THE STATUS OF MY STREAMING

Greetings Peeps, 

I am sitting here, not believing that we are already halfway through November. It has been a year that no one on this planet who lived through it will ever forget. Thanksgiving is coming up, and I am quickly reminded of all and who, for which I am grateful. I will save that e-mail for another day because today I want to update you on my Live Streaming, or should I say lack thereof, as of late. But in case you are wondering, yes, I am very grateful for Live Streaming.

Being able to live stream on Facebook over this past spring and summer was a new, sometimes stressful, but invigorating learning experience. It allowed me to connect with and sing and play for some people who never get a chance to see me perform live, for whatever reason. That alone, to me, was a priceless perk for the streaming format. It was great to connect live with people I rarely get to sing to and communicate with. I was also able to make many new fans and friends from around the globe. That was a huge benefit. Another massive plus for me was that through my friends' and listeners' kind generosity, I made enough money to get me through the initial few months of being isolated and put entirely out of work by Covid. I cannot exaggerate nearly how important that was and how grateful I am to all of my friends and listeners who have helped me out. As we all know, the music industry has been severely crippled, almost destroyed. Many thousands upon thousands of people in the industry, aside from entertainers, are still out of work. Again, I feel grateful to have a platform to express myself, make some money, and reach those who care about me and my music. 

While nearly all of my paying concerts with A1A, Abba Mania, and myself were canceled, postponed, or rescheduled for 2021, I did have a handful left in September and October. Those shows and several unexpected life events left me with little to no time to prepare for my weekly Facebook Live Events. You would not believe how much time goes into these shows behind the scene. Heck, if I had known that from the beginning, I might not have scheduled so many. It got to be a full-time job relatively quickly. But lucky for me, a job that I enjoyed immensely. 

I have had many people get in touch with me stating how very much they miss my weekly Facebook Live events on Saturday night and wanting to know when I would resume them. Well, now that October (my favorite month) is over, I still find myself with a very full plate. Since November 2, I have been in the studio working on my next album. I will be returning home on November 23. So looking at things, the earliest I could get back to Live Streaming would be in December.

As everyone is undoubtedly aware, COVID-19 is increasing, and the music industry is still in a horrible and unpredictable state. As for my current status, I do not have a paying gig with myself, A1A, or ABBA MANIA until next June - which means no income. I am far from alone, of course. Facebook has also changed their streaming policies making it more difficult to stream, play cover tunes, and earn money. I am still looking into that, but I am also looking into other services that are more helpful to the artist. Services like Patreon and Disctopia are two that I am looking into. I am also looking into Periscope, Instagram Live, YouTube Live, and Zoom. I would love to have the opinion and thoughts of you, the listener, and the fan. I am all ears. Please let me know your views, opinions, and suggestions based on your past experience with my Facebook Live Events. I hope to be singing again for you come Christmas time. 

Thank you again for being part of my dream, 
        Jeff
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​www.patreon.com/
disctopia.com/
​Periscope