Jeeni Monthy Round-Up, September

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Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

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!

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04
Jun

Top patent strategist for the Jeeni streaming revolution!

Dr Justin Hill Streaming music start-up Jeeni is determined to give new talent an ethical deal and hand over 100% of the profits to artists who do all the hard work. Jeeni is also determined to protect their artists from the pitfalls and rip-offs that traditionally beset the world of music. So Jeeni is fortunate to have Dr Justin Hill on their side. Justin is recognised as leader in the field of intellectual property, and is Head of Patent Prosecution at Dentons, one of the world’s top legal firms. Justin says, “Thank you for the opportunity to work with you. Last year, with your support, we were recommended in Legal 500 and as Leaders in Field by Chambers, as well as top-tier patent professionals.” He goes on to say that Dentons continue to support early stage businesses like Jeeni, “who we believe have world class technologies capable of disrupting existing sectors. Venture tech and accelerator programs keep us in touch with the next generation of technology titans.”

12
Jan

Richard Murray - 'Fire Sale' Album Review

With lush, full arrangements, creative use of instrumentation and authoritative vocal performances, Richard Murray’s newest album, ‘Fire Sale’ might just be his most impactful to date since his debut in 2007. Richard Murray is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter who specialises in expanding the pre-conceived ideas people have about country music. Richard pushes the country and western envelope by introducing alternative instruments, song writing approaches and mindsets. This record showcases all of these abilities to a tee and has really coloured-in Jeeni’s country channel. A favourite of mine on this record is the fourth track, ‘Devils 2’. This a more contemplative and gentler moment in the album where Richard is putting his charismatic and gravelly voice to good use as he communicates an intense emotional yearning. Richard uses bongos as a part of the minimal, yet compelling percussion section along with a steady kick drum. The guitar parts here twinkle and shimmer alongside Richard’s crooning vocals as the two sections enhance each other. ‘Hard Love’, while still acoustic, really harnesses a moody rock ballad tone with a forceful beat, and almost mumbling vocals from Richard. An impressive direction to take; ‘Hard Love’ does a great job in creating a deeper and richer overall flavour to ‘Fire Sale’. Towards the end of the album, Richard slightly showcases his Celtic heritage with ‘Sea Glass’. A fiddle doubles a jaunty guitar part in between the verses which creates a warm image of a rowdy and patriotic gathering. This track provides a last push in energy for this perfect campfire album, as its last moments wind the project down in an introspective and reflective fashion. The last track on ‘Fire Sale’, 'You Get Wise' acts as a sort of summary and reflection on the stellar tracks that have come before it. A Jeeni and Bandcamp exclusive, the closing track holds some of Richard’s most thoughtful and tender songwriting and performances, making it a perfect choice to sum up this exciting and heart-warming album. ‘Fire Sale’ is a sentimentally tender project. At times, Richard is longing for home, where other times, he’s just walked through the door and celebrations have begun. The album has a real range in emotions, moods and sentiments and is a must listen for all country fans. How can Jeeni support artists like Richard Murray 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 Richard’s Jeeni showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/richardmurraymusic/

06
Jul

Artist Focus: Eden James

Devoted to bringing depth, grit and sophistication to his alt-rock sound, Eden’s success has been steadily building momentum since 2002. Hailing from Australia and currently residing in New York, Eden has been grinding and innovating for years, always striving for greatness in his craft. Eden joined Jeeni after being initially impressed with the marketing team and the brand established which at the time was led by Ella Venvell, “The first thing I noticed and liked about Jeeni is the quality of the visual design of the whole Jeeni brand and how it brands each artist’s posts. It’s slick and contemporary which is absolutely necessary if your content is going to stand out.” Jeeni are honored to be uplifting and supporting an artist of Eden’s caliber and it seems as though both us at Jeeni and Eden himself are excited to see what we can do for each other next. Eden's style is in a lot of ways a romantic call back to the most iconic days of rock music.Eden is directly inspired by acts such as Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, The Strokes and a good many others. With such a lineup of rock icons to look up to, it’s no surprise that Eden’s own work is so varied, layered and mould-breaking. His voice is certainly reminiscent of the great Nobel Literature winning Bob Dylan, another one of his legendary influences. Full of character and swagger, Eden’s voice is no mere copy of Dylan’s however; Eden brings an unplaceable uniqueness and charismatic tone that is entirely his own. It's strangely refreshing to hear someone single-handedly bring back the golden years of rock with such fresh and exciting projects and performances. If rockstars bothered carrying around resumés, Eden James’ CV would make for quite the read. Having a career lasting over two decades and contributing with the bands of Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie, Eden has made a giant splash in the world of indie rock, “The last 6 months have been a huge success for me, winning 35 music and video awards from ceremonies around the globe, gaining chart entries on itunes and Amazon Music, and receiving a slew of reviews and interviews from some of the biggest music magazines out there, including Classic Rock magazine and American Songwriter magazine.” Driven purely by a passion for music, Eden began his career as a musician in the early 2000s. Music has been Eden's ultimate goal since he was a young boy, “I have always been spellbound by music. I started playing the drums when I was 8 years old and around that time began listening closely to songs and how they were put together. I started writing songs in my teens so I’ve been making music a long time. I was, (and still am) very independent so I taught myself a few other instruments and began recording the songs I was writing. I released something very early on as an electronic artist, then realized my true passion was in the rock genre so began to focus on writing in that genre. I scraped together funds for the recording of my debut album and went ahead and recorded it and co-produced it in Brisbane Australia. The album was picked up by a large indie label called Collision Records Australia and the first singles were released in 2002 with the debut album to follow in 2003. Since then, I’ve never stopped releasing and producing albums.” Eden’s dedication to the rock genre and the industry as a whole is nothing short of astonishing and it's that kind of dedication that is essentially what keeps music alive and well. If Eden wasn’t already a giant asset to Jeeni and its mission, He’s provided an exciting and busy list of Eden James projects that fans can look forward to this year: 1. Album release of "All the Good Blank Are Taken" Alternative Mix 2022 (with new artwork) OUT NOW! 2. Video Album Release of a concert: Eden James Live at Baby's All Right, NYC. Alongside album release on streaming platforms, too. (Potential Jeeni Exclusive, later this year!) 3. A limited edition vinyl record release of the 2021 album "All the Good Blank Are Taken" - August/September 2022. 4. Live shows in the summer with my New York-based band. Eden also hopes to tour all around Europe in addition to US shows. 5. Studio album number five (As yet untitled) - July to December 2022 Jeeni are honored to be uplifting and supporting an artist of Eden’s caliber and it seems as though both us at Jeeni and Eden himself are excited to see what we can do for each other next. How can Jeeni support artists like Eden James? 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.

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