I think I made a mistake

[lgstarr]

All my songs are being returned. I'm only into my membership about a month now, and the rest of the year is wasted then. I think I made a mistake in joining, I don't think I was probably a good fit for this service. What should I do now the rest of the year with nothing to submit? I guess there's no refunds.

[hummingbird]

Actually TAXI does have a money back guarantee in the first year, but before you pull the plug, maybe you could use this forum to help you.

Pretty much every one of us have gone through what you are going through now. There are aspects of pitching music to the industry that can seem arbitrary at first.

The best way for us to help you is to have you post here. The best kind of help can be given before you submit. Use Peer to Peer. Post a link to the track(s) you plan to submit and post the listing text. We will listen and we will tell you whether or not we think you're on target. That might help you tweak your submission or choose another listing which might suit the music better.

Since you are now in the situation where you've had a return or returns, the best thing to do is go to Review Station. Post a link to your track, lyrics if applicable, the listing text and the entire text of the screeners comments. We will try to help you figure out how to fix what's wrong, target your submissions more effectively, and/or understand what's happening.

Just remember, pitching to the commercial music industry is really different from presenting your music as a performer. Learning how to target the listings effectively is a skill. Many of us here get returns. The key is learning what that means, and being willing to take that knowledge into the next song or track you write.

I'd love to hear your music and see the feedback. Please post so we can help you.

Don't give up.

cheers
Hummingbird

[artturner]

+1 what Hummingbird said. Lots of people here would like to help.



not me, but lots of people... I'M KIDDING!!!

Seriously, let's hear what you've got and what you submitted to!

[Telefunkin]

Hi,
We've all had times when nothing seems to work, so its certainly not just you. We've all wondered what on earth we have to do to get tracks through, and wherever we are now, we're all working out how to get to the next stage!

There can be all sorts of reasons for returns (and we all still get them), but you've chosen to submit songs, so you'll be judged on lyrics and vocal performance etc, as well as musical production. That's quite a challenge. Have you thought of submitting instrumental cues instead? That at least eliminates lyrics and vocals from the hurdles you have to to clear, and you could always go back to songs when you feel you have the music production sorted. Check the instrumental listings and see whether there's anything there you could prepare a track for, or maybe simply strip vocals from your existing tracks and re-arrange. Its worth considering. Good luck to you!

[lgstarr]

Actually TAXI does have a money back guarantee in the first year, but before you pull the plug, maybe you could use this forum to help you.

Pretty much every one of us have gone through what you are going through now. There are aspects of pitching music to the industry that can seem arbitrary at first.

The best way for us to help you is to have you post here. The best kind of help can be given before you submit. Use Peer to Peer. Post a link to the track(s) you plan to submit and post the listing text. We will listen and we will tell you whether or not we think you're on target. That might help you tweak your submission or choose another listing which might suit the music better.

I have two songs that I haven't yet uploaded that I think would be labeled "jazz" (NOT sure about one of them because it is very unusual and the other one--bossa nova guitar played by Frank Sinatra's guitarist Ron Anthony--had been chosen by Natalie Cole's husband/producer for her to record (he produced "Unforgettable" and other albums for her). That was during my last year working at MCA RECORDS with him and also the last year of his marriage! (My luck.) Where would I post these two songs since "Review Station" is going to be for the songs I've already submitted?

Since you are now in the situation where you've had a return or returns, the best thing to do is go to Review Station. Post a link to your track, lyrics if applicable, the listing text and the entire text of the screeners comments. We will try to help you figure out how to fix what's wrong, target your submissions more effectively, and/or understand what's happening.

I hope I can find all the previous listing texts. Some screeners wrote a few sentences (which I liked) and others did not (hate that). But would you need me to also include the info related to the little check boxes (where applicable)?

Just remember, pitching to the commercial music industry is really different from presenting your music as a performer. Learning how to target the listings effectively is a skill. Many of us here get returns. The key is learning what that means, and being willing to take that knowledge into the next song or track you write.

I've been in the industry my entire (now very long) life, as a performer, songwriter, composer, and the business end...but it's been awhile and I know it's very different now. I have tried to target the listings properly but I'm obviously not doing a good job. I would love to take you up on your suggestion about posting to the "Review Station" and am grateful that you and others here would want to help. However, unlike many or most here, I cannot add to or change anything about what I submit. I did not know that everything would be judged on production, I thought that some things, at least, would just be judged as demonstrating a song that was going to be re-recorded by an artist with their own arrangements and productions.

My husband said he thinks he might be able to find the tapes of our old (instrumental) "cues"--we had many in various different styles--but I'm not sure if they would meet the standards of submission here (I've read the Taxi page on cues)...although he's a BMI writer and had a long cue in a Brooke Shields movie. At the time our studio was up and working, we happened to talk to film composer Thomas Newman who, coincidentally, used our same sequencer (Studio Vision) in his own home studio. We had just geared up to switch to protools when we had to shut our studio down.

I'd love to hear your music and see the feedback. Please post so we can help you.

Don't give up.

cheers
Hummingbird

[lgstarr]

+1 what Hummingbird said. Lots of people here would like to help.


not me, but lots of people... I'M KIDDING!!!

I don't blame you!!

Seriously, let's hear what you've got and what you submitted to!

Ok.

[lgstarr]

Hi,
To repeat, we've all had time when nothing seems to work, so its certainly not just you. We all started somewhere, wondering what on earth we have to do to get tracks through. Wherever we are now, we're all working out how to get to the next stage!

There can be all sorts of reasons for returns (and we all still get them), but you've chose to submit songs, so you'll be judges on lyrics and vocal performance etc, as well as musical production. That's quite a challenge. Have you thought of submitting instrumental cues instead? That at least eliminates lyrics and vocals from the hurdles you have to to clear, and you could always go back to songs when you feel you have the music production sorted. Check the instrumental listings and see whether there's anything there you could prepare a track for, or maybe simply strip vocals from your existing tracks and re-arrange. Its worth considering. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the advice and encouragement! I accidentally responded to your post in a another response sorry...here's what I said:

I've been in the industry my entire (now very long) life, as a performer, songwriter, composer, and the business end...but it's been awhile and I know it's very different now. I have tried to target the listings properly but I'm obviously not doing a good job. I would love to take you up on your suggestion about posting to the "Review Station" and am grateful that you and others here would want to help. However, unlike many or most here, I cannot add to or change anything about what I submit. I did not know that everything would be judged on production, I thought that some things, at least, would just be judged as demonstrating a song that was going to be re-recorded by an artist with their own arrangements and productions.

My husband said he thinks he might be able to find the tapes of our old (instrumental) "cues"--we had many in various different styles--but I'm not sure if they would meet the standards of submission here (I've read the Taxi page on cues)...although he's a BMI writer and had a long cue in a Brooke Shields movie. At the time our studio was up and working, we happened to talk to film composer Thomas Newman who, coincidentally, used our same sequencer (Studio Vision) in his own home studio. We had just geared up to switch to protools when we had to shut our studio down.