Who is Penny

Penny

Interview conducted Jan. 17, 2022

by Dan Locke

Penny is a 16-year old girl from northern Sweden that writes radio pop ballads with strong melodies and a powerful message. Singing and listening to music has always been a comforting oasis for Penny that started writing songs with her father at an early age. While going through a rough patch recently, she wrote a song fueled by the frustration of not being heard and understood.

You are a 16-year-old artist from Sweden. What is your upbringing?

I been brought up together with many siblings, an older half-brother that is 25 today, two younger brothers that are 11, 13 years old, and a sister at the age of 9. I also lost my first baby brother who died when he was born so I come from a family that have been through both tragedy and a lot of fun.  I have fantastic parents that have been a huge support for me. They have always believed in and trusted me so I feel I’ve had a safe, fun and loving upbringing.  

How did you discover music?

I’ve been singing since before I could talk. I don’t know why but according to my parents, I have ALWAYS been singing and loved listening to music. The first thing I can remember is probably watching my father perform at the main stage at a music festival back home. Shortly after that, I did my own first performance together with some friends from school or kindergarten. I will not mention the artist or the song we performed as I am taking that to the grave with me. Hopefully no videos from these events will ever become public 🙂

You write and produce original songs with your dad.  How did you get started?

My dad and I started singing songs together while he played the guitar. I cannot remember what kind of songs, but I remember this one time when we were sitting upstairs in our house and for some reason started writing a song. I was about 12 years old then, so it was probably mostly my dad doing the writing. However, I remember I had many thoughts about the topic and which words that sounded good to sing and which did not. I guess it slowly grew from that until I went through a tough time at school about a year ago. Writing a song about that incident was an important way for me to process things and find some strength in a period of extreme sense of weakness and sorrow. We did that together and started recording it in our kitchen on a simple laptop. We were so proud about the result and that led to the release of my debut Good bye.  

How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?

I actually bought my first own guitar less than a year ago when I started music high school. So playing guitar is something that’s pretty new to me. It’s a Yamaha TransAcoustic and I totally love it, with built in reverb and chorus. I think it’s so fun to play compared to a regular acoustic guitar.   

Describe your music.

I guess a lot of people would call my music sad, but I don’t think at it like that. I think there is hope in listening to other people that have gone through similar things as yourself. Therefore, I listen to and am inspired by a lot of music like that. I would say I write singer-songwriter pop with the purpose of sharing experiences and spreading hope. I like to have some build up and power in my songs as well as the lyric often is a story with a somewhat hopeful ending. When it comes to instrumentation, I really like grand pianos and strings, so they are often involved as well. 

What was your first performance at like?

I started pursuing this career in the middle of the pandemic so live performances has not been something we have even thought about. Before that, I have performed on local fairs, events, and such but never with my own songs. 

Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are being paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.

Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?

I am connected to STIM in Sweden

What makes a good songwriter?

I would say the most important thing is the feeling behind a song. You can have the best voice in the world, the perfect chord progression or melody, but if you can’t get that feeling across to the listener, it’s not as interesting to me at least. There’s a difference between great songwriters and great artists of course but I’m mostly into singer-songwriter artist that write and perform about things on their mind.  Artists that aren’t just commercial products, even if that might sound harsh. I want to be able to connect with the artists I listen to.   

What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?

I don’t think it had a title and I think we might have made some phone recordings but that’s basically it. It was a song about how easy it can be to act the wrong way when you get hurt. Probably connected to something I had been through, but I can’t remember what it was to be honest.

Tell me about your debut single “Good Bye”?

I think I have always been nice to others and been good at sticking to the truth at all times. Moreover, that’s something I think you should expect from your friends. Suddenly I was accused of doing something I didn’t do. I didn’t even know what, but from one day to another people turned their backs at me just because a rumor from one of the more popular guys at school. It’s really disturbing how easy it is for people to judge when judging keep them popular and appreciated. I was basically collateral damage because someone needed a story, and I had to live with that a whole year in school. The worst year of my life. I had no friends left to talk to so my only comfort was music, and the support from my family. I really hope people will learn to check facts and dare to ask instead of just believing the popular narrative. I have never felt so useless, and I hope no one will ever need to go through what I did. Sadly, I know people do and will, and that hurts me inside.

