My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? WHAT?

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MeekerMedia
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My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? WHAT?

Post by MeekerMedia » Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:09 am

PUNK ROCK INSTRUMENTALS (Cues and/or Full Length) are needed by a Heavyweight Film/TV Music Industry Veteran who is building a new catalog as a joint venture with a successful Music Library that supplies music directly to a Major Sports TV Network. They’re looking for driving, Mid-to-Up-Tempo Instrumentals that could be found on playlists with bands like (but not limited to) Ramones, The Dictators, Dead Boys, Buzzcocks, New York Dolls, etc., etc., etc. Please listen to these Punk Rock classics to get in the general ballpark of what he needs: “Rockaway Beach” by Ramones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6siGKxcKol0 “Stay With Me” by The Dictators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nujgSWe_cww “Sonic Reducer” by Dead Boys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdu3EU6sbng “What Do I Get?” by Buzzcocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfkMDqijvVs “Looking For A Kiss” by New York Dolls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgZHXF-FaOw Please submit driving Punk Rock tracks that have the energy to propel a scene forward, with a raucous rhythm section that sounds like a believable Punk Rock band. Build your submissions around a thrashin’ distorted guitar riff, while maintaining interest throughout by adding and subtracting various elements to add dynamics and lots of momentum. Please avoid tracks that sound stiff, synthetic, or MIDI-driven. That won’t cut it for this pitch. If you submit Instrumental Cues, please make sure they’re at least 2 minutes long, but full-length Instrumentals (3 Minutes or longer) are also welcome for this pitch. Short intros, or no intro at all, good edit points, and Non-Faded/Buttoned/Stinger endings will work best for this pitch. Please do NOT copy or rip off the referenced bands or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a general guide for tempo, texture, tone, and feel. Broadcast Quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine). This company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal, so please make sure the tracks you submit for this pitch aren’t already signed to any another libraries or catalogs. They offer a 50/50 split – you’ll get 100% of the Writer’s share and the Publisher will get 100% of the Publisher’s share. You must own or control your master and copyright. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis. No full critiques. Please submit one to three Instrumental Tracks online or per CD no later than 11:59PM (PST), on Tuesday, April 26th, 2016. TAXI #U160426PR

Just a brief history on this que. I did have a full critique done on this song from a previous listing in early December. Note that i scored an 8 of 10 on musicianship. The overall comments for the previous listing are as follows.
"Hey Jeffrey,the song features good musical and melodic parts plus some memorable hooks. The musical performances overall are solid and fitting and the production sounds fine-to-good overall sonically. Having said that, the programmed drums could be substituted with real drums to give the song a more realistic feel and vibe."
https://soundcloud.com/meeker-media/kitty-go-mow-wow
Fast forward 4+ months of improving my engineering and mastering, out of the blue we all get that recent punk rock inst. listing :) yay I get another chance. I uploaded the new file to taxi then paid the $5 submission fee. Only 3 days after submitting my song, I'm fed this garbage from listener#132 "Track misses the energy, drive, & passion needed to meet the listing's forwarding criteria. Sonically the recorded sound is too clean & music performance are of Demo quality & did not meet the high bar Broadcast Quality standard requested." Please note that in December 2015 the EXACT SAME TAKES ON THE EXACT SAME SONG WERE "overall are solid and fitting and the production sounds fine-to-good overall sonically" BUT SOMEHOW NOW THE SAME SONG WAS " RECORDED TOO CLEAN???" WTF??? AND NOW ALL OF THE SUDDEN THE PERFORMANCE IS SHIT ALSO??? The contradictions here are worse (and more blatant) than a politician's. For this reason I have decided to leave this bogus company called Taxi. This has just ended up being a huge drain on my creative energy. It makes me wonder just how many of these listings are legitimate to begin with. Good luck to everyone here.

P:S Check out Audiosocket

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by ComposerLDG » Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:21 am

It's not uncommon for a song to get contradicting comments based on the different requirements from listing to listing. Each listing has its own parameters, etc. As for the "too clean" comment, Punk is not my genre, but when I think of it I think raw, dirty, edgy, grungy sounding. Maybe that's what that was referring to? I'm only guessing.

Anyway, I'm not sure referring to screener feedback as "garbage" is helpful to you in any way. I'm not trying to be difficult, just trying to look at this objectively from the outside. My humble .02.
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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by MattCurious » Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:46 am

It can be frustrating when the feedback is contradictory. I've just had this experience with an electronic tension track forwarded against contemporary references and then rejected for not being contemporary enough. I was confused enough to email Taxi about it for clarification.

But actually, after getting some distance from the initial butthurt and some third party perspectives on the Forum, I can see that while the track was perfect for the first listing it really was wrong for the second.

The requirements of individual listings can be - often are - very specific. It can be easy to forget this because a lot of the listings have extremely similar wording within genres - I keep letting myself think that I'll get a forward on a new listing because it reads the same as another where the same track got through. But the references are the key, really. And if there are no references given, you really don't know what they're aiming for.

