What is Music Without Collaborations?

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Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

What is Music Without Collaborations?

What is music without collaborations? We all know the collaborations that have shaped our musical tastes, Lennon and McCartney, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Even the Strauss brothers worked together on classical orchestral pieces in the late 1800's. The choices are infinite and across all music genres. Whether in the writing or the production, two heads can be better than one.

Dr Dre and Snoop Dog - Music Collaborators

Within the industry, the 'business' side is also benefitting from collaborating. Last summer, we were delighted to announce the strategic alliance between Jeeni and California-based AmplifyX, the only FINRA and SEC compliant platform that allows investors to build a portfolio by directly funding musicians. The alliance was arranged by Kelli Richards, Jeeni Managing Director USA, who was mentored by Steve Jobs at Apple where she launched and managed the Apple Music and Entertainment division.

This alliance gave a major advantage to Jeeni in the USA, our most important global territory in terms of artists and revenues. We gained access to more rising stars along with their followers and fanbases, with mutually advantageous joint promotions and publicity. The partnership will officially kicked off with a global streamed concert, featuring our 10 most popular artists from both sides of the Atlantic, and will be co-branded between Jeeni and AmplifyX.

Co-founder of AmplifyX, Bobby Kamaris said, “Our companies run in an adjacent space helping independent artists, and our philosophies and motives are very very close. What you guys at Jeeni have done in putting it together and launching is actually incredible.”

CEO of AmplifyX Adam Cowherd added, "Did you know that artists take home only 12% of the $43 billion spent on music annually, according to Citigroup? [1] The hip-hop artist Russ put it perfectly when he said, 'The music business isn’t set up for the artists to get rich. It’s set up for everyone else to get rich off the artists.' [2]

When the mechanics of the music industry are broken down, we see just how many hands are in the pot: record labels, managers, producers, booking agents, and streaming platforms. A report by Ernst & Young highlighted the post-tax payouts of streaming revenue and identified that record labels are taking nearly 75% of the payout. [3] Why are artists today signing with record labels?"

Founding Director Shena Mitchell adds, "Working with AmplifyX, is an exciting opportunity for Jeeni to develop strong relations with USA partners. AmplifyX is focused on building a new framework to fund independent artists with their unique platform for artists to raise capital from nontraditional sources. Our visions are entirely complementary and aligned."

Jeeni, is the social music platform that brings artists closer to their fans, and shares revenue ethically. Become a member and build your showcase to promote your work and earn from it, or join as a fan and know that your money is going to the people who are entertaining you with their talents.

www.jeeni.com

www.amplifyx.com

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10
Mar

Artist Pairing Success with Ariana May and Daisy Chute

Pioneers of Jeeni’s new artist pairing initiative, Daisy Chute and Ariana May sit down with Jeeni’s Ella Venvell to trade advice, take notes and reflect on the ups and downs of an independent music career. The aim of Jeeni’s artist pairing initiative is to create a supportive connection between like-minded musicians as a platform for them to encourage and uplift each other during their ongoing journeys in music. Last week, singer-songwriters, Ariana and Daisy provided a perfect blueprint for the initiative. Having already worked on six projects spanning from 2005, award-winning singer-songwriter Daisy Chute had reams of invaluable tips and experience. Despite occasionally claiming that she had ran out of decent advice, in actuality, Daisy’s insight was vast and clearly very helpful to theatrical pop prodigy, Ariana who seemed to hang on to every word. Daisy recommended that Ariana should embrace promotion tools, merchandise, CDs, social media techniques and live streaming, all of which has proved to be effective devices for Daisy’s journey in music. We listened together to Ariana’s enchanting ‘Suffolk Bay’, a moving, transportive new single featuring Ariana’s delicate, flickering vocal performance, reminiscent of The Cranberries’ late Dolores O’Riordan. A more prominent influence, as pointed out by Daisy is art pop royalty Kate Bush who, like Ariana, also began her career at just 16 years old. Daisy currently opts for more traditional, folk acoustic instruments for her newest project, ‘Songs of Solace’, a heartfelt and sentimental EP which guides the listener ‘through the beginning, middle and end of a relationship’. The two artists overlap in their tendencies for poetic story-telling and embrace of traditional instrumentation, however a key difference in their styles is the tone, or mood that these artists convey. Daisy presents an acoustic warmth and comfort with sweeping folk strings and guitar plucking, whereas Ariana’s singles currently have an almost chilling tone of drama and theatre whilst also being a pleasant listening experience. With our first venture into the initiative, Daisy Chute and Ariana May provided a model example of how it should pan out; constructive and invaluable support between artists. As Daisy put it, “It was lovely to meet Ariana and hear her music and story. I told her a bit about my music and journey in the industry and gave her any tips I’ve picked up along the way. I hope it will help her with her own musical journey and that she’ll find success now and in the future.” We at Jeeni can’t wait to bring more artists together and form a stronger collaborative and supportive community with our platform. Both of these Jeeniuses have brand new EPs, out now. How can Jeeni support artists like Ariana and Daisy? 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 Daisy Chute's page on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/?s=daisy+chute Check out Ariana May's page on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/?s=ariana+may

