Any advice or encouragement?

[Casey H]

Thanks its good to know im not alone my experience is the songs i felt where the best are not necessarily chosen,often its one that was what i felt a fluke that gets picked. being honest im not too confident with the taxi screeners judgement who are these screeners have they ever spent endless hours on a silly little background track just to be told your way off the mark??? just sayin!

Well before you go off on the screeners, it's important to look at what you are submitting and for what specific listings. Listing requirements can be fairly specific and you could submit a good track but it doesn't meet those listing requirements, fit with the reference tracks, etc. Or there really could be other issues with a track that may have cut it in the past but won't now. The only way to have this discussion would be for you to post the full text of a listing (text paste, not link), a link to the track such as your Taxi page or Soundcloud, and the full contents of the review. Otherwise, this is all meaningless.

Best,
Casey

[garagegods]

Thanks its good to know im not alone my experience is the songs i felt where the best are not necessarily chosen,often its one that was what i felt a fluke that gets picked. being honest im not too confident with the taxi screeners judgement who are these screeners have they ever spent endless hours on a silly little background track just to be told your way off the mark??? just sayin!

Well before you go off on the screeners, it's important to look at what you are submitting and for what specific listings. Listing requirements can be fairly specific and you could submit a good track but it doesn't meet those listing requirements, fit with the reference tracks, etc. Or there really could be other issues with a track that may have cut it in the past but won't now. The only way to have this discussion would be for you to post the full text of a listing (text paste, not link), a link to the track such as your Taxi page or Soundcloud, and the full contents of the review. Otherwise, this is all meaningless.

Best,
Casey

Im sure the screeners are industry professionals and some of the critique comments have been useful and screening is only the first stage no guarantee a track will be accepted, Everyone knows music is subjective and to say the screener doesnt like a retro synth sound is meaningless. I have listened to music that has made it past screeners and some is really good and others not. Ive had one tell me my waveforms look wrong do they actually listen or just look for interesting waveforms????

[cosmicdolphin]

Ive had one tell me my waveforms look wrong do they actually listen or just look for interesting waveforms????

An editor will look at the waveform because they need to see if there are any edit points they can use. If there aren't any it would be difficult for them to use your track so they would likely move on to another.

[boinkeee2000]

garagegods, I get what you're saying, but i think you're going about it the wrong way, which may lead you to a bad path. even if you line up your ducks, cross your t's and dot your i's, there's a myriad of reasons why you didnt get the gig, be it fair or not through your lenses....quality is only one of those factors, and even if you get the quality part down, there's no guarantee of acceptance of your material, nor placements, nor big $$, nor longevity of income for that track, nor a successful career (rinse and repeat for your next track/album)

there is no "once I have figured out the puzzle im set", in fact quality is just one of the first hurdles. the harsh reality is that you will still get rejected and things wont go your way well beyond your prime. you have to get over who's to blame, because if its not this guy, then its the next guy, and then the guy after that who's hindering your progress......get rid of that mindset, its where most folks give up...its the folks with persistence, patience, tenacity, dedication to improvement, and accept things the way they are, that get to the other side. you will go through all kinds of emotions and the best way to handle them is to move on as fast as possible and keep your eye on the prize.

Its heartbreaking to see folks get paralyzed due to a screener or a library denial, and give up on library music entirely. its like giving up on all video games cause they cant get past lvl 1 of super mario

[Casey H]

GarageGods
Again, unless you post a track, the listing text, and the full screener review, a meaningless discussion. The screeners aren't perfect. But they're pretty darn good. 90% or more of the time when someone posts as I suggested, others here will point out the differences between your track and the listing requirements.

Since you're not having success getting your tracks into libraries doing what used to work for you, maybe you should try to understand better why your tracks don't meet listing requirements, so you can work on that and maybe make some new library contacts.

We've all been there. Early on, many think the screeners are [whatever] and have a hard time with the returns. Some leave and some stay on and find success. Whether you use Taxi or not, it is an adapt or die business like any other.

[garagegods]

GarageGods
Again, unless you post a track, the listing text, and the full screener review, a meaningless discussion. The screeners aren't perfect. But they're pretty darn good. 90% or more of the time when someone posts as I suggested, others here will point out the differences between your track and the listing requirements.

