Been in Biz for 30 years. Dissapointed in Taxi.

[NealF]

You raise another interesting point.

In my company we constantly ran into the dilemma of a client loving a particular track/band and since they couldn't afford it, wanted us to come up with something similar.
The problem is this: The closer we get to the original, the more likely we are to be sued. The less we come to the original, the more likely we are to lose the job.

So you have to be "good" but not too good. And since the agency already talked to the publisher of the original track, the publisher now has his ears up to watch for the clone.

Tough problem.

[burpo]

(Regardless to the fact that I've also spent the past couple of decades in Ent/Adv), I've found that in EVERY community, from a book club to the PTA, no matter how large or small, you will find people contradicting, not only each other, but THEMSELVES.

[Eric Bolvin]

This is a good topic and I hope that Michael pays some attention.
I've read what Neal has to say and I agree with him. He's not just another whiner, but makes some valid points about the screening.
Everyone on this forum has had at least a few returns that leave us scratching our heads. And we've all read critiques on this forum like "This song is great, except for the second chord of the B section".
If the song is great and on target, then it should get the forward. Period. But it often doesn't because the screener is looking for a reason to reject it. If there are 9 good things about a song and 1 bad thing, then your song gets rejected.

Here's what it says on every return:

The average A&R person at a major label gets one or two signings per year, so you can bet dollars to donuts that he or she is going to think long and hard before signing an act. Remember, they're not only gambling a million dollars of their company's money on each act they sign, they're also wagering their six figure job, a hefty expense account, and their company BMW.

When we send our members' material to them, those recordings must hold up to their standards or they won't continue to list with TAXI. If they don't list with us, you don't get any opportunities and we go out of business. That's a little insurance policy the companies have with TAXI. They know we won't risk our business by sending them music that are just "pretty good."

What this means to me is that Taxi isn't going to take any chance on any music that has any kind of a flaw in it. It has to meet the screeners definition of perfection so he won't loose his job.
Well the best music in the world is far from perfect and no one got ahead in music without taking a chance or stretching the limits.
Of course we've all had returns that were right on, but I would estimate that makes up about 50%. The other 50% could've been forwards had the screener been a little "looser" as Neal says.
I know Taxi has helped a lot of people(me included), but the screening process is flawed. If they are only right 50% of the time, then there should be some recourse or accountability.
How about a review board where once a month, you can submit a return that you thought should have been a forward for review? A neutral screener then reviews the submission and reports his findings back to the artist and Taxi.

Eb

[Len911]

The strange thing is if the screening process is flawed, in most all of the screening session ustreams, where one's peers are also allowed to review or screen to a listing, the consensus has overwhelmingly been in agreement with the screeners.
If you wanted just plain raw truth, you could run your track by an unbeholden audience (no smitten fans), and gauge their reaction.

How about a review board where the nomination for a review is dependent upon how many peers nominate a selection for review and not just because the individual thought so? People put their best effort into submissions, and it's fully understandable they would find rejection as being frustrating. I'm sure many people have grandmothers who have recordings and poetry and letters from long ago, that are most embarrassing now, my grandmother uses mine as blackmail,lol! As one improves though, it isn't so embarrassing.

[treesbygb]

The other day I had to buy a suit! You, know weddings and funerals only. Well, I had a pretty clear idea of what suit I wanted, sort of 60's style, narrow, leg, small lapels, 60's James Bond type thing! So I shlepped up and down Oxford Street in London looking for something along those lines. In several shops, I explained what I was after and then the salesmen proceeded to show me just about everything they had in the hope that I would buy from him. It had the contrary effect, because they were clearly not listening and I thought they were insulting my intelligence as well as wasting my time.

Now as far as I see it, Taxi is not there to sell my music, no matter how good I believe it to be. To me, taxi is a conduit, where I can get my music heard by people who are looking for something specific. Surely, the only way it can be successful is to have very tight screening criteria and thereby offer a service that the people looking for music will want to use.

I agree with the point that often the person looking doesn't really know what they want, or more likely thinks they know then changes their mind. It's happened to me too, but this is a separate issue. Taxi can't assume that a guy looking for a 60's suit will buy a an 80's miami vice job, just because it's a quality garment! If taxi, loosens it's screening criteria it runs the risk of alienating the buyers. If something is genuinely good, then surely a suitable listing will come up eventually?

Often you can tell from the listing that the person, is unsure of what they want. Often there's the "that sells, let's have more of that" stampede mentality, listings that reference the latest trendy bands, that actually don't have a consistent musical theme. In those cases I feel sorry for the screeners!

It seems to me that the listings offer a great deal of scope within the set parameters. For example, energetic rock songs, or new age instrumentals. Listening to the forwards reveals songs and music that meet the expectations of the genre but are all clearly different from each other. I've had a song forwarded that didn't even have a chorus, but fitted the spirit of the listing, so I don't believe screeners are too rigid. Of course it wasn't a pop song though!

This post has spawned some very interesting points and it's clear that knowing the right people is key in getting on, however for those of us who don't have any contacts (at the moment) then the a tight screening process makes things more egalitarian.
In my limited experience, the screeners comments have been very perceptive. From reading this forum, I do realise that there are a few poor justifications for returns, but on the whole, as pointed out, the majority of us would agree with the screeners and their comments.

Right, can somebody start Taxi UK please!
Gary

P.S. Good discussion!

[Nigmatic]

This has been an interesting read.

My neighbor, whose last album was produced by a Grammy winning producer, and mixed by a Grammy winning engineer who's worked with Aerosmith and ACDC, had a song returned because the mix sounded amateur (or something like that).

He, of course, is assuming they didn't even listen to it. I also think that particular situation smells fishy.

In any case, I am relatively new to Taxi, so I'll reserve judgement until I've experienced more of the interaction.

[sedge]

Taxi run many listings that are screened by the music supervisor themselves, or a screener that is very close (hand picked) to the supervisor.

Just submit to those ones for now? remove the perceived battle and see how that works out with your tunes kinda thing.

Its only about making a connection here.

Best of luck!

[Len911]

This has been an interesting read.

My neighbor, whose last album was produced by a Grammy winning producer, and mixed by a Grammy winning engineer who's worked with Aerosmith and ACDC, had a song returned because the mix sounded amateur (or something like that).

He, of course, is assuming they didn't even listen to it. I also think that particular situation smells fishy.

In any case, I am relatively new to Taxi, so I'll reserve judgement until I've experienced more of the interaction.

How did you maintain your composure when your neighbor told you that?

[davewalton]

Taxi run many listings that are screened by the music supervisor themselves, or a screener that is very close (hand picked) to the supervisor.

Just submit to those ones for now? remove the perceived battle and see how that works out with your tunes kinda thing.

Its only about making a connection here.

Best of luck!

It's hard to argue a Taxi bias (or ineptness) when the listing party does the screening but it's been attempted before!

[Hookjaw Brown]

I found the screeners to be quite amusing at times. I sent a song I was working on in for a custom critique. I received some advice, rewrote and re-recorded the song and sent it back in. The screener loved it but said it would never, ever, never be placed by Taxi ( it was a ska/pot song ). I have other avenues for the song and had not expected a Taxi listing to ever come up for this style but wanted some really un-biased reviews. The talent that Taxi uses as screeners is pretty amazing.

When I first joined, I had put up some blues tunes on my page, and someone told me that Keb Mo never got a forward while a member. I have forwarded several blues tunes....no checks yet. Time Will Tell. The five year plan that everyone talks about is a good way to run this strange business called music. We will review our journey with Taxi after five years and then see. For now it is just write, record, submit ad nauseum.