DENIED

[hummingbird]

Jul 15, 2008, 11:44am, jakechec wrote:Jul 15, 2008, 11:17am, hummingbird wrote:. In this case, it's for an ad agency. In "Alive" the best part for advertising might be that part at 4 minutes in with the "I feel free" but they aren't going to listen for that long to hear it. If it was me, I'd start the song with that part, with very little underneath it, and grow into the rest.These feel like cuts for an indie rock album Ok, so your telling me the taxi a&r reps don't even scroll through the song, they will only listen to the first few bars and make a decision?? I knew this was for a ad agency and they would only use 30-60 sec clip, so I figured sending the whole song would be best so they can pick..So since all these sound more rockish than danceish, should I be submitting to Rock/pop listings?SCREENERS listen to the whole song. A&R reps MIGHT, if they like what they hear, give you a verse & a chorus. In this case, as they are looking for electronica, A&R reps might give it a minute but when they hear rock, move on. You got to nail it fast. In film/tv the mood has to be set from the outset. "Alive" was closest but doesn't hit it squarely either.My major point was & is you are off target for the listing. Suggest you try submitting same tracks to rock listings. Do I think 30secs is too long an intro for a song? unless it does something very interesting, yes I do. all IMHO of course.

[hummingbird]

Jul 15, 2008, 11:52am, vicky wrote:Quote:Ok, so your telling me the taxi a&r reps don't even scroll through the song, they will only listen to the first few bars and make a decision?? I knew this was for a ad agency and they would only use 30-60 sec clip, so I figured sending the whole song would be best so they can pick..disheartening....yes....but if it's wrong for the listing in the first 30 seconds, and there's no critique....why listen to the rest?...if I was a screener I wouldn't...bummer for us and all the work, but makes sense to me....the screener's job is to listen to the entire song, expecially since they are giving feedback... and soon will have a check list even for Y/N & dispatch submissions.

[vicky]

VikkiQuote:check list even for Y/N & dispatch submissionsis this the number system?that would be great!!!vtbp

[allends]

Jul 15, 2008, 11:44am, jakechec wrote:Ok, so your telling me the taxi a&r reps don't even scroll through the song, they will only listen to the first few bars and make a decision??Jul 15, 2008, 11:44am, jakechec wrote:what a kick in the balls!! LMAOOK, so you're telling me you're a guy with bruised balls and you lost your ass in a laughing fit? Boy, am I glad to be me today!! Seriously... you know you have some strong tracks here. I'll bet that adds to the frustration factor! The way I read the listing, it sounds like the bar was set high so don't let it get you down.I don't have inside info on Taxi procedures but I understand that screeners are obligated to listen to the whole track, but you'll have some strikes against your chances to score a hit if your track doesn't target the listing from the get-go.My 2 Cents,Al

[davewalton]

HoraceJesse and I took a two-day tour through Taxi last year and had open access to anything and everything.Screeners listen to the songs AT LEAST up to the bridge. That means that they will have covered a verse or two, a chorus or two, and a bridge. If the song is off-target from the beginning through the bridge, another chorus won't make a difference. Generally speaking though, a screener will listen to the entire song. Screening isn't a profit center for Taxi. It would be if 30-seconds was the average time for screening. It' not. It's well over five minutes and at $5 per track compared to what the hourly rate for the screener is, Taxi loses money on the screening process. They do it because it separates them from other listing companies that just pass great and crappy tracks along equally. If you ran a company needing music would you rather choose from 20 great pre-screened tracks or weed your way through 500 tracks, mostly questionable in their target and quality?Anyway, screening at Taxi is taken extremely seriously and nothing gets more time and attention than that critical process.HTH,Dave

[vicky]

I need to nip this now....just saying..."if I was a screener I wouldn't listen to it all the way through (good I'm not)"Dave thanks for the info..vtbp

[heinsite]

howdy jake and sy--LISTEN TO WHAT IS BEING SAID BY THE VETS UP THERE--all have been forwarded, rejected, etc, but one thing is damned straight--even if the song is a great one--if it aint submitted to the right listing, it will be rejected. read and if you can or are not familiar with the "ala's" find out who they are, and follow that course.good luck, we all need it these days, this is VERY VERY tough.warren

[jakechec]

Cool all good...as long as they listen to more then 10 sec of the track I am happy... well back to the drawing board.

[davewalton]

Jul 15, 2008, 12:48pm, vicky wrote:I need to nip this now....just saying..."if I was a screener I wouldn't listen to it all the way through (good I'm not)"Dave thanks for the info..vtbpMy post dutifully edited to reflect that.

[liamkelly]

Jul 15, 2008, 9:20am, jakechec wrote:Ok, so this taxi thing is new to me and I thought lets give it a go. I saw a listing which was geared very closely (or so I thought) to some music which I had sitting in the studio. Here was the listing:DANCE/ELECTRONICA SONGS and INSTRUMENTALS are needed by an East Coast Advertising Agency for major ad/commercial campaigns. They're looking for mostly songs with vocals (male or female), but great instrumentals will be considered as well. Lyric tone should be positive, about having fun/partying/romance/adventure/excitement/etc. Tempos should be mid to up and the overall vibe should fit perfectly into a club scene. Broadcast quality is absolutely necessary for this one, but full tracks are acceptable as the edits will be made by the ad agency studio. Something different and unique will definitely catch the ear of the producers and set you apart from the rest.The three tracks we submitted wereALIVEhttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=1369 ... eam=trueOn My Wayhttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=137542&stream=trueAl three were denied, I thought at least one would get a fwd. Constructive criticism, words of the wise pleeeeeeease... Hey GuysSorry about the returns but, as they say, onward and upward!I only listened to Alive (when you put it up a few weeks ago) and what I said then stands now.It's a tricky listing. They want a track that'll fit perfectly into a club scene (by definition a club mix will be longer than a radio mix) but on the other hand we know that submitting a mix over 6 minutes is risky.Then there's the rock thing. Although, if you spent a night in a club these days, 10 - 20% of the music you hear will be club remixes of rock songs (well, certainly rock-ish). And to complicate things further there have been huge original dance tracks that are guitar centred (Flashdance by Deep Dish anyone??)And then the electronica thing. I must confess I don't really know what this means. Strictly speaking, electronica is not specifically made for dancing (which contradicts the listing) whereas electronic dance music is. As I said, I never fully understood the term.All I can say is... you've been returned. You probably got the listing wrong. Back to writing great songs and microscopically dissecting listings.Good luck, guys, they're good tracks.Liam