Zeeteah Massiah on Music, Performing and Life during 2020

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Zeeteah Massiah on Music, Performing and Life during 2020

Zeeteah Massiah is a Number One Billboard Dance Chart star who specialises in Reggae, Jazz and house music. Like many artists, the last year has provided many challenges for Zeeteah, but also a host of new opportunities and ventures that would have never otherwise have been possible. We asked her to tell us about her experiences over the last year whilst we count down to Jeeni's online JAM festival.

It’s been the craziest year ever, but we’ve made it through thirteen months in and out of lockdown. At the beginning of 2020, I unveiled a brand-new sound and a wicked new band, and I was full of high hopes for the year. I was excited and ready to go. And then Covid hit.

It took me three weeks into the first lockdown to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t be going on stage again for a long time. I was in a fog for weeks and then I thought: just because I can’t be on stage doesn’t mean I can’t make music. I suddenly had an impulse to record a new version of an old song that I’ve always loved – United We Stand by Brotherhood of Man. It seemed so right for that moment. Paul, my husband and musical partner, understood immediately the sound I was looking for, and we set to work in our studio.

Three of my favourite musicians played on the track – remotely, of course – and family and friends in London, Germany and the Caribbean filmed lovely cameos for the video. It was such fun to do, and it got a wonderful response. You can check it out on Jeeni.

And then a man called George Floyd died in Minnesota, and we were all plunged into a very different mood.

I didn’t realise how painful many of my feelings about race were, and how deeply they were buried, until I started telling Paul, with tears in my eyes, about growing up in London as a young black girl from Barbados. I was constantly made to feel a certain way simply because of the colour of my skin. Here we are in 2021 and, sadly, many things are still the same.

At one point I blurted out to Paul, “You don’t know how it feels to be Black”. He took those words and turned them into a song called You Don’t Know. We recorded it and made the video in July. It’s one of the most heartfelt things I’ve done, and I’ve been amazed by the incredible response it’s had and so grateful for the wonderful feedback.

I did manage to squeeze in three London gigs in the gaps between the lockdowns: a reggae gig in Chelsea, and jazz gigs in Hampstead and in the West End. Better than nothing – and in fact, they were all lovely events.

When it became clear that there weren’t going to be any more gigs, I decided to start doing live sessions at home with some of my favourite musicians and sharing them on YouTube. And so, the Massiah Sessions were born. We’ve released nine videos so far, in a variety of styles, and there are more to come.

I was also invited to add vocals to a new rock album by a dear friend in Germany. Thanks, Günther – it was a blast.

In February, I did a livestream with guitarist Marcin Bobkowski for a charity called Educ’aid Africa, run by Isa Bell, which is helping to provide music education to schools in Benin. A recent DNA test revealed that many of my ancestors were from Benin, and so the project had a special meaning for me. It was my first livestream, and I loved it.

I’m going to be doing another one on 10 April, and hopefully regularly after that – join us at zeestream.live if you can!

And so now here we are, approaching the end of what we pray will be the final lockdown. And soon I’ll be back on stage in front of a live audience doing what I love best. My first live gig of 2021 will be on Thursday 27 May at Crazy Coqs in London’s West End.

Maybe see you there?

In the meantime, I wish you all the best for what will, hopefully, end up being a much better year.

Zeeteah will also be performing in the JAM festival which is a collaboration between Jeeni, AmplifyX and MultiView Media and will be held at 12 noon Los Angeles time, 8pm London time on Saturday April 10th 2021. To find out more about the JAM Festival check out our events on Facebook. https://fb.me/e/1etPauFMV

