Critique Anonymity Unfair

[hitwriter]

Quote:I'm wondering, does anyone know how many hit country songs out of Nashville have come from TAXI members? I know "Buy Me a Rose" was one. If you write mainly for the high bar listings, are you wasting your time other than looking at TAXI as mainly a critique service. I don't ask that in a nasty way, I really am curious.To be fair, "Buy Me A Rose" and "I Loved Her First" were written by individual TAXI members who made connections thru TAXI with other works. The songs did not become hits because of a TAXI specific pitch to an artist or label.As far as I know, TAXI has never had a direct pitch that resulted in a hit single. It's always a member who met someone through a TAXI listing and later had the chart success. Which should not be discounted.When and if TAXI has a specific listing resulting in a major chart success you can bet that songwriter will have that story and photo op with Michael posted at the top of every promo tool for a while.(That in itself says so much about how hard it is to get a major record label cut and single release... just imagine the number of great songs along with the duds that have passed thru TAXI!)TAXI's biggest claim to fame is the exhaustive list of televison and film credits their members receive.

[sgs4u]

I'm hoping Matto weighs in on this. He'll have an interesting perspective I'm sure.

[horacejesse]

Taxi cannot publish the names of the screeners because songwriters are dangerous people.But seriously, I don't need the screener's name to know if he is full of beans. The review tells me all I need to know about that person. And I must admit I have received some reviews that were clueless. I have received some decent ones too.But like you, I already know how to write a song and I don't need any help. It's no big deal to me if that sounds egotistical to other people. I know what I know, and songwriting is one of those things I know. Really outstanding reviews were certainly the minority, but I did receive a few that were very thoughtful and on target.But when the reviwer tries to make suggestions on the language I use or suggests other rhymes, etc., then I feel they are only looking at the surface and have missed the point of the particular language. Nothing is in my songs there simply because it fit a hole. I don't write these things while watching TV. You still have to trust yourself more than a reviewer.

[jchitty]

This has to be one of the best threads I've read since I've been posting at TAXI....thanks, Hitwriter for starting this thread and giving us your perspective. Since you've written a hit, it's nice to get a view from someone outside of TAXI.....in otherwords, from someone in the industry who's had success independent of TAXI. I am trying to be fair to TAXI as well, but I have enjoyed reading Hitwriter's opinions here. Horace, I like your point about 'trusting yourself' more than a reviewer. It's hard to walk that line between, "okay, I need to improve and work more on my songs" to.... "I know this song is really good, and I don't care what anyone says."

[jchitty]

Quote:this an awesome thread!!Yep, it's a great thread.

[arkjack]

It does boil down to one denominator..... EARS.... I have a few pairs of great ears I bounce my material on before submitting.... so just how good are the taxi ears? I'll admit, there are quite a few critiques I get (especially on listings calling for broadcast quality) where I can agree that there are flaws here and there.... I'm still trying to gage what level of imperfection clears the bar.... if you make it too flawless.... then you get comments like "stiff".... Oh a woise guy eh?ArkJack

[nomiyah]

I've always disliked the anonymity. One reason, like you said, is to understand the POV of the screener to be able to use the critique effectively. I've had some that were pretty off the mark but others that were very helpful.The other reason anonymity bothers me is that it's the opposite of what I'm used to. The music biz is all about connections and you can't make a connection with a number.There is a faulty logic to the "taxi members give death threats to taxi screeners" logic. Many of these same screeners, like John Braheny, give critiques in their songwriting workshops using their real name.What is the story behind the legendary Taxi death threat? Did that happen once or is it a common occurance?I'd much prefer if they used names and not numbers. But I'll still read the critiques. It's like listening to what anyone might say about one of my songs, I might agree or not, it might be helpful or not. But it doesn't hurt to read it.Nomi

[sgs4u]

sparkle wroteQuote:I just read your review of my song "In My Dreams". I'm glad you liked the song -- thanks! I'm surprised to hear you say the mix wasn't consistent -- this song's gotten forwarded three times before. And no one else out of other places I've submitted to said the mix was not up to snuff either. this is one of those "things that make you go hmmm" Maybe the guy submitted this song to a listing that wasn't an appropriate match. Screeners are human, but it does make me wonder about the objectivity of the forwarding process. I'm not at all skeptical, it just adds weight to the perspective that you have to get an immense pile of forwards because some songs inevitably fall through the cracks. It's all about the number of deals that are actually making you money. That's why the film/tv stuff seems a little more clear to me as far as submissions/forwards go.Were the screeners credentials a part of the problem, we'll never know. On the other hand, it seems good (even great) reviews have little to do with whether a track is forwarded. Suggestions made by reviewers don't always seem to be about what could've garnered a song a forward. Many reviewers suggestions seem clouded with difficult to decipher comments. Then again, I only get to read people's opinions of reviews after members are angry or perplexed. or of course thankful (but then they don't say anything about what the reviewers suggested. Reviews of my music have been very clear to me, and help me a great deal. Do I actually need them to like what I'm writing? Not a chance.But I don't ever think that anyone hears only with their ears. We listen to music with our hearts, as well. Some more than others. I believe I am one of the others. and therefore, I would NOT make a good reviewer for Taxi. just adding to the collective, steve

[sgs4u]

ps I love being here!

[horacejesse]

It doesn't bother me that I don't know the screener's name. I don't care if it's John or Sally. What difference does that make? But I would like to know their credentials and sex. If along with their numbers the screener's credentials and sex (not sexual credentials) were archived somewhere that everyone could access, that would satisfy any craving for personal knowledge of a screener I might have.That might involve a large amount of ongoing work for Taxi however, since apparently it would need to be updated frequently to keep pace with Taxi's admitted steady turnover among screeners. I am sorry we always make suggestions that mean hard working people would have to work even harder. On the other end of every simple suggestion is someone else's work, I guess. One more thought. I am not saying it is feasible, but it would certainly be interesting--if when we received our bi/monthly Tipsheet, the screeners (#-wise) were declared along with each listing.