Both My Feet Have Been Blown Clear Off!

[Passionaterocks2]

Well after the last 2 submissions and reviews I have received, both my feet are blown clear off!

God Help Me, this song came in second in a Song contest! For Christian Music! To be critiqued by one screener as “ala Janis Joplin” was the biggest insult for clear warm vocals when Listener ID # 255 Said this: This tune also hit me with more of a retro/classic influence, perhaps a bit psychedelic a la Janis Joplin, rather than mainstream commercial contemporary Christian
SAME SONG - ANOTHER SUBMISSION Critique Listener ID # 249. Said this: This is another emotional and passionate vocal performance. To be a radio single you need to have a chorus that stand out more from the verses. One screener says: passionate vocals: Another screener says: Janis Joplin(the screamer!) Of course she made money! That is not even close to consistent critiques. I feel the song should have been forwarded for the artist to hear, and let them critique whether they would like to use the song!
Then on Composer Music Listing # D140610OC Listener ID # 319 This is very "MIDI-driven" in the performance and the sound of the samples. MUSIC was checked on all three songs I entered. Made me realize I must be delusional to even think I can write music. I gave a diverse range of styles in each song. And the music sounded Midi driven? I did not import a .mid file into a DAW. I have a disagreement with that reasoning/logic on the assessment of those 3 musical arrangements.
I take constructive criticisms well. I have performed on the east coast. I may be a newbie to Taxi but not to, the world of music.
I did bite my tongue till it bleeds! May need stitches!

[Casey H]

Can you post the following? (We can't really respond without these things)

The full text of the listings and the full screener comments
A link to the song
The lyrics

Keep in mind that song contests are usually only about the SONGWRITING (melody and lyrics) and not about the production/recording which is a big factor in most Taxi listings. And your Taxi screener comments and forward/return decision are relative to that particular listing's requirements.

Let's say it's a film/TV listing. On those, the end user uses the actual recording, not a re-recording of the song. So, if the production sounds too dated (unless they ask for that) and too MIDI, it can't be used. And for artist song pitches nowadays, solid production is often needed. You are competing with many great songwriters who also do great production work in their home or other studio.

Where the screener said your chorus wasn't strong enough, it could be that for THAT listing they needed more. Hard to say without all the details asked for up top.

PS Songwriting contests aren't always all they are cracked up to be, especially the smaller ones.

[Passionaterocks2]

I hear you!
About the Song Contest, let me clarify.
Judges were Gold and Platinum Record Label artists.

I have no links to my songs or music.

It doesn't justify the vast difference between the two screeners critiques.

That was my issue.
This was not for Film/TV Listing
And the Song was professionally recorded in a studio.
I was pitching to the artist who never had a say of whether or not she would like to do the song.
Particularly in this Genre of Contemporary Christian Music
I am looking for critiques on it on the forum.
Note how one screener noted it and the other did not!
That was my complaint.

The other was composers a company looking for new composers.
Global License company on the hunt for composers that can provide top quality cues in a wide stylistic range. Varying moods to showcase your diverse range as a composer.
Any Style.

My feet are still gone!

[Passionaterocks2]

Clarify I wasn't looking for critique on the forum.
Thanks for offering Casey

I am grateful for the offer.

[Passionaterocks2]

As far as the chorus not strong enough, in some cases, less is more.
In this case where I have played both of those songs , the emotional response
impacted the audiences to tears. And promoted a positive up lifting message of hope
in tough times. And both have a scripture bases.
Which the artist they were pitching, would have wanted to sing the message.
That is what this Genre is all about.

Just one humble servant to another

[Casey H]

I was pitching to the artist who never had a say of whether or not she would like to do the song.

Well that certainly would be true if you didn't get the forward. But we have no way of venturing opinions on that.

I understand how frustrating it is when screener's opinions are so different. All I can say is look for patterns whereby you hear the same feedback from multiple reliable, professional, trustworthy sources. We all get contradictory and varying screener opinions. It goes with the territory. Publishers vary in much the same way.

I've seen lots of song contests advertise that the judges are grammy winning artists, etc. Reality is there is very little correlation between winning song contests and commercial success. In fact, I usually advise people to not even bother entering songs into contests. The money is better spent on getting professional critiques from known good services-- Taxi (custom), Jason Blume, Pete & Luboff, NSAI, etc. (Others can make suggestions-- I forget the other names right now)...

PS And as you probably now, what your friends, family, or even small audiences you play for at local gigs, churches, etc. think also means very little as far as true commercial potential.

Casey

[funsongs]

Not yet a member, but interested in this thread re genre;
(I do Gospel-friendly material, too).

Can only reply "sorry for your disappointment"...
Casey made some excellent observations/points, imho.
Simple conclusion I come to is:
A great resume does not necessarily, nor automatically, mean a submitted piece matches what the listing party is looking for. Add to that the folks acting as the conduit from you to them.

That probably doesn't help you get your feet back, but hopefully you'll have better success in the future.
Cheers,
Peter
www.soundcloud.com/funsongs-1

[Len911]

I must say for the dramatic title of this post I was expecting a war song and was curious how the subject was dealt with.

Was Janet Joplin not a passionate and emotional singer? I fail to see the inconsistency.

The "making money" part sounds like my Dad, someone could be a war criminal or have committed the crime of the century, and his response might be "well, they made money",lol, so capitalist!

The resume's of the song contest might be impressive, but have you seen those of the taxi screeners?? Just sayin'.

Had the artist run the listing and requested to do the screening themself, I am sure that would have been accommodated, though apparently that wasn't the option they chose.

As far as the chorus not strong enough, in some cases, less is more.
In this case where I have played both of those songs , the emotional response
impacted the audiences to tears. And promoted a positive up lifting message of hope
in tough times. And both have a scripture bases.
Which the artist they were pitching, would have wanted to sing the message.
That is what this Genre is all about.

Just one humble servant to another

I'm not sure "having a chorus that stands out more from the verses" is the same thing as "chorus not strong enough".
The chorus could be strong enough and still not stand out from the verses.
I don't equate presumption with wanting to sing the message and/or the song as humility.

It's really not about being humble or proud, they're both arrogance that get in the way of improving yourself and obtaining your goals. We go to school to learn, not to measure how well our professors or peers hold us in esteem.

Welcome to the forum!

[Casey H]

I'm not sure "having a chorus that stands out more from the verses" is the same thing as "chorus not strong enough".
The chorus could be strong enough and still not stand out from the verses.

I used the words "strong enough" in the general sense of how effective a chorus is for commercial success. Standing out from the verse (e.g. sectional contrast) is in that general category.

But this is all irrelevant without hearing the song and reading the listing.

Casey

[themichaelscott]

Here's the way I look at Taxi critiques:

The priority for the screener is to find the best suited songs for each listing. Then critique. I have many relatives who are teachers. They ALL say grading papers is the worst part of the job. Imagine sorting through EVERY song submitted and having to comment on it. I know it's their job but we all know music takes a physical toll after repeated listening. I have gotten some very helpful info from critiques and I have gotten a few that felt like a generic response.

Try looking at the cumulative "push" of your critiques. The best thing Taxi has done for me, so far, is helped to guide me towards what I'm good at, and away from areas that need way more work. This way I can find what works and excel at that rather than waste time on something that I may never do good enough.


Michael