04
May

Ariana May - ‘First Love’ Album Review

Ariana May’s first instrumental album is a delicate and stirring collection of piano excellence. Ariana May has been a vital Jeeni member for a while now and has developed an incredibly in-depth and fascinating showcase full of art-pop and remarkable talent. Recently, she has uploaded the entirety of her new instrumental album, ‘First Love’ on to Jeeni. Listen now via Ariana’s showcase available here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/arianamay/. As sweet and melodic her voice is, Ariana’s choice of expressing her compositions purely through her piano means that the structures are much more freeing and aren’t constricted to modern pop’s verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus forms. Her musicianship flows almost spontaneously; tempo decreases and increases as Ariana sees fit and phrases are fluid in length and timbre. The titles are excellent tonal suggestions as they act as a sort of starting point of picturing the imagery that Ariana clearly has in mind during both composing and performing these dramatic and theatrical pieces. Ariana May shows a real knack for cinematographic songwriting as it’s not difficult at all to imagine any one of these pieces as a perfect accompaniment for a location-setting scene in cinema. The final track, ‘Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow’ is exceptional, especially considering the tonal balance Ariana creates. A moody left hand mostly mumbles in a depressed, constant rotation of dark notes; meanwhile, the right is desperately trying to sound uplifting and optimistic through bright, ascending melodies and phrases. The two parts feel like two characters that are trying to influence the other to behave more like them at different moments of the piece, showing a vivid internal conflict, hence the ‘Sweet Sorrow’ in the title. The changes between these mindsets are sudden and frantic, a perfect representation of a troubled mind. What’s special about these types of projects is that a breakdown or analysis of these compositions could easily be miles from what Ariana had envisioned when writing it, but the freedom given to the listener with a vague title and complete absence of lyrics allows your imagination to fill in gaps and colour in the compositions with meaning and intention that makes most sense to you; it becomes personal. Throughout 'First Love', Ariana constantly shows an unprecedented level of emotion and control in her playing through her soft and poignant broken chords and melodies. Check out the entirety of this enchanting record on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/arianamay/

12
Mar

Crunch Time for Festivals

January 2021 is going to be crunch time for festivals. In this still, uncertain time, the organisers of the UK's biggest events remain on a knife edge about festivals being able to go-ahead. Michael Eavis has pinned his hopes on mass vaccination of the country, so Glastonbury can still happen this year. He received his jab, just before new year. Whilst Emily Eavis has been countering claims their festival has already been cancelled and confirming tickets will be rolled over to 2022. Micheal Eavis at Glastonbury - Photo: Getty UK Music have shared a new report, Let the Music Play: Save Our Summer 2021, outlining their recommendations for how to restart the UK’s live music industry. As MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee open their inquiry into ‘The future of UK music festivals’ today (January 5), UK Music – whose CEO Jamie Njoku-Goodwin is among those set to give evidence to the inquiry stating the document “outlines a clear strategy to protect and support the multi-billion pound live music industry so it is ready to restart when safe to do so later this year”. Read the report below: https://www.ukmusic.org/assets/general/Let_The_Music_Play_Save_Our_Summer_2021.pdf “The music industry has worked hard to make event spaces as safe as they can possibly be,” UK Music said in a statement accompanying the new report. “This includes launching testing pilots to be able to hold mass events safely, working with government to develop guidance for how to hold events safely, and looking at new ventilation and air purification systems that would dramatically reduce the risk of transmission. “But there is no certainty about when the industry will be allowed to hold mass events once again.” The report warns that the lack of coronavirus cancellation insurance is “the biggest barrier to major events happening in 2021”, and calls on the UK Government to implement an insurance scheme as it has done for the film and TV sector. Key action points in the report are, “an indicative date for a full capacity restart” for venues and festivals, a government-backed indemnity scheme and targeted financial support for the live music industry. UK Music are also calling for an extension to the VAT rate reduction on tickets, a rollover of the paid 2020 Local Authority licence fees for festivals to 2021 and an extension to business rates relief. Up to 50% of the festival workforce faces possible redundancy if the 2021 season is cancelled and a report by the Musicians' Union stated 71% of musicians were considering leaving the sector or were unsure if they would continue. According to Steve Heap, the general secretary of the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), major music festivals would have to make a decision about their 2021 editions this month. Smaller festivals, however, could put off cancelling until April. Though the pandemic is still wreaking havoc across the UK the crunch time is definitely, now. The industry and the fans need to know!

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