Streaming Revenues - a tipping point?

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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.”

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04
Feb

Zeeteah Massiah - ‘Wat A Ting’, Single Review.

Zeeteah Massiah’s 'Wat A Ting’ is a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek poke at misinformation and its relentless spreading, all the while being a dancehall banger in its own right. As an ambassador of Jeeni, Zeeteah Massiah is certainly something of a Jeeni royal. She has been a big part of the origins and early stages of Jeeni and her support is invaluable. Zeeteah Massiah is a Number One Billboard Dance Chart star who specialises in Reggae, Jazz and house music and has worked with the likes of Tom Jones, Sting and Robbie Williams. Now, she makes incredible music with her husband, Paul. The clarity of the production in ‘Wat A Ting’ is perfect. The off-beat pulse is so neat and perfectly edited and that’s with so much else going on; broken glass, rapid reggae drumrolls and several layers of backing vocals all fly over each other but this track never sounds messy or unintentional. The attention to detail in the mix for this single is exhaustive and thorough. That approach to production results in all sonic layers staying in their corner, but interacting with each other in total coherence and clarity. Everything in ‘Wat A Ting’ is tight, staccato and playful in its nature. It sounds like Zeeteah and her husband, Paul had so much fun with every layer of this track. As a counter-point to the short, abrupt timbre of the rest of this song, the pre-chorus is cleverly, much smoother with the addition of sweeping backing vocals and strummed guitar parts. This soft, calmer section is a great spot for the deceptively, reassuring lyrics “No need to fear now, what’s going on here now.” before the accepting chorus, “We've all gone crazy.” Zeeteah’s voice is pitch perfect and so adaptable; her singing is soft and caring for the pre-choruses but aptly manic and wild for the ‘Wat a ting, wat a ting!” choruses. The care and precision she carries in her voice could only be that of a seasoned professional vocalist. Although the track is undeniably fun, it addresses an incredibly important issue, “They told me there was COVID in the 5G, they told me the earth was flat.” Underneath the lively, mischievous tone of the track, 'Wat A Ting’ is an exasperated resignation to the persistent spread and sharing of false information as a result of fear and ignorance, “It’s all very clear now, we’ve all gone crazy.” Check out this fun and important track here: https://jeeni.com/wat-a-ting-zeeteah-massiah/ And check out Zeeteah’s Jeeni showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/zeeteah-massiah/ Album review How can Jeeni support artists like Zeeteah Massiah? 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.

12
Mar

Barack Obama - His Tracks of 2020

Recently released via Instagram, Barack Obama - Tracks of 2020, the annual eclectic collection of music that accompanied his, and his family's day to day. In 2015, President Barack Obama was declared the only President you could reliably trust to DJ a party. An elder of the Hip-Hop Generation and still younger than Chuck D, he helped endorse American made music for the 21st Century. That year, he gave us a kind of 'Desert Island Discs' of the tracks which had got him to, and through two presidential terms. The list was in most part, exactly what you would expect from an educated man in his 50's. However, there were some interesting additions, including Bob Dylan's - 'Maggie's Farm', credited as the track to get him into the right mindset for the political season and the country track by Brad Paisley - 'Welcome to the Future', with Obama declaring himself accepting of the indelible impact country music has had on the USA. Since then, Obama has created an annual listing of his favourite tracks. For his tracks of 2020, he has 'fessed up to having help from his daughter Sasha, and together they have created another interesting collection of old and new. A few of Obama's tracks of 2020, have already been put in the 'Best of' spotlight by many music bloggers. Tracks like Dua Lipa’s - 'Levitating' [ft. DaBaby], Waxahatchee’s - 'Can’t Do Much' and Phoebe Bridgers’ - 'Kyoto'. Added into the mix is a little bit of country, with the next generation of Nashville stars, Ruston Kelly’s - 'Brave' and Chris Stapleton’s - 'Starting Over', plus some old school legends, including the President's go-to, Bob Dylan with 'Goodbye Jimmy Reed'. With over 34m followers on Instagram, it makes this list quite an appealing one to find your name on. Listen to Barack Obama's soundtrack for 2020, below. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX5gYucl3g9Ad?utm_source=embed_v2&go=1&play=1&nd=1

05
Jun

Love everything creative and want to be a blogger or a podcast creator?

Are you a professional music journalist or a music student who wants to expand your arena? Are you a collaborator or curator or a podcast creator who would like us to help you distribute your work globally? For each blog and podcast posted we will donate £10 to you and also promote your blog and podcast to all our members for FREE and encourage anyone that reads your blog or listens to your podcast to donate as well, on average bloggers an pod casters can earn from $800 to $2,000 a month. 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. 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 our members don't have to, and we grab the main highlights and takeaways to make it easy for them 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. If you fancy joining Team Jeeni as a blogger, pod caster or a contributor and want to find out more just drop me a line and we can start chatting.

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