Why did you decide to follow “Good Bye” with a cover “Another Day in Paradise”?

For some reason, we started playing that on our porch a late summer night. I loved the song right away and I think it was my dad that said; maybe we should do a cover on this. He has always loved that song apparently. One thing led to another and when we tried recording it, we felt right away that we found a sound that suited me really well.  

Tell me about the creation of “Another Day in Paradise”

 Another Day in Paradise was the first song that we actually recorded totally by ourselves, in our home studio that we completed just before that recording. The great thing with that was that we were in total control of everything, which really felt important to me. With Good Bye, we had some fantastic help from an engineer and producer but also left the sound and production over to someone else and that did not really work for me. I certainly do not have the competence to record and produce but I have many things on my mind that I can and want to express. For that to work I need to be in an environment will full control so working from home with my dad that I trust and feel totally secure with is the best right now.   

How was it to work with Andreas Ahlenius?

Amazing! He has a way of understanding and interpreting me that I think is wonderful. And when I feedback his work he always understands what I mean and feel although I sometimes have a hard time explaining it in technical or musical terms. He just makes me and my songs sound amazing. I haven’t got a clue how he does it but he does.

What are you’re feeling about streaming music?

It’s basically the only thing I know. I have not experienced anything else as far as I can remember anyway. 

The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag. 

Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?

I didn’t know it was connected to music until I started music high school last fall. And I think it’s the same for all people that don’t play an instrument or read sheet music. I’m guessing now of course but I think it’s really depending on who you are and what you do. 

Digital vs. vinyl?

What is vinyl? No, I’m kidding, but seriously, I’m not sure if I’ve even seen a vinyl IRL. 

What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?

 If you don’t like by Chloe Adams. It’s about the need to believe in yourself, not being someone other people wants you to be. But the person YOU want to be or become. You don’t need anyone else’s permission or approval to be who you are. You are your one and only, as she sings.

If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?

Oh that’s such a huge question. The pandemic has changed a lot and I think some things will never be the same again. I hope that things will start to cool down a bit soon though as I don’t think we should keep shutting down the world because of this. 

Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist career?

I don’t think it’s been a plus to anyone to be honest. 

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

In Sweden the lock downs have not been as bad as in many other places and kids and youth have been able to have a relatively normal lives, staying in school and such. So, I haven’t felt like I’ve been in quarantine really. 

How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?

I’ve been able to keep riding my horses which is a lot of physical and mental training. I’ve even competed in horse jump competitions during the pandemic. I actually won my first competition last summer and that was great fun although there was no audience, just family precent. 

Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?

Music and horses is basically all I do. I love to play video games when I get the time though, so I’ve played some Switch and Playstation at home with friends and family. 

Recently the virus has come back with the Delta outbreak, which as cause many people in the industry to worry about the future of live music.

How would you like live shows to be held and still keep you  and fans safe.

It might be best with outdoor concerts to start with, when and where that’s possible of course. Maybe we could have more smaller or shorter shows than a few bigger ones as well, to be able to keep distance and so the artist can do two or three shows during a night. I don’t know. I’ve been on a big concert during the pandemic and that worked out great although there were no restrictions really.  

The show Star Trek introduced people to the holodeck: an immersive, realistic 3D holographic projection of a complete environment that you could interact with.

Today holograms are already being used in a variety of way, such as medical systems, education, art, security and defense

Performers like Tupac, Michael Jackson, Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Buddy Holly, Ronnie James Dio, Marylin Monroe, and Whitney Houston have done it already. The band ABBA just announced that they will be doing a comeback together after nearly 40 years as holograms on their next tour.  With ABBA it was with the help of George Lucas . 

