Though there are a growing number of recording artists from all areas of the music world that are becoming more vociferous in their criticism of Spotify about its minuscule royalty payments, most of them will nevertheless concede that streaming is the most effective way to build, expand and develop their audiences in the current age.
The advent of streaming and its exponential surge in popularity has given rise to a variety of music-related streaming platforms but to date, very few specialist ones – jazzed, however, launched in 2020, which has its own app, bucks the trend, and, as its name intimates, it’s devoted to the music that pioneering figures like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane helped to make famous in the 20th century and which musicians like Robert Glasper, Nubya Garcia, and Sons Of Kemet are taking forward today into the 21st.
jazzed can be accessed for free, which offers a taster of its ethos and what it’s about, but it’s ad-driven and there are limits on the content you can access. But if you’re not averse to paying £5.99 a month, you can access jazzed’s ad-free premium tier (jazzed + ), which is an experience akin to opening the gates to jazz heaven. It offers a smorgasbord of musical delights; instead of the ten channels offered by the free version, you can access a whopping 50. jazzed + allows you to stream live gigs, view videos of concerts – both contemporary and classic – watch documentary films, and tune into themed audio playlists that draw from a library of over 10 million tracks. There’s also strong editorial content that offers myriad written articles by renowned jazz experts.
As well as being a deep repository of a wide range of stunning archive material, jazzed also has its finger firmly on the pulse of all the new developments in jazz and gives you vital news and reviews of all the latest albums and trends as well as interviews with rising stars of the genre. It also encompasses jazz’s close cousins, blues and soul music, offering playlists that range from rhythm and blues to neo-soul and rare groove.
Navigating jazzed’s web player or downloadable app is easy, thanks to a user-friendly interface that is clear and straightforward and allows you to personalise the content and build your own library of music. So whether your favourite jazz tipple is Yusef Lateef or Gregory Porter, John Coltrane, or Kamasi Washington, jazzed is your one-stop store for all things jazz-related. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a casual jazz fan or a knowledgeable aficionado of the idiom, jazzed caters to all tastes and demographics.
(CW)
