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

10
Jun

Jeeni a more robust music ecosystem for everyone.

The music industry is at a critical inflection point. After years of declining sales and waning fan enthusiasm, the rise of streaming has ushered in a new golden era for an industry that has benefited artists, songwriters, copyright owners, and fans alike. In 2019, streaming was the engine driving revenue growth in the US music industry for the fifth consecutive year. Download the 2020 Streaming Forward report, featuring the latest updates on streaming’s role in the music industry, how digital discovery is elevating new artists and genres, and what we can expect ahead. The Evolution of the music industry over the the last two decades has been staggering. The rise of streaming has revolutionized all facets of music, empowering artists and creators by expanding their access to fans, allowing music listeners to seamlessly connect with their favorite songs whenever and wherever they want, and driving new music choice and creativity. For fans, copyright owners, and creators alike, the positive impact of this evolution has been monumental: with total music stream reaching the one trillion mark in 2019, fans are listening to more music than ever before, and the industry is enjoying a multi-year growth cycle driven by the streaming economy. Over the next seven years the streaming revolution will only grow more powerful. Fast-forwarding we can expect: Forecasts remain just that of the industry's trajectory in the future. While the impacts of Covid-19 are still being felt, and have undoubtedly impacted the music industry, we can expect streaming growth to continue. What we cannot forecast is what new music consumption behaviors might surprise us, and new innovations by the streaming services that we have not begun to see. But with growing optimism and increasing inward investment attracted by the streaming-driven hyper growth, the music industry is experiencing boom times – for consumers,record labels and publishers and most of all creators. Click here to view the 2020 Streaming Forward Report. Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

06
Jun

Huawei to Hell

Today, Jeeni returns to Crowdcube to raise more funds for helping new talent. Jeeni founding director Mel Croucher says, “We’re ahead of our original schedule, but there’s still so much more to do. We need to scale our online platform globally now and build our mass artist showcases to hit all our targets, and give our new artists the recognition they deserve.” If you want to see our pitch click HERE. Mel has been writing the best-loved column in top-selling tech magazines for over 30 years. Now he’s agreed to share his work with our members. He’s a video games pioneer and musician, and to to find out more about Mel check out his Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Croucher. Here’s Mel’s latest! Trade wars are dangerous. When tariffs are imposed, and when sanctions get slapped on, and when one nation ceases to trade with another nation, then a trade war has a funny habit of turning into a real war. And here we all are, slap bang in the middle of a lulu of a trade war between the world’s two most powerful states. This is a trade war that’s not based on essentials like oil, or wheat, or toilet paper, but a trade war based on the pixies and fairy-dust of software algorithms. One day a peace treaty is waved, next day missiles are launched. Here is what happened in the future. The proxy war between the Donald Trump and Boris Johnson axis against Xi Jinping didn’t affect me much, seeing as I had never owned a Huawei handset. I admit that I did find some comfort in the fact that cellphone zombies became totally bereft at the prospect of not being able to view TikTok on their little Chinese screens. All I could say to those morons was - suck it up guys, you had it coming! In the first few hours of the Huawei denial of service attacks, the bewilderment and confusion of being unable to access social media apps soon turned to anger. This was triggered by the fact that the masses were unable to access social media apps to tell one another that they could not access social media apps. They soon realised they couldn’t remember any contact details of any of their virtual friends, or why they were virtual friends in the first place. Neither could they remember where they were, or where anything else was, or how to find their way around the real world at all. And without the Uber app they found themselves physically marooned within the perimeters of their ignorance. Deliveroo failed to respond the following day, so to avoid starvation, people who had a strong sense of smell managed to find their way to MacDonalds. But the computers were down and riots began when the Cola ran out, as slow-motion customers blamed Covid19 for the fact that China and the USA were having a software spat. That night, the younger, more active elements of society went on the rampage and looted Tescos for pot noodles, which was a total waste of effort because the electric kettles no longer worked, thanks to smart-meter reliance on dodgy apps. Tuesday evening, after martial law and compulsory prayers, the county lines failed to supply recreational drugs to their app-driven client base, and hospitals were targeted to fill the gap in the market. Amusing video clips of the descent into chaos were not shared, not because of any sense of social responsibility but because Instagram was kaput. This added to the howling rage of the mob more than somewhat. Then, not long after the dogs began to disappear, the hunting of the weak began, and there was the smell of woodsmoke and bacon in the air. On a more positive note, a lot of overweight people slimmed down fast and learned new skills like shadow puppetry and crossbow production. And so it was that all those predictions how civilisation would end as the result of electro-magnetic-pulse attacks turned out to be wrong. There was no need to launch missiles, zap communications or fry every electronic circuit in the land. All it took was an old man with an orange face to start a pissing contest. The irony that the old man’s preferred means of communication was Twitter is not lost on me, but then I don’t need Google Maps to tell me that we’re all up shit creek without a paddle. And that, dear reader, is how come we all ended up on the Huawei to Hell.

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!