If the cost was down to the point you could do it also, would you be willing to do Holographic concerts in our living room?

That would have been awesome! Of course, I would rather be in front of a real audience but during the pandemic or to be able to do shows where I can’t otherwise, I would love to do such a thing!

In the past if a musician stop doing music they find a new career.  For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a  licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?

I would probably work with horses in some way, maybe as a coach or something like that. I would also love to work with people, like in organizational development or something similar. 

What is your happy place?

 The stable, it’s my home away from home. Just sitting in my bed with my headphones listening to my favorite songs is another happy place of mine. Last but not least I would say spending time with my best friend Livia is sort of a” happy place”. We always have so much fun and I feel a great deal of support from her. Actually – my next release is a tribute to her and friendship in general.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million.  In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, John Legend, ZZ Top and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year.  Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million.   Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180 song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited . Once you get to the age of about 70.  Publishing is far more lucrative then the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams.  A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985.  And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.

The lump sums being offering by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.

Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby.  He did not want to sell his publishing rights.  In addition, it was not an easy thing for him to do.  However, by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off his shoulders.  He could pay off his house and cover other bills.  Now he does not have to work for a living.  It should be noted that David is battling tendinitis in his hands, which hurts his ability to play guitar.

Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs? 

I guess if the pay is good, who wouldn’t? 🙂 I would not want to lose my right to perform my songs though as they mean so much to be. 

There are many platforms out there that allow artists to get their music heard. Artist Republik, DistroKid, Tunecore & plenty others offer distribution services. These services enable independent artists to put their music on some of the most popular streaming services globally, from Spotify to Apple Music & everything in between. If you’ve been in any part of the music industry in recent years, you probably know someone that has distributed a song.

Spotify reports that in 2021 there are about 8 million artists on the platform. Of those 8 million artists, about 57,000 are raking in a whopping 90% of the total revenue from streams. That means that .71% of the artists on Spotify are making good money. In 2020, there was a total of around $5 billion paid out to artists on the Spotify platform alone. 

Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.

What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?

It will be even harder to get noticed of course. If the most known artists are the only ones that get featured, we would miss out on soooo many songs that truly means something and can make me feel special. Real stories from real people. Stories with the power to change lives. It’s the same with songs on the radio. It’s mostly up-tempo songs from the big labels, we could really use more soft, independent artists with a message.

Over half a billion active users around the world share their favorite music on TikTok either with something like a dance challenges and lip-sync videos or creating a funny skit or candid camera moment.

TikTok has became a great platform for music promotion, sharing songs, and finding new listeners.  In which it has become a place for music artist to earn revenue when people use their music.  Which in many cases the daily promotion on TikTok has led to hug boosts on other platforms like Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.

TikTok does this with the the algorithmically generates a feed of content for each user, which you see as the displaying of #. The more a user engages with content, the smarter TikTok gets at guessing what kind of videos the viewer wants to watch. 

Because a song can go viral because of this. 

Sony Music and Warner Music Group- , The ByteDance-owned video app revealed that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group.  Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?

I think TikTok is more for 8 to 13 year olds. So if that’s your audience it would probably work great. It’s not really my audience so I don’t think I will spend so much time with TikTok.

Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer.The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.

Some of the on TikTok include Cassyette, YukoEXE, Ashinikko, Palaye Royale, Josh Dun (Twenty One Pilots), Yungblud, Morrissey, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Gene Simmons,  and Mick Jagger.

The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary,Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent.  Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?

Who knows what will happen to TikTok. I would guess we probably will see a new social media platform soon though. There are always new ones popping up. Smule is something I would rather use to spread my music and share it with others that like to sing.

Anything you would like to say in closing.

 I really appreciate you getting in touch and being interested in my music and me. If everyone just focus on the big names, the best voices, the prettiest artists, we will never find new talent with important stories to tell. In addition, I can tell you something you probably did not know. The 24th of January is the release of my next original song about my friend Livia…

Again, thanks a lot, this was fun! (Let us do it again!)

Penny