Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

NEW OPERA ACHIEVES ROCK STAR STATUS

/ By Shena Mitchell
NEW OPERA ACHIEVES ROCK STAR STATUS

It's the sort of statistic that music promoters dream of. An audience of ten thousand in less than one hour, and for a first-time performance. But this massive audience didn't turn up to watch a new boy band or the latest rap sensation, they came to the opera!

A brand new opera called Spring Street is set in Manhattan, and it mixes classical arias, string quartets, jazz, blues and even acid rock. The opera was streamed on Jeeni, the self-styled "ethical alternative" to the big streaming giants, and opera composer Pete Wyer is ecstatic about Jeeni’s methodology and success. “I’m really thrilled. My expectation was we’d get to the magic 10,000 mark in a month, but this is quite incredible - especially when I compare it to operas I’ve had performed on stage! Without Jeeni’s help my piece might be languishing with a few hundred hits.”

Wyer is being modest. An award-winning composer for the English National Ballet and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, his biggest audience before the Jeeni event was when 60,000 people enjoyed his celebration Liverpool waterfront concert, and the performance and publicity costs for that were considerable. By contrast, the Jeeni audience for his new event has already topped 66,000 and the costs have been zero. Everything has been achieved by the publicity and marketing systems built in to the Jeeni platform, which makes it unique when compared with the likes of Spotify or Netflix. Pete Wyer continues, "I looked at the Jeeni platform doing really good work for independent artists, and the more I learned the more I liked. It's been a very happy experience."

The opera stars the soprano and triple-GRAMMY award-winner Maren Montalbano, who says, "Power is shifting from large organisations to the individual, and platforms like Jeeni are on the rise because they give artists the opportunity to lift themselves up and lift each other up." Her co-star, the bass-baritone and Netflix superhero Heday Inoue adds, "Jeeni is allowing us to have more exposure. I think it's amazing, and I'm really, really happy to be part of it." What is even more amazing is the fact that the cast and musicians have never actually met except on the Jeeni platform. Everything was composed, rehearsed and performed remotely in lockdown.

Jeeni founder Shena Mitchell says, “When we first launched Jeeni a few months ago, it took days to hit audience figures of ten thousand for an online concert or festival, and I was delighted with that. But here we are, achieving the same thing in under an hour, and for an unknown opera. Imagine what we can do next. We already have more than two thousand artist showcases and an audience outreach of over two million."

Now Jeeni.com needs to scale up to meet the technical demands for handling more artists and bigger audiences, so they have turned to crowdfunding. Shena Mitchell says, "Everybody knows that the big streaming companies rip artists off. We don't do that. Our artists keep 100% of everything they earn with us. Now we are allowing the public to invest as little as £10 to buy a part of us, and own a stake in what could be the ethical future of entertainment.” 

More information:

shena@jeeni.com
jeeni.com/invest
jeeni.com/springstreet

*Capital at Risk

03
Mar

Jeeni Announces that Sharron Goodyear has joined Team Jeeni as Official Photographer.

Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com Here at Jeeni HQ, we are delighted to announce that Sharron Goodyear has joined Team Jeeni. When you see Sharron's work you will know why we are so pleased. Sharron is an Award-Winning International Photographer and Film Maker, having won Fashion & Boudoir Photographer of the Year through the Master Photographer Association, Sharron has 14 years of industry experience. Sharron specialises in working with entrepreneurs, musicians, performers and artists from around the world. Sharron's photo-shoots are VIRTUAL enabling her to work with a global client base, directly from her studio, helping us gain greater visibility on our social media as a result. Sharron is super-talented, very professional, has a real eye for positioning the camera, and has perfect attention to detail, the ideal combination of skills for Jeeni members. Sharron says: "Being a photographer is a great privilege for me and it has given me the opportunity to document so many beautiful aspects of people's life journeys. Some of these people are now great friends. I am lucky enough to say I am truly passionate about what I do. Many people hide away from having their photographs taken because they don’t feel confident in how they look in front of the camera or don’t think they are photogenic. My mission is to change that belief and I want to take the best photograph you have ever seen of yourself. The VIRTUAL sessions are incredibly good fun and very relaxed and I will give you lots of direction to help you feel at ease. At the time of booking, I will talk you through everything you need to know so there are no need for nerves – just excitement! I can take a range of photos through an IPhone connection or zoom, what ever you would prefer from the comfort of your own home anywhere in the World."   As Founding Director of Jeeni, I wanted to make sure our members are in very "good hands" so I had a VIRTUAL shoot last week in the comfort of my own home, as Sharron promised the outcome would increase my social media presence. It was amazing. I had so much fun and when I changed my profile picture on Facebook to just one of the 30 pictures Sharron took I gained 210+ likes, 134 comments and 4 shares immediately. So the "proof is in the pudding" as they say, never in 10 years has that happened!! We highly recommend that you get your VIRTUAL shoot booked NOW. Check out Sharron https://sharrongoodyear.com Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

