Forum Newbies... a few thoughts + FAQ

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Forum Newbies... a few thoughts + FAQ

Post by hummingbird » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:08 am

Hi folks, I've noticed we seem to be getting a fair number of new forum members (and some new Taxi members). I was new here once and didn't know the ropes, and some very kind people accepted me into the group and let me know how things work. So, newbies, here are some thoughts:** after you join, please introduce yourself (General Hangout), tell us a little about you... don't be afraid to join in the discussions!** don't be afraid to ask questions, we were all newbies once. If you can't figure out how to add your photo, or change your signature, or create a shortcut to your music on taxi.com, just ask.** it's nice if you do a search for your topic before you post (buttons above, that say home-help-search-), as many things have been covered before (not that we mind repeating ourselves but some excellent advice has already been posted on a variety of topics). ** on posting songs for feedback - naturally, you'd like us to listen to your music and tell you how you are doing... but give us one or two specific songs, not everything on your page... and pay it forward by going to Peer to Peer or Lyric Lovers and listening to several songs / reading several lyrics by posted by others, and leaving your feedback on what they've been up to. If you aren't getting feedback on the stuff you post, this is why. (Also, be patient. It might take 2 or 3 days for people to get to your post.) Please don't use this board simply to post your songs and not participate or reciprocate. This is a community and every community needs both give and take. And this forum is here to foster and encourage folks - no matter what stage of the game they're in.** there is a BSP forum (blatant self promotion), if you just want folks to listen to your music & not give feedback, post there, this is also where you can announce your gigs & CD releases & stuff like that. ** take a moment to read through the forum and try to post your thread in the right section so it doesn't get lost, cause we do want to join in the discussion you've begun! Please also do not double post. Avoid posting entire messages or thread titles in ALL CAPS. It gets hard to read. Don't worry - every single post has an equal chance of being read, no matter where it's posted.** try not to highjack a thread... so if, for example, someone posted in Success Stories about a deal they just got... don't ask a question on that thread about music publishers. Start your own thread, in general hangout, for example.** you don't have to be a member of Taxi to be on this forum. There are Taxi members, former Taxi members, maybe-gonna-be Taxi members, and maybe a few never-will-join members. However, this is Taxi's forum, and while we all welcome debate and discussion about all things music and all things Taxi... it should be remembered that this forum is here because Taxi supports our networking with each other. We've all invested a considerable amount in what we are doing. So err on the side of respect when discussing the merits of the organization that maintains this board and in whom many of us trust.** there are moderators here, but they prefer free discussion, as long as folks are respectful of each other. There are going to be disagreements from time to time...try to be polite, or at the very least civil, and resist responding to those who antagonize you.** do not spam! It's ok to mention your studio or your band or your company's songwriting-related product, book or recording equipment - especially in the context of a conversation. But please don't join this community merely to advertise or solicit business. That's not what it's here for. It's here for actual discussion. If you have no intention of taking part in discussions, the people that *are* regulars will know and your message will fall on deaf ears anyway.** if you didn't sign up using your real name, please put your real name & a link to your music in your signature. If you want to conduct productive communication and present yourself as a professional, using your real name when you post would be a good step in that direction. (Go to 'profile', click on 'modify profile', and add in your signature line, avatar, etc)** yes, we are friendly. If you stick around a while you'll find that we're extremely helpful to, and supportive of, each other. Join in, post some reviews, add a dash of respect to whatever you post, and you'll quickly become part of the community. OTOH, if your first post is negative towards Taxi, or you're just here to flame, or give other folks a hard time, the welcome mat will disappear.The main reason we are here is to support and encourage each other, share information and share feedback, and watch each other grow & improve in craft. We sympathize with each other when music is rejected, and celebrate when it is accepted... and leap for joy when someone lands a deal through determination & hard work!Welcome to the family! warmly,Hummin'bird ----PS - there are many good articles on the taxi.com site, if you need to know more about the music industry & how songwriters make their money, it's a good place to start --http://www.taxi.com/faq/index.html PSS - Just so you know, a lot of us use the "view the 100 last posts" link on the bottom to read recent posts instead of going through the forum to see what's new in each section.EDIT - another PS - what do the stars & things like "Ultimate Member" mean? On many songwriting boards, the number of posts you make is underneath your name / avatar. On some boards, the more posts you make, the more "levels" you attain. As you may note, I am an "Ultimate Member" with 5 Stars. Yes, I am a star, of course, but really that just means I've posted an awful lot on this forum. So the stars just indicate the level of the poster. They have nothing to do with Taxi membership or anything like that._____________________EDIT - some FAQ:Q: How often do the Taxi listings come out?A: Twice a month, on the 1st & 15th, if you get them via email. If you don't, you'd get them via snail mail after those dates.-----Q: How do I link to my taxi music page?A: What name did you use when you signed up for your music account? Let's assume it was "myname"... E.G.http://www.taxi.com/myname If you signed up as "my name" with a space inbetween, then it would be http://www.taxi.com/my_name-----Q: How do I link to a song on my taxi music page?A: Nobody knows anymore. I just give my page link and say the name of the song -----Q: How do I get my avatar on my posts?A: You have to upload a jpg to your webserver, and then go into your profile and give the link to the image in "Avatar URL". It would probably look something like this (NOTE: replace the "*" with "." for a proper web address):http://www*yourservername*com/~yourusername/yourpixname*jpg-----Q: How does Taxi screen music? How do I know the screeners are qualified? A: Read these threads, they are informative:Taxi Land - Dave - Part Ihttp://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1185818579Taxi Land - Dave - Part 2http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1186789715Taxi Land - Dave - Part 3http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1188921401Taxi Land - Screener Queries - Horacehttp://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1185748342-----Q: When will my submission be screened?A: Your submission will be screened AFTER the submission deadline. There is no way to know WHEN it will be screened. After all submissions are reviewed, the results are sent out by email (if you submitted on-line) or by snail mail (if you mailed it in/dropped it off).-----Q: I uploaded a new mp3 after I submitted my song - which version will be screened?A: The screeners listen to whatever is on-line when they go to review your song. Once the submission deadline has passed, there is no way of knowing when your piece(s) will be screened. If you update the mp3 after the submission deadline, then you run the risk of not knowing which version was screened. -----Q: How do I upload a new mp3 for a song already on my page?A: Sign in, go to 'My Music' & find the song on your song list and click on EDIT.-----Q: How do I submit a photo/bio with my song(s)?A: When submitting, scroll down to the bottom of your song list & you will find your photo & bio there (assuming you've uploaded a photo to your page & completed the bio)-----If there are other common questions you'd like listed here, please PM me & let me know.
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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by jensen » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:41 am

