, "Although technology has moved on, the approach is still the same as the bad old days, where streaming platforms act more like A&R agents and only select the music they like, dictating what listeners get to hear. At Jeeni we are very proud that our vision is based on democracy, where we give all artists the opportunity to post their videos and showcase their talent, for us to market them to a global audience". 4. 'Safe harbour' and copyright infringement 'Safe harbour' lets tech companies that host artist's content get away with being criminally and financially liable for copyright infringement. This allows users to consume music for free, and it creates a so-called 'value gap', because revenues for music from ad-funded services are significantly less than those from paid-for services. Here at Jeeni we refuse to take any advertising unless it's by an artist for their own tracks or services, and we make sure our artists retain all copyright and ownership of their own tracks. If you like the sound of what we do, then check out Jeeni's campaign HERE and join the list of supporters and celebrities who are flocking to the cause. You can invest from as little as £10 to claim your share, be part of the Jeeni success, and say NO to creative performers getting ripped off. *Capital At Risk

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