LOCKDOWN OPERA GOES GLOBAL

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LOCKDOWN OPERA GOES GLOBAL

Ten years ago Pete Wyer won the Best Composer Award for his work with the English National Ballet and London Symphony Orchestra. When his celebration concert was performed in Liverpool, it drew crowds of 60,000. But today, because of Covid restrictions, he can't find a venue anywhere in the world to stage his latest work. SPRING STREET is a new opera, composed, rehearsed and performed during lockdown. The multinational stars and musicians have never even met, except on Zoom. But now they are turning the whole situation to their advantage, and Wyer has decided to release everything for free globally, using social media.

He says, "It's been a very happy experience, and we're reaching out to a world-wide audience far bigger than any performance any of us have ever achieved before." Pete Wyer has teamed up with the Jeeni network, who specialise in putting performers in direct contact with their fans. "If a performer sells one T-shirt to a fan on Jeeni, they can make more in a minute than most performers make in a month from streaming services like Spotify and the rest. Jeeni is run by the artists themselves, and that's what appeals to me."

SPRING STREET stars Japanese Netflix heartthrob Heday Inoue as The Caretaker, and triple-GRAMMY-Award-Winner Maren Montalbano as The Watcher. SPRING STREET will be premièred throughout the day on Saturday 24th July 2021 on jeeni.com/springstreet and simultaneously released across all social media by a network of thirty-four thousand fans of opera, jazz, poetry and rock music.

contact:

Shena Mitchell

FOUNDING DIRECTOR, JEENI

t: +44 7703 567 196
e: shena@jeeni.com

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07
Dec

Streaming Revenues - a tipping point?

At Jeeni, this is a subject we are following closely, being a platform set up to address this very subject. The balance of revenue on most platforms, is tipped far too heavily away from the artists, performers and writers, in favour of the suits and pen-pushers. Quite frankly, it's a disgrace! Jeeni's ethos is to ensure any performing members receive 100% of the revenue they generate. Should all streaming services work the same way? Journalist Dylan Smith, from Digital Music News has written the article below, updating how far the DCMS Committee has got with their fact finding and the issues to be presented on 11 December. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chair Julian Knight. Photo Credit: David Woolfall British lawmakers have stated that artists are hesitant to participate in the ongoing investigation into streaming royalties “because they fear action may be taken against them” if they do so. The House of Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS Committee) announced the high-profile probe of streaming royalties last month. The comprehensive analysis aims to identify streaming’s impact on all relevant stakeholders, including labels and artists, as well as its long-term effects concerning “the sustainability of the wider music industry.” Last week, singer-songwriter Nadine Shah, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien, and Elbow frontman Guy Garvey spoke before the DCMS Committee to address the contemporary music landscape. Of particular note was Shah’s statement that she doesn’t “make enough money from streaming” to cover her rent, despite having north of 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Possibly in response to the abundance of information that the investigation has turned up thus far, the DCMS Committee also announced last week that it had extended the window for artists and others to submit written testimonials regarding royalties. From the original deadline of Monday, November 16th, members of the music industry now have until Friday, December 11th, to express their opinions. The probe’s upcoming oral testimony, for its part, is slated to take place next Tuesday, December 8th, with Maria Forte Music Services’ namesake owner, Ferocious Talent owner Kwame Kwaten, and José Luis Sevillano, director general at Spain’s AIE, set to participate via livestream. Ahead of the formal sitdown, DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight has relayed that many would-be witnesses are opting not to come forward due to their fear of the potential professional consequences associated with speaking out against streaming royalties. “We have been told from many different sources that some of the people interested in speaking to us, in relation to this inquiry, have become reluctant to do so because they fear action may be taken against them if they speak in public,” said the Solihull MP, who became the DCMS Committee’s chair in January of this year. “I would like to say on behalf of the Committee that we would take a very dim view indeed if we had any evidence of anyone interfering with witnesses to one of our inquiries. … This Committee will brook no such interference and will not hesitate to name and shame anyone proven to be involved in such activity,” continued Knight. And in concluding his statement on the matter, the lawmaker emphasized that others who reach out to the DCMS Committee with information or insight pertaining to streaming royalties “will be treated in confidence.”

05
Jun

So what else is the Music Industry doing?

