FROM TAXI PRESIDENT REGARDING SHARING COMPANY INFO

[jay10music]

Hey guys, this is Jimi you friendly board moderator. I just wanted to copy everyone on this email between Michael and I:Hey Michael, I saw some chatter on boards this morning with members excited about forwards, etc. The company names however, are coming up in convo and I’m getting concerned that if contact info is shared, the companies might get bombarded with unsolicited phone calls, etc. Any thoughts? JimiYo Jimster,Funny you should bring this up today. I got a call from a member on Monday who had turned someone (from our message boards) on to the contact info of a company they'd been forwarded to, and received a deal offer on several of their songs from. The company was SO pissed that the guy was giving out their info, that they retracted his offer, and he wanted me to call them and beg forgiveness for him.I don't think the members who get offered deals or whose music is forwarded to companies realize what a can of worms they open when they divuldge the company names and/or NAMES of the people inside the companies.#1 They run a pretty substantial risk of pissing off the company if the person they gave the info to admits who they got it from (which they usually do when the company person says, "Where did you get my info?").I can't imagine they'd say, "For ME to know, and for YOU to find out." hahahah #2 The other thing they don't seem to realize is that HUNDREDS, probably THOUSANDS of people are seeing the company (and people) names they post on the boards, and then contacting the companies directly. All this really does is create COMPETITION for the people who give out the info! Don't they get it? Not only that, but by innundating the companies with calls, they ultimately are causing the companies to NOT take calls from musicians any more, AND they quit using TAXI as a resource -- in other words, less opportunities for them.We've had a rash of calls from about 4 or 5 companies in the last week from people who have plucked their names off the boards, and now, those companies will no longer run listings with TAXI. I understand that people get excited when they're offered a deal or sign one, but they need to be a lot more careful about broadcasting company names ( and people at the companies) to the public. Every single person who sees that John Doe signed a deal with XYZ Music, assumes the XYZ is looking, so they Google them, and drive them insane. When the RECEPTIONIST, (who is not in the loop, at all!) asks who they got their name from, they either give the name of the member or mention TAXI, both of which screw us and the members.We've also had members contacting companies to "follow up" recently, which of course, I understand. But here's the problem. We notify the member that they've been forwarded as son as all submissions have been screened. The members contact the companies to "follow up" but we haven't even had the chance to complete the steps it takes here to get the pakcage in the company's hands. So the member gets the recpetionsit on the phone and says, "Are you going to use my music?"The receptionsit knows nothing and has never heard of the member or TAXI because she/he is the RECEPTIONIST and we deal directly with high level people. So, the member thinks we're a scam cuz the receptionist doesn't know anything abiout TAXI or their music, and often times, the members get out of control and drive the receptionsit nuts until she starts calling around the company to see WHO might have their music. Meanwhile, NOBODY has it yet, because we just fisnished processing it on our end, and the FedEx won't be there until the day AFTER the member called and drove them crazy. What members also don't realize is that even though the company called and requested music from us, MOST of the time, they get to it when they can -- that often means weeks or MONTHS after we send it. I know that this time span must torture our members, but it's the way the industry works.Our more professional members (meaning they've had a cut/placement or two and know the drill) are usually much more patient, and in the end build better relationships with the companies and get more and more jobs from them. The newbies sometimes let their impatience get the better of them (which I can really understand -- they're just excited), but in the end, they hurt their chances of building those relationships. The people with the power to sign, will ALWAYS go with the person who appears to be the EASIEST to work with, NOT the most high maint. person.Whewwwww! Hope that covers it. If you want to post this for everybody's edification, feel free. We may also want to "erase" past messages that mention company names. I'm getting tired of the pissed off calls from the peeps at the companies, and it freaks me out that some members are losing deals because of this.Michael