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26
Mar

Jeeni Live Music Festival

By Kelli Richards: Jeeni USA MD I’ve decided that I’m going to write blogs periodically about some of the cool clients I’m fortunate enough to work with. One of them is a UK-based venture called JEENI run by long-time client, colleague and friend — Mel Croucher; a legend in the UK games industry. Simply put, JEENI is a multi-channel streaming service for independent musicians and performers, providing a unique showcase to put undiscovered talent in front of a global audience. JEENI artists get to keep 100% of everything they earn from the sale of their music and merchandise. JEENI audiences are given the power to vote, donate and be rewarded too. JEENI treats its members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. Their numbers have been growing steadily over the past year or so, and this past weekend they ran a Live Music Festival featuring some of the amazing musicians in the global community. As an homage to my former A&R role at EMI, I was really impressed with the talent of several of the featured artists. The highlights reel runs about an hour, and that’s time well spent to discover some wonderful talent and be entertained by artists you others might not hear about — not yet anyway. It’s quite an eclectic line-up but some of my personal favorites from this festival include: red-headed wunderkind Harvie Joy, teen guitar virtuoso Toby Lee, vocalist Jem Cooke who appears to be channeling Adele, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Gerendas, and a spine-tingling track from Zeeteeah Massiah. I promise if you invest an hour in watching this online music festival, you’ll be very pleasantly rewarded. And consider joining JEENI as well! The incredible talented Zeeteah Massiah who starred in the Festival will be playing at The Crazy Cogs on Thursday the 8th of October 2020, if you fancy seeing her gig live. https://www.brasseriezedel.com/crazy-coqs/

04
Jun

Inside Story with Blue Vein

Blue Vein is the stage name of Spanish Singer and Songwriter Alex Gonzalez. He is based in Zaragoza, Spain and performed his new track ‘Catharsis’ in the JAM Festival collaboration in April. Alex is sat in his living room, his signature long dark curls framing a cheeky smile which delightedly remains throughout the interview with team Jeeni member Kate. Kate asks what the story behind his latest release is. “Basically, I really really liked a girl,” he says smiling, “I wanted to express and portray in a song all these feeling that I was going through, the song talks about that, it’s something that lots of people can relate to, and also the phrase in the chorus ‘this is my catharsis’ [refers to] the fact that no matter how sad I am or what difficult times I’m in, my music and writing songs is always there for me and it’s so liberating and a key element for me to have [in my life] in order to be happy.” The video that accompanied the track was a brilliant and eclectic mix of colour and movement. When asked about the creative process behind making the video, his response was, “It was a bit chaotic because at first I was very lost, I had in mind the vibes that I wanted for the clothes, but that was it so normally when you do a video you have in mind the order that you want the shots to be in and you create a storyboard, but, I didn’t,” again he laughs, “and so yes it was very chaotic. What I did was buy the clothes, and a huge reel of green fabric to create the comic effect via a green screen, and then I shot everything in a bit of a rush, using different camera angles, and then in post editing I chose the shots that I thought fit the best.” Despite the chaotic nature of the video shooting, we all agreed it was a huge success and loved the feel that the video gave alongside the track. Alex is also a member of two other bands, The Sun Above Us and Shut, despite this, he continues to release music as a solo artist as well. Kate asks why he decided to make this decision. “I love being in bands, I think that playing with and creating with other people that you love and that inspire you can be the most enriching thing, but our friend Covid”he grimaces, “came and there were no rehearsals, no concerts, so we barely play now.” The disappointment is evident on his face and it’s so sad to see. He continues, “so the Covid situation made me write more songs on my own, and actually it made me worry less, “his smile returns, “as when you’re in a band you [tend] to stick with a certain genre and even a certain language as I also write in Spanish [so this allowed me more freedom].” Alex is from the North East of Spain, a country which has so many distinct musical and cultural influences, Kate asks how these influences have shaped him as an artist. “To be honest I don’t know! I’ve always listened to Spanish music, my parents always played me rock from the 70s, 80s and 90s and I guess I’ve been influenced by choice of melodies and sounds and in that way that’s how I think it has influenced me.” One thing that we notice throughout the interview is that despite Alex’s heritage, he has a very clear English Accent, Kate asks how he came to develop this. Alex throws his fantastic head of hair back and laughs, “Thank you! I don’t know, I’ve always really liked the British accent, so I just practiced and tried to imitate it, but does it sound real, do I sound fake?” Kate smiles and says that she thinks he sounds like David Bowie which I am in complete agreement with! They both laugh and smile at this and Alex blushes a little at the compliment. “Did you always know you wanted to make music?” Kate asks. “Yes! Since I started playing it was like a dream. With Blue Vein I can mix it with my other passion, which is film making, I suck a bit at that but it’s fun.” When asked if he had the opportunity to open a show for any musician, alive or dead, who would it be, he answers, “Well, I don’t think it would fit [very well] because of the genre, but Architects…a British metalcore band in Brighton, they’re basically my favourite band, and even if it was just so I could see them live, I would die to open for them!” They both laugh at the fact that despite Kate attending University in Brighton, she is bashful that she hasn’t heard of them before but promises Alex, she’ll give them a listen. For new artists that are just starting out and who in the future could take part in events such as Jeeni’s JAM Festival, Kate asks what advice Alex would give to them. “It might sound a bit cliché, but you really have to believe in what you do, and understand why you do what you do, because having a defined purpose is going to [allow you to] be driven by it, and not just be motivated to get to an end point, but if you are driven by it, you’re not going to let anything stop you. That and a lot of love and effort. I’d love to give you advice for social media but [I’m not big enough for that yet].” He laughs. Finally, Kate asks what we can expect from Blue Vein in the near future. “Literally anything! When I write songs, I don’t think in any genre, I have deathcore songs, I have soft Spanish ballads, I don’t want any limits on my creations…The next song is going to be an acoustic version of ‘Catharsis’, then a rock ballad in Spanish, and I want to try release soe of my Spanish songs in English as an alternative as well.” To find out more about Blue Vein, listen to his music and invest, please visit https://jeeni.com/showcase/bluevein/

