Has anyone had any song placement success for artists?

[batman]

Hey guys,
I know Taxi is heavily weighted towards film and TV but has anyone had a song placement (not just a forward) with an artist through Taxi? There are quite a lot of artist listings but almost everyone on the forums seems to be talking about their FaTV placements. I can't find a single recent mention of a placement for a song with an artist.
Does it happen?

[lesmac]

It hasn't for me yet but in general terms I think it is more a case of how good a song has to be to get a placement with an artist through any channel.
For anyone without industry connections TAXI is viable in this area. (All you need is a GREAT song targeted towards the listing.) (x3)

[songmaster]

On behalf of Scott Free. I believe he had a song called " Bad Ass " that was picked up by an artist. I don't remember all the details, but it was fairly recent ( within the last couple years ). It does happen. Hope that helps.

Tom

[Casey H]

Yes, there have been some artist placements.

The reality of the music industry as a whole is getting cut by an artist is one of the most difficult things in the universe (not impossible), regardless of what method is used to get the track to a publisher, label, or even the artist's management. The competition out there is mega fierce and you are always competing with established writers, known trusted sources, etc. Writers have moved to Nashville and spent 10 years getting their first cut if they get one at all.

So it's normal that the ratio of Film/TV placements to artist cuts is MANY thousands to one.

If your dream in life is to get an artist cut, I would never say give up the dream. Keep working your ass off, getting better and better and your craft every day, submitting, networking, whatever you can do. That being said, there is no reason why you can't write for Film/TV at the same time. I would encourage you to do both, though the mindset for Film/TV songs is a bit different. Lyrics have to be more universal and some genres place better than others. For example, country songs tend to be used less but I wouldn't say not used at all. And then there is the whole world of instrumental cues, which is the bread and butter for most Film/TV composers.

One thing I learned early on is you have to love something to be good at it. So it's easy to say "Write Film/TV songs" or "Write instrumental cues" but if you don't enjoy those things you either won't do them or won't do them well.

Best of luck!
Casey

[batman]

Cheers. Maybe I'll look into instrumental cues as an option then. It takes me ages to write lyrics so it could help boost my productivity.

[Casey H]

This year's rally was very educational regarding instrumental cues. If you can, try to attend next year.

Also, Taxi TV has done many episodes on the subject. You can watch previous episodes at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/music-marketing-online (as well as watch the new ones live every week, Mondays 4pm Pacific Time)

One more thing... Check out Robin Frederick's book: https://www.amazon.com/Shortcuts-Songwr ... bc?ie=UTF8 and Dean Krippaehne's: https://www.amazon.com/Demystifying-Cue ... B00Y2QN5BE
There may be less expensive e-versions if you prefer, do some Google-ing.

Best,
Casey

[melodymessiah]

as songmaster mentioned, scott free got a cut with janiva magness a while back. here's the youtube link to the track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g465IuskM6Y

however, i think the demosinger scott used to pitch the song did a lot better job with it.

another song, written by two other guys, cot cut by kenny rogers in the late nineties.

personally, i've had some forwards to superstars and major labels, but haven't heard back so far. neither did i expect to.

reading taxis success stories on their page and the forum, it's very clear that taxi's all about film and tv placements. but who knows, if you have a potential smash hit...

[mojobone]

Successful artists have everybody and their mother-in-law pitching them songs, so if you must pitch to artists, pitch to the ones you know and have a personal connection with, and do it before they get big. To do that, you pretty much need to live where artists go to get signed, and if you do that, you'll still need to worm your way into someone's inner circle or you could rely on your network. That said, Taxi is a great way to grow that network, but only if you attend the Rally, which oddly enough, is located near the West Coast music industry's ground zero.

[funsongs]

Taking a tip from Jason Browney's (SP) class... focusing on building my network & access to the better/best local artists is what I've been doing since returning from the Road Rally;
which includes branching out into genres NOT particularly "in my wheelhouse"... to abuse a cliche' just a bit.

[lesmac]

Call me crazy but I'm still giving it a shot. AND I'm sticking to one genre to learn it. AND its country too. [maybe singer/songwriter as well]. AND the rally is just a bit far for me atm, just a lazy 12,000 or so kilometres.
BUT I must say that since I made that decision only a few months ago I have learned heaps more than when I was looking at different genres and cues.
For me it seemed like too much choice was counterproductive.
Steve Vai said he concentrates on his strengths and forgets about his weaknesses. I consider my strengths to be in songwriting and I was wasting heaps of time learning production and practising instrumentals on guitar till my fingers bled for not much to show from it. Though I'm sure some skills I picked up on the way will come in handy. In a short time after deciding to focus I wrote a heap of songs.
I sent some guitar vocal demos to a Nashville studio and just going through that process learned heaps.
First up, one of the songs was old school so probably a waste of money. One of the three is pitch-able in todays market and maybe a second.
The fact that it cost me to do it made me look real hard at the market and what I was writing.
I've joined SongTown and found that to be helpful and may join NSAI as well. The major component is writing the song and getting enough pro feedback to know if its a goer or not. The more you focus on what the market actually is and write towards it the better you'll be off. I made the mistake of thinking my old bottom draw songs would do. Not these days. Modern country is a cross between southern rock/80s soft rock/a bit of U2 feel plus modern language and phrasing.{as well as a bit of rap influence in bro country]
The more one listens to the Billboard Charts and checks out who's up and coming on sites like The Boot and Taste of Country or Rolling Stone the closer you'll be to writing a pitch-able song.
If you can write a great song you are in with a chance.
I saw an interview with a Sony A&R who said she listens to anything from NSAI's ceo.
So in my humble opinion its the writing of a top quality song that is first and foremost. Networking, pitching, grovelling etc come afterwards.
Just write a bloody good song for goodness sake!