taxi : joke or real

[dp]

OK I have been debating on joing taxi for sometime and i'm read to take my music to the next level. My question is Taxi real or a joke how many have really made it? how many jobs, vs forwards and overall cost, how many are with taxi because it is worth it , or the only real option , or just dont no anything else . I know thngs take time but who has in 6 months or a year with the service is doing it big? I know thes question and comment are very open but just give me good feed back before i join the good, the bad and the ugly.......

[thedivys]

We have had 11 submissions forwarded in a year but no deals yet. But we're hanging in there. From what I read all the time, this stuff takes time. So even though we haven't heard one thing back from the 11 forwards, we renewed our membership for 2 more years. Can't say we didn't keep the faith. But if we have another 11 submissions forwarded this year and still no deal, we will have to call Mrs. Paul cuz something is fishy...hehe

[edteja]

Mrs. Paul? Is this a television joke?

[Casey H]

11 forwards is great! and says a lot about your music, whether or not you pitch through TAXI.It is not uncommon to hear from people as far out as 2 years after a forward, so it's hard to say whether or not the forwards resulted in nothing. (I do agree that the odds decrease when you have heard from none of the 11 after a year). A few months after a forward, I think it's fine (and TAXI agrees) to contact the companies directly and politely ask about your forward and whether they would like you to re-send a CD or submit additional material. About 90% of the time you can get the contact information by doing a google.Just a side story. I almost made a BIG placement due to a TAXI rejection!! I submitted "Adrenaline" for a TAXI Dispatch lead and it was NOT forwarded. The listing party did the screening themselves. Later on, I was doing some marketing on my own and sent that same company (not knowing it) a CD. The person there remembered "Adrenaline". She said it wasn't right for that other listing but she loved it as a pitch for a promo for a new cable network (you would recognize the name). The deal fell through, but it was close and would have paid a big master/sync fee which we would have split 50/50. Also, that same company ended up placing the backing track to "Adrenaline" for no fee/credit only in a short film about Global Warming. So, you never know where things can lead... Casey

[gitarrero]

Quote::) A few months after a forward, I think it's fine (and TAXI agrees) to contact the companies directly and politely ask about your forward and whether they would like you to re-send a CD or submit additional material. I think there was a message from taxi about that ... and they DON'T agree with that, mainly because a few individuals pissed some reps off by calling and starting to argue... unbelievable what some people are able to do.Instead of asking them for the forward from taxi, I would contact them and presenting myself as composer/producer - the self marketing way. But that can you do wether the company run a taxi-listing or not.

[Casey H]

Edited out my old response from 2006 since it was totally wrong.

[shoodBworkin]

Not a joke. More like a hope merchant, imo. We joined for a while, nowadays we buy hope from the stock market.

[Paulie]

Like with many things in life, you get out what you put in. The general rule of thumb is that it takes five years of effort to make any sort of livable income from writing for tv/film. It's about numbers, quantity AND quality.

Are you looking for help as an individual artist/band, or as a song writer, or as a composer for tv/film? These are three very different musical career paths, and there is more to it than joining a great community like Taxi.

Taxi is certainly no joke. It's been around for 13 years or so and has a faithful community that includes very successful composers that you've probably heard on television. Success in the music industry takes lots of things, musical skill is just one piece. There's professionalism, a hard work ethic, and the ability to take constructive criticism without getting offended. Probably the most important thing that can guide you to success is the ability to network and work with others. The power of the collaboration is strong, and it is important to establishing a solid personal referral network. Taxi is not where you go to get your band signed, or to become the next Justin Timberlake or Taylor Swift. But, there are plenty of listings where music producers and supervisors are looking for unsigned talent.

This forum is a great community. I joined Taxi back in March of this year and I've been writing like crazy almost every day, despite having a family to provide for and a full time day job. If you are not driven to succeed and willing to do what it takes, Taxi is not the place for you. It costs money to join, it costs money to submit songs for opportunities, and it costs money to build a professional musical tool kit (computer, software, instruments, etc.).

Last month was the annual Taxi Road Rally. Check out my open letter to people considering joining, I think I summarized the concept fairly well. Give it some thought, evaluate your personal goals and then make the choice. Of course, you can lurk the forums for a long time and learn without spending a dime. Perhaps submitting a link or two of your music for feedback could give you an idea of how it might go? The folks here are very kind and have great experience.

http://forums.taxi.com/topic132992.html

I hope that Taxi is right for you, but only you can make that determination. Best of luck!

[hummingbird]

+1 Paulie

[Len911]

Not a joke. More like a hope merchant, imo. We joined for a while, nowadays we buy hope from the stock market.

I'm not religious, but if I was looking for hope, I wouldn't purchase either, I'd probably look for some kind of ideology or religion for that!
Maybe some would buy a lottery ticket, or go to a casino??
I don't think currency is the place for hope, as even the currency has "In God we trust" stamped on it,lol!