Hi Vikki,I've been and am a member of a few other music forums, I guess the rules and etiquette stand and are the same here as most of the other sites.Forum manners do tend to be widely recognised everywhere, but its still pretty hard to jump into a clique, and let me say for every newbie on a forum there is the clique type situation to face up to at first, or it sure feels that way.Most newbies find it a bit difficult at first to join in a thread, especially when they see the familiarity of long standing members joking and laughing together in thier own special forum language, its a bit like attending a party on your own when you dont know a soul, and end up feeling a twirp when no one invites you to join thier little in crowd conversation.But like you said, you've been there too as everyone else did when they first started.I joined up this forum weeks ago and introduced myself as a newbie, with what I thought was a fairly humble and friendly attitude, but it took ages before anyone came in and said hi, then when they did, it soon fizzled out to zilch.I then tried joining in on a few threads sharing my experiences on the same subject line as the thread, trying to get my name out and recognised etc.I thought it best to try do it this way rather than just jump straight into doing a review on someones music or lyric, that I didnt "know"I'm a newbie on Taxi, but not particulary a newbie to music having been doing music for the last 10 years professionally as a lead band singer and earning a living on it, not a great one, but enough to pay my bills and allow me to write, and lovin it too I might add !I joined this forum to widen my network, hopefully meet new friends, and share and learn new experiences.I do intend to keep at it, but let me say this is not the most friendly forum that I ever joined, not that I ever expected anyone to jump up and blow kisses at me and bubbles up my *** but have often wondered in this past weeks if I said something out of turn in an earlier thread ?? so probably not . . . and maybe I'm being paranoid but what I'm saying is a newbie is a bit of a fragile being in the first place, might be as well to try and remember that before all the rules are enforced or maybe even better, the excellent newbie advice you've just given would be better stuck up at the top of the forum on a stickie, so that very very virgin newbies to a music forum can digest and learn in such a kind manner what is expected of them.One thing I have noticed though Vikki is that you are the comfort zone on this forum, people gravitate to you and your kindness, long may you reign darlin, Taxi will always need you here !I'm a big tough Yorkshire lad, most things are like water off a ducks back to me, but even I developed a slight case of forum paranoia on here just recently, and maybe now that I dared to open my big mouth and tell it how it is in my case, I'll be worried to log on again for a few days in case I upset the applecart.Just remember us newbies want to feel part of the bigger picture too, thats why we joined up and we are trying, well I know I am !!!bestJensen

