Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

The CEO of Spotify is worth 2.5 billion, meanwhile, artists are paid next to nothing.

/ By Freya Devlin
The CEO of Spotify is worth 2.5 billion, meanwhile, artists are paid next to nothing.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has come under fire for claiming that musicians should be “recording and releasing music nonstop to make ends meet.” The CEO of Spotify is worth 2.5 billion, meanwhile, artists are paid next to nothing on the streaming giant. Many major artists have criticized the unfair revenue share, infamously Taylor Swift pulled all her music from the platform demanding better support and pay for musicians in 2014. Since more and more are expressing their views on the unfair treatment of artists on major streaming services.  

Pink Floyd said this about Spotify, “those services (Spotify and other streaming services) should fairly pay the artists and creators who make the music at the core of their businesses. For almost all working musicians, it's also a question of economic survival."

Beck said, “What Spotify pays me is not even enough to pay the musicians playing with me or the people working on the discs, It's not working. Something is going to have to give."

Tim Burgess, lead singer of the Charlatans tweeted “So many artists forced to take second jobs, give up flats because they can’t pay their rent all while getting decent numbers of plays on spotify – yet the owner has enough to bid for a premier league team. It just doesn’t seem ethical to me”

Music fans added "That is the state of play in the world, the artist, creators & writers can only go through these global corporates and get paid next to nothing and they get paid the most. It is true with the statement someone said. "Billionaires don't make a billion, they take a billion"

Here at Jeeni we're working hard to do everything opposite to these streaming services, by offering an ethical alternative where artists are supported and treated fairly all while keeping 100% of everything they make on our platform. That's why we have taken to Crowdcube so we can scale up and continue supporting artists and performers. Join our fast-growing family of investors, and grab your rewards as you help us reach our target! Check out our pitch here. https://bit.ly/3BhEeia

31
Jul

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.comjeeni.com/investjeeni.com/springstreet *Capital at Risk

04
Jun

Top Ten Tips on How To Promote your Music Independently

Let's set the scene. We believed there would be a load of "How to Videos..." giving expert advice to help musicians, artists and performers along their merry way. We thought just Google it and the rest would be simple. But the quality of what we have found raises the question, "how helpful are these videos really, and do musicians and performers use them"? Do these videos add real value? To find out more, we're asking the new 400 Unsigned Artist Community members what they think. Maybe they have found a video or a blog which changed their fortunes, and they are willing share and let us know why it had such an impact. Let's see how far this forum opens new discussions and debate. Having listened to Jasmine from Ditto in the video below, we started to think that our first job might be to start a discussion around "how to promote and market your work". So you don't have to watch the whole 7 minute video, we have just listed the headlines to get a discussion going. (approx. 60 seconds read time) 1. Making great music, music always comes first. 2. Play as often as you can, make them remember you. Put on a killer live show and make an impact. 3. Start locally, go nationally and then head out on tour. Ed Sheeran says he played at least a thoiusand shows, before he became known in the music industry. 4. Create a website and build a mailing list - which links to your music, bio, promo images, tour dates, mailing list and sign-up form. 5. Get your social media sorted! Keep a consistent brand identity! Include competitions, polls, track snippets, press shots, backstage videos. Use targeted social adds, do not use mass advertising. 6. Check out what other successful performers are doing and learn from them, rather than starting from scratch. 7. Get your tracks PLAYLISTED. 8. Manage your own PR and contact journalists directly. Create an Electronic Press Kit, write a press release, upload your music, send to bloggers & journalists. 9. Surround yourself by the right people. Just because you are independent, that does not mean you have to do everything on your own. 10. Know your audience and focus on your niche! So that's it folks, let's create our own list and add value to this vital conversation. If you would like to join the new Unsigned Artists Community check us out and send in a request to join today. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2529935880656436/?source_id=459365401133253 https://vimeo.com/396502327

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.”