29
Nov

Kissing the Flint – ‘100 Or Less’ Single Review

Australian singer songwriter, Leah Chynoweth-Tidy takes a break from the bohemian, Celtic-inspired tracks with her group’s newest single, ‘100 Or Less’ taking the form of a rebellious alt-rock track with attitude, passion and a clear message. As they put it themselves, “100 Or Less is a music mission to rock the foundations of a bureaucratic lack of support for the undervalued Arts”. The track opens with a fiery guitar performance, reminiscent of the great Neil Young, specifically tracks like ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ that feature powerful, striking guitar solos with plenty of distortion and fuzz. Add to the mix a rolling bassline and a heavy beat in with Leah’s feisty vocals and you have Kissing the Flint’s lively new single, ‘100 Or Less’.  Kissing the Flint release a pent-up frustration in the prolonged pandemic and various restrictions and choices made by the government. This frustration seems to come as a result of a clear and evident passion for performing the music that they love for the people who love it.   The single ends with an almost hopeless and exasperated “Why won’t you let us play?” which holds an emotional and pained impact for the final moment of the track. Despite such a heart-aching close, electric and powerful tracks like ‘100 Or Less’ certainly helps those that miss the thrill and fun of live music.  Check out ‘100 Or Less’ and the dynamic music video now on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/100-or-less-kissing-the-flint-official-music-video/  How can Jeeni support artists like Kissing the Flint?   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 Kissing the Flint’s Jeeni page: https://jeeni.com/?s=kissing+the+flint 

21
Jan

Artist Focus: Maple Sky

Although this refreshing four-piece has its foundations firmly planted in modern jazz, Maple Sky harvests their inspirations from a rich and varied crop. Classic rock, 50s lounge jazz, RnB and gospel are all contributed from various members to result in the exciting final product that is Maple Sky.  Maple Sky's origin began with keys player, Joel Bamigboye (far-left in pic above) in 2018 as he was compiling “a small archive of musical material, with the aim of forming a band” to translate his initial creative vision. Olivia McKeon (mid-left) entered the scene and brought a lyrical and vocal element to Joel’s work. From there, with the addition of two others, the Maple Sky prototype formed by the name of ‘NOVA’. Quickly becoming a theme of our Artist Focus blogs; the pandemic forced a change in the group and created a make-or-break scenario for the founding members. Luckily, after releasing their self-titled EP as a duo, the two adapted and survived the obstacle and re-emerged as ‘Maple Sky’ with a key change in personnel. Ed Jordan (mid-right) was introduced as both the drummer and in-house producer, and Christian Rivers-Martin (far-right) was welcomed to contribute his classically trained bass skills as the groove backbone of the group. Since then, the group has been hard at work, whether that’s creating new, sweet jazz tunes or performing their stellar collection of tracks live.   Maple Sky specialise in a broad and flexible portrayal of jazz with influences from Esperanza Spalding, Yebba, and D’angelo. Their eponymous debut EP certainly showcases that range of their influences and inspirations, particularly that of jazz legend, Lester Young and current wunderkind, Arlo Parks.   The group are currently excited for the upcoming single, ‘Vision’, set to be released on the 5th of February, which will join the romantic and heart-aching ‘Free Her’ as the teaser tracks for their future second EP, which will be released later this year. The group also plan to upload a roster of exciting live videos which were shot just before Christmas. Maple Sky promises more big things for those with their ears on the ground for more from the stellar jazz act, “We'd advise making sure you have us followed on all our social media to stay up-to-date with what we've got going on because there is a lot coming up!”  Follow Maple Sky on socials:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/mapleskyband   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MapleSkyBand/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mapleskyband/   We've loved supporting and following Maple Sky and we're happy to say that the group have enjoyed being a part of Jeeni, too, "Jeeni have been amazing to work with and we have loved collaborating with them." If Jeeni's mission interests you as an artist or a viewer, sign up for free, today! Check out Maple Sky’s showcase on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/maple-sky/   How can Jeeni support artists like Maple Sky?   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.