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by hummingbird » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:46 am

Hey Jensen- thanks for your post. I see you joined the Forum in the summer while I was away, so that's why you didn't get a personal welcome from the 'Bird. This forum has it's ups and downs, but I think if you hang in you'll find the water gets warmer. It did for me And I began this post with the very idea that you mention, that sometimes new folks don't know what they're getting into... so having some ideas, and a friendly helping hand, might make them feel more welcome
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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by arkjack » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:48 am

I've noticed the growth in the forum over the past two months.... back in August there were only 4600 members, somewhere in the last two days it broke the 5k mark......

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by jensen » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:49 am

Oh I intend to Vikki, thats a promise ! and hells bells gurl, that was one quick responseI also intend to watch out for you at the Rally, and say a big warm hi !Jensen

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by diogenes » Mon Oct 15, 2007 1:16 pm

Hey Jensen, I'm a newbie to and I've also noticed that this isn't the most friendly of places, especially if you say anything the least bit negative about taxi. But I suppose it takes time...PS With regards to my newbiehood, like you, I'm not a newbie to music either, just these forums. I was actually a member of Taxi back in the mid 90's as well. Nice to meet you btw.

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by diogenes » Mon Oct 15, 2007 1:19 pm

And Vicki, how do you add a picture? Thanks

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by diogenes » Mon Oct 15, 2007 1:58 pm

"- don't be afraid to ask questions, we were all newbies once. If you can't figure out how to add your photo, or change your signature, or create a shortcut to your music on taxi.com, just ask."Sorry Steve, I was reading this thread and she offered, thanks though, I appreciate the help.

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by davewalton » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:06 pm

Quote:I joined this forum to widen my network, hopefully meet new friends, and share and learn new experiences. I do intend to keep at it, but let me say this is not the most friendly forum that I ever joined...Just remember us newbies want to feel part of the bigger picture too, thats why we joined up and we are trying, well I know I am !!!bestJensenHey Jensen,I think it may be a bit of paranoia more than anything else. If I read the threads that you started, other than your first post (which did eventually get good feedback), I don't see unfriendly. The post about your forwards (which I'll voluntarily congratulate you on... much better than my starting ratio ) had a good amount of congrats along with interest in hearing those tracks, along with help with posting the links correctly, etc.I will say from my standpoint is that it takes me a while to get new names straight in my mind to where I can say something like "Jensen... the singer guy from the UK". Before today your name was kind of blended in with maybe a dozen or so names that I perceive as "new". It's not anything for me, other than kind of responding to threads that either interest me or where I see something where the information really isn't accurate or at least where my experience is so much different that it's worth a post to mention that. I only do instrumentals so I'll rarely post feedback about a regular song because I can't tell a good lyric from a bad one. I'm from Cape Girardeau, Missouri... not exactly a famous guy from a famous place. I've gotten to know these guys but I first came to the forum in 2004 and just hung around, posted some stuff and didn't really think much of anything either way.If you're coming to the Rally, you'll definitely meet and get to know many of your fellow forum members (as long as you wear your dot or at least walk up to one of us wearing a dot). For any other "newbies", don't worry about what you think the rest of us might be thinking or whatever. I can tell you that I've seen firsthand some amazing help given to all kinds of forum members, friendly and sometimes unfriendly. It kind of ebbs and flows depending on the schedules of the rest of the forum members.HTH,Dave

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Re: Forum Newbies... a few thoughts

Post by matto » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:36 pm

Tony, don't be forum paranoid, you're doing fine Besides, only a few more weeks to the Rally, after that you'll be part of the "in crowd" too...maybe you can be our ambassador of friendliness Seriously though, it's quite possible that this forum is not the most welcoming to newbies, but if you stick around a while I think you'll find that we're extremely helpful to, and supportive of, each other.It's just that so many newbies show up here, ask a few questions, or whine about Taxi for a little, and then they are gone and never heard from again. I think you'll find most regulars on here are rather goal oriented, so we tend to wait it out for a while and see if a newcomer is gonna stick around before we hand them the keys to the executive washroom, so to speak. You seem to be a rather goal oriented individual yourself, so I think you'll fit in very well. Looking forward to meeting you at the Rally!matto

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