Frustrated

[Bernwa]

Today I got a pass on listing #U150317BR. It called for a "song" for a female that would suit Lucinda Williams, etc. I submitted a song I felt was right there. The song was sung by a female and male as a duet. But it was passed on because it they said they were looking for a female singer. I read the listing again and it again said they were looking for "songs". The fact that a woman is indeed singing it seems to me a good submission. To make it more frustrating, I tries emailing Taxi but after writing a long note their email server failed!

Anyway, if anyone is so inclined take a listen to the song and see what you think. You might recognized the duet singer.

Thanks for reading my rant.

BC

[TerrellBurt]

If the listing specifies female vocals, you'll always want to submit only female vocals. If it says male or female, then you should be fine to submit duets.

[Bernwa]

Maybe so... but the listing emphasized songs for females. I can see passing on the song if they didn't like the song but that wasn't the case.

[TerrellBurt]

You can have a great song but it not fit a specific listing so it gets returned. And not because the song is bad, it's because it didn't fit what the listing needed. That's happened to numerous TAXI members, including me.

[Bernwa]

Very true, but it comes down to the screeners. I think they get it wrong sometimes. This is one of those times, in my opinion. The screener liked the song but the complaint was that a male was sharing the vocal. The artist was looking for songs. I think any producer of A&R person can hear if a song is right or not.

[VanderBoegh]

Bernie, if I go to a restaurant and order a chicken caesar salad and the server brings me a cobb salad instead, you know what I'm going to say? I'd say, "thank you, but that's not what I ordered."

If the server goes on to say, "but this cobb salad is so good, you'd be foolish to pass on it," I'd respond by saying, "I don't care how good it might be, it's still not what I ordered."

And if the server keeps pressing and says, "but anybody who takes a bite of this cobb salad will realize how good it is and will understand that they probably wanted this all along," I'd respond by walking out of the restaurant.

Get the analogy? If you don't submit what is ordered, your music will get returned every time.

~~Matt

[Len911]

Matt, my problem is, I would have tried the cobb at the waitress' suggestion and probably would have liked it. I once ordered Ivory upright pianos and got Grand instead, and even though the rep offered an exchange after profusely apologizing, guess what, I kept the Grand,lol!

Maybe it's more helpful if the screeners were thought of as an egg sorter??

https://youtu.be/SFdZvoa6JNA

[kclements]

I agree with Matt -

The screeners are given specific guidelines from the listing party. In this case, seems like the listening party wanted female vocals only. Anything else should get returned. It doesn't matter how great the song is, or that it could work as a female solo, what you presented was not what was asked for.

My wife teaches high school. She has a essay test where the kids have to defend the opening theme of the paragraph - even if they disagree with the premise. Some will provide excellent argument against the theme of the paragraph - very well written, thought out, strong argument. But the assignment is to defend the theme - not prove it otherwise. So these kids fail the assignment. You have to give what is asked for.

And as mentioned that doesn't mean the song won't work somewhere else. Just not for this listing.

I know your frustration - but this happens all the time outside Taxi too. I have had cues come back from publishers for not being right for the brief. It's all part of the biz

Cheers
kc

[Russell Landwehr]

Bernie,
Could you post the complete text of the listing?

[Bernwa]

It might be pointless to argue this thing to no end. I guess my frustration came to a head yesterday. I've been with Taxi of nearly four years and have had over 3 dozen forwards and nothing has happened. I've been a pro writer all my life and have cuts on some major artists records and have my songs and music in various catalog companies. As much as I would love Taxi to work for me, it just hasn't. I've had at least a few times where the reasons for passing by the screeners were questionable. And the fact that nothing has materialized from the forwards I've had leaves me very frustrated with Taxi.

I'm very fortunate to have steady work in the music business. I'm a very happy person so this isn't some frustrated musician/writer whining. I'm frustrated with Taxi. I appreciated the feedback.