Feedback on a custom critique can be even worse in a way, because it's feedback about the song but in a vacuum - it doesn't tell you anything about how the song will stack up against any individual listing. Just as I've been reminded that success against one listing doesn't mean success against another, no matter how similarly written.
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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:00 am

I think it's horses for courses..this listing had specific targets to meet.

This is why I generally write new material to each listing, rather than see which of my back catalogue I think is in the ballpark

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by burpo » Sat Apr 30, 2016 12:01 pm

Yes, it can be frustrating (if not maddening) to get mixed signals.
I've had tracks torn to shreds that were actually previous forwards.

Specific to the punk listing(s), I got some notes that made me say "This person (screener) has no idea about punk."
(I grew up going to punk shows in L.A., not just hearing tunes on movie soundtracks.)

I myself have found much anxiety during my TAXI travels. But, here's the thing.
TAXI isn't the problem, it's just the place where you encounter the problem.

The problem is that we humans are all different, we don't all agree and that the Other Guy has the power.
That's a tough thing to swallow at times.

There sometimes is, however, enough consensus to provide useful suggestions for correction.
(I thought your tracks weren't dirty enough, as well. Sounded too "polite." That's just me.)

Don't cut your nose to spite your face. TAXI is no utopia, but it is the best, cleanest, most legit, best shot
the average joe has at getting his (her) music into the right hands.

-b
burpo
Stephen Debonrepos
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http://www.taxi.com/burpo

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by SteveC » Sat Apr 30, 2016 12:43 pm

hi,

at the end of the day its really only 1 persons opinion, albeit in this case, a gatekeeper of sorts. Don't be discouraged.

Getting mixed signals is part of this business environment. Let it act as motivation rather than frustration. I think you'll find the majority of folks on this board know exactly what you're feeling..

Did you test the water before you submitted by posting on peer to peer for some feedback? Remember, be careful what you ask for and never shoot the messenger.

write a song today, it will make everything better.

cheers!

st

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by lesmac » Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:35 pm

Yep horses for courses...

I've had an 'artist song' pitch rejected once then forwarded to a VERY similar listing by the same screener.

Time is a healer.

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by andygabrys » Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:43 pm

couple thoughts. take with salt if needed.

1) custom critiques are awesome, but because they don't pertain to a specific listing, you miss the part about actually submitting something that fits the brief. So the song is examined on criteria that might not be totally related to another listing. Same thing for full critiques for other briefs. If the particulars of the brief aren't the same, or if the text seems similar but the particular ref tracks aren't the same, then it may not be on target.

2) its rather apparent that they are VI drums. In fact I am guessing the EZdrummer stock Pop / Rock Kit

3) the drums are too clean. The guitars are a little dull and don't fit. The challenge with these kind of tunes is to lo-fi the drums enough and choose appropriate ambience so that the drums and the guitars bleed together and actually sound like a band.

4) performance is ok. but yes, it doesn't sound like its got the energy of the refs. So you say "then the performances are shit?". No not exactly - they are "fine". But they don't convey the energy of the ref tracks, and each listing has its own "bar" when it comes too vibe and energy.

note that most of the refs are approximately the same tempo, same feel, with fairly close guitar and drum sounds (to each other).

HTH. Good luck!
Last edited by andygabrys on Sun May 01, 2016 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by mrdtman » Sun May 01, 2016 10:39 am

Posted a reply on this yesterday (least I thought i did) but it didn't show for some reason so here we go again with my thoughts.

I have gotten some feedback on a song that I certainly didn't agree with and yeah, I was upset maybe with not what was said but HOW it was said. The person seemed to be sarcastic with their comments. But, now I really try to take what I take as a negative comment and see If I can find something constructive in the critique & learn from it. Have to take my ego out of it sometimes (not saying that's the issue here but I know mine gets 'bruised' sometimes. lol).

I really don't agree with the comment " music performance are of Demo quality & did not meet the high bar Broadcast Quality standard requested." I definitely think it's broadcast quality.
I did listen to the examples and while Punk is not my genre the one thing I did hear that the drums for example seem to be more 'ragged' sounding especially the snare. Maybe you can make the drum tuning 'deeper'? I think the snare is a little high pitched.

Don't get to discouraged/upset by this. Make some changes, post it up on peer to peer before submitting, submit for another listing & move on.

Cheers! :D

DT

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Re: My song was "recorded too clean" to get forwarded??? W

Post by cassmcentee » Sun May 01, 2016 12:08 pm

Peer to Peer! :D
Set aside the ego and get great help before submitting!
All of the replies to this post are "Spot On"
And I'll say this till I'm blue in the face... Drop one of the reference tunes into your track and mix TO IT!
Takes a lot of the guess work out...

I understand the anger and frustration
I get returned all of the time and it always hurts

P.S. Screeners are brought in to cover specific categories of music that they are Pros at...
If the critique was a bit harsh, well, he might just be a Punker at heart! :lol:

P.P.S. ..."Taxi ...bogus" Far from it!!! Taxi is the most comprehensive and helpful company I know of.
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https://www.taxi.com/members/DosPalmasRecordings

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