01
Aug

4 reasons why the current music-streaming model is not working.

The global pandemic has exposed major problems in streamed music. Musicians couldn't tour or give live performances, so they have become reliant on revenue from their recorded music. Now, a shocking inquiry by the UK Government shows that even successful, critically acclaimed artists cannot live off their streaming revenue. But there is an alternative. Jeeni is a platform that puts control back into the artist's hands. On Jeeni, performers and creatives keep 100% of everything they earn, and thousands of artists are already on board, with an audience outreach that has grown to over two million. In fact Jeeni's growth has been so successful that they have turned to crowdfunding to expand their capacity to meet demand, and raised over £61,000 in a few days. The Government report reveals 4 reasons why the current music streaming model is not working: 1. Even successful artists get pitiful returns from streaming Fair reward is a performer's right to share in the recording revenues of a song by law, regardless of their royalty rates and their outstanding debts. However, streaming means that performers are paid according to the terms of their record deal. Depending on when they started out in their careers, their royalties can fall to as low as 2%. At Jeeni the artists get to keep 100% of everything they make, no limits. 2. Pay disparity between song and record rightsholders The current revenue share from streaming gives the record label the majority of a track's revenue. This comes from a model that applied to physical sales, where labels had overheads such as manufacturing, storing and transporting CDs, cassettes and vinyl. This leaves songwriters and publishers with the smallest share of revenue, even though they are vital to the creative process. Music creators and publishers are furious with this model. It's outdated and unfair because these overheads don't apply to digital music production. 3. Just three major music companies control the majority of the market Digital piracy and new technologies like streaming have disrupted the traditional music industry, and led to a state of play where three major labels now have a 75% share of the UK recording market. They also dominate music publishing, which is the part of the industry that deals with the rights to the words and music of a track. Jeeni's CEO & Founding Director Dr Shena Mitchell says, "Although technology has moved on, the approach is still the same as the bad old days, where streaming platforms act more like A&R agents and only select the music they like, dictating what listeners get to hear. At Jeeni we are very proud that our vision is based on democracy, where we give all artists the opportunity to post their videos and showcase their talent, for us to market them to a global audience". 4. 'Safe harbour' and copyright infringement 'Safe harbour' lets tech companies that host artist's content get away with being criminally and financially liable for copyright infringement. This allows users to consume music for free, and it creates a so-called 'value gap', because revenues for music from ad-funded services are significantly less than those from paid-for services. Here at Jeeni we refuse to take any advertising unless it's by an artist for their own tracks or services, and we make sure our artists retain all copyright and ownership of their own tracks. If you like the sound of what we do, then check out Jeeni's campaign HERE and join the list of supporters and celebrities who are flocking to the cause. You can invest from as little as £10 to claim your share, be part of the Jeeni success, and say NO to creative performers getting ripped off. *Capital At Risk

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