The Musicians Union offer of a £200 grant really is not going to cut it and with most musicians and performers self employed we urgently need the government to provide clarity on what wider support is available. In yesterday's Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas reported that: "On Friday, the Federation of Entertainment Unions, which comprises the Musicians’ Union, the Bectu section of Prospect, Equity, the National Union of Journalists and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, called for the government “to introduce an income guarantee for freelance and self-employed workers for the duration of the Covid-19 outbreak.A separate petition to the UK government, asking for economic assistance for those working in the events industry, has been signed by nearly 150,000 people. A huge number of tours and music festivals have already been cancelled because of coronavirus, including Glastonbury and Coachella. Many musicians have started performing via online livestreams, including – as part of the World Health Organisation and Global Citizen initiative Together at Home – Chris Martin, John Legend and Camila Cabello. Other stars have pledged financial support for relief initiatives – Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation donated $5m (£4.2m) to various organisations, while Ciara and her husband, Russell Wilson, donated a million meals to a food bank in their home city of Seattle. The US Recording Academy – which organises the Grammys – announced a relief fund for musicians affected by coronavirus via its charity arm, MusiCares." Let's keep Rocking 'n' Rolling Folks. It is time for positive action!

06
Jun

Love in the Time of COVID-19: Working Apart but Creating Together.

By Sammie Venn Jeeni's Official Writer, Columnist and Blogger. Here at Jeeni.com we celebrate and support all musicians and performers, and poetry has its own dedicated channel for artists and performers to showcase their work and earn 100% of their sales, ticketing, merchandise and donations. Today, Jeeni has returned to Crowdcube to raise more funds for helping new talent. If you want to see our pitch click HERE. Today we showcase Sammie Venn as a very talented and creative writer. “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it” – H.E Luccock Sammie says, "Creativity brings people together. Artists, poets, writers and musicians have been forced apart, to distance, to isolate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet collaboration has flourished. Adversity has brought us together to create in new and innovative ways. I have learnt over the years that it is not possible to be great at everything. Different skills that blend and morph with each other are key to an effective alliance. That’s where the magic happens. I have forged a new partnership with a UK-based award winning sound designer to launch a series of poetry short films – I call them “Poetry Porn” – on YouTube as a prelude to publishing an anthology of work in the autumn. Joe Churchman and I have worked on various projects together over the years. She wrote and co-directed the multi-award winning short film “Gloop” and collaborated with Sir David Attenborough. Joe has worked with MC Saatchi and the BBC, her talents and eye for creativity know no bounds . Where once we joined forces over the kitchen table, enjoying a glass of wine, we have been forced by the pandemic to find new ways of working together, including our latest venture. We both have a thirst for learning and a need to enthusiastically share and impart the wisdom we have gained. Creating during COVID-19 has been an exhilarating and challenging experience for us both, but one we have overcome and enjoyed with fervour and passion. Never before have Zoom, WhatsApp and the desire to teleport been at the forefront of our combined creativity. Despite the 50 plus miles between our respective homes the soul sister bond that we have nurtured over the years has never been lost. The verve for all things lyrical has surfaced again whilst working on the Poetry films. Having created a series of 100 poems, I am now in the editorial process: altering verses, changing words and making sure rhythm, beat and iambic pentameter all synchronise. The work embodies the emotive journey of womanhood: traversing sorrow, despair, anger and liberation. The natural environment heals all woes and this journey is told through the changes in season. Death, loss, renewal and growth are all subjects covered within the poems and the films. Winter teaches us how to be patient, to rest, hibernate and prepare for growth. Autumn helps us to embrace the process of letting go. Spring is a period of regrowth and birth. Whilst Summer is our time to blossom and burst into the most vibrant versions of ourselves. In the depths of winter combined with a broken heart, “Kiss the Tinder” was born. Poetry was and still is my solace, it helped me to rediscover compassion, serenity and hope. I was lucky enough to meet a fellow poet and songwriter via the writing community on Instagram a couple of years ago, Renée is from Texas, so we have only ever virtually met but he kindly agreed to record this poem. A true gift. I woke one morning to his dulcet tones in my inbox, and with a voice of liquid silk, he is the soundscape to this film. This Poetry Short is therefore a true collaboration. Global restraints from continental distance to COVID-19 have not curbed our resourcefulness. The project has only just begun. This poem was published in June in American Journal “The Starlight Emporium” along with a collection of my other work. “Kiss the Tinder” by Sammie Venn Kiss the tinder, fall in love with the ashesThe storm destroys the pain with lashesIndigo shards, incandescent stainsLife blood flowing, ripped like veins.Lightening shreds the Arial skyIt punches, spits and angrily criesGlorifying the night with celestial screamsMother Nature voices her savage dreams.Dancing with Hope, thunder follows alongside,For now, there is nowhere in the world to hide.Like a love-lorn couple, they rampantly combustTears of anguish wash away rage and lust. Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

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