Since you're not having success getting your tracks into libraries doing what used to work for you, maybe you should try to understand better why your tracks don't meet listing requirements, so you can work on that and maybe make some new library contacts.

We've all been there. Early on, many think the screeners are [whatever] and have a hard time with the returns. Some leave and some stay on and find success. Whether you use Taxi or not, it is an adapt or die business like any other.

Thanks I really appreciate you taking the time to dialog with me on this subject! you have very valid points well taken and yes I have reached out to other library's and sources to get songs out there! Bottom line is I really enjoy creating music tracks and will continue to do so, I was so excited when I got my first track accepted and placed in a show and hearing my 15 seconds of fame and fortune

[garagegods]

garagegods, I get what you're saying, but i think you're going about it the wrong way, which may lead you to a bad path. even if you line up your ducks, cross your t's and dot your i's, there's a myriad of reasons why you didnt get the gig, be it fair or not through your lenses....quality is only one of those factors, and even if you get the quality part down, there's no guarantee of acceptance of your material, nor placements, nor big $$, nor longevity of income for that track, nor a successful career (rinse and repeat for your next track/album)

there is no "once I have figured out the puzzle im set", in fact quality is just one of the first hurdles. the harsh reality is that you will still get rejected and things wont go your way well beyond your prime. you have to get over who's to blame, because if its not this guy, then its the next guy, and then the guy after that who's hindering your progress......get rid of that mindset, its where most folks give up...its the folks with persistence, patience, tenacity, dedication to improvement, and accept things the way they are, that get to the other side. you will go through all kinds of emotions and the best way to handle them is to move on as fast as possible and keep your eye on the prize.

Its heartbreaking to see folks get paralyzed due to a screener or a library denial, and give up on library music entirely. its like giving up on all video games cause they cant get past lvl 1 of super mario

Good points and Im listening, thanks!

[garagegods]

Im sure the screeners are industry professionals and some of the critique comments have been useful and screening is only the first stage no guarantee a track will be accepted, Everyone knows music is subjective and to say the screener doesnt like a retro synth sound is meaningless. I have listened to music that has made it past screeners and some is really good and others not. Ive had one tell me my waveforms look wrong do they actually listen or just look for interesting waveforms????

The way I see it ...
- There are forwards for almost every listing (check them out in the forwards blog). Some people must be making the screeners and libraries happy .
- Not liking a retro synth isn't exactly meaningless, it can be totally sink a submission if the listing calls for modern sounds. Similarly, waveforms can reveal empty space, low levels, excessive levels, dynamic problems, repetition, edit points, gradual build, etc.
- Screeners have to adhere to working guidelines. I doubt they would be retained if they returned tracks after just looking at their waveforms.
- We're all quick to question a screener's judgement, but less quick to question our own. They are chosen by Taxi based on their knowledge and expertise to find the right music (not to find reasons to return everything), yet we probably wouldn't qualify for that job.
- Of course music is subjective, but there can also be objective reasons (technical, sonic, style, arrangement, instrumentation, etc) why tracks don't work for a listing.
- Screeners don't know or care whether it took half an hour or half your life to make a track. It either fits or it doesn't.
- When a track is returned the screener is trying to help by identifying where it falls short for one or more reasons, and also help the client by filtering out tracks that don't meet their needs.
- Even if every track submitted was forwarded, the number that would get library deals would probably be much the same. There would also be a lot of false hope for all the forwarded tracks that were a bad match or just not good enough (and a lot of annoyed clients who had to wade through all the unsuitable material).
- When dealing with libraries directly you still get rejections (or hear nothing at all). They'll probably listen to no more than a few seconds any track that they don't like, regardless of how long it took to make.
- Its pretty common for new members in particular to question screener's judgements. You'll see similar comments made on these forums again and again by 'newbies' who believe they have been 'wronged' for some reason. After a while many start to work it out and then realise that it all make sense. Sadly, a few continue to express increasing frustration and then eventually disappear. Taxi doesn't suit everyone.
- Occasionally, you'll see experienced members question a return. It happens. Screeners are human and can make mistakes, but on average they get it right. If they didn't Taxi would have no repeat clients.
- Easy path - submit exactly what is asked for, accept whatever happens, learn what you can from it.

Hope that help.

Thank you and yes those are helpful comments you have mentioned!