Functionality Suggestions

[benigno]

Hi all, I have been hanging around for a few years with Taxi, and given that I haven't really contributed to the forum (that I recall), I have been reading posts with great interest trying to learn from them all. Anyway, I haven't found any place to post suggestions to Taxi, so please move/delete the post if necessary. Well, here go a couple of things that I think could be improved. One of them is probably feasible, while the other, is more of a wish:1.- I find that more and more listings are forwarded/returned without any critiques by Taxi. Now I do not know how the "business" part of this goes for Taxi, (that is how you get paid by "your other customers"). In case there is a monetary reason for not doing the critiques on those listings, I think many of us would like to pay a little extra to have that information as an option.2.- As I said I have been here for a few years, and even though I know the maths and probabilities on the pieces that are forwarded are against me, that doesn't mean that I like managing the lack of information that we are usually rewarded with, regarding the pieces that got forwarded.I know that right now that is probably completely out of your control, that is, once you forward you loose track of that piece. But given that you probably represent a big enough piece of the cake regarding music submitted, is there really no way that you can somehow enforce on "your other customers" (publishers etc) some system to keep track of their listening and status of the pieces submitted?.Is there no way to create a unified platform that ensures that communication? that gives them some functionality for classifying, tracking their reviews, listening, creating custom review lists etc and gives us track of our submissions once they leave you.Anyway, I wish I knew more about your business to know before hand if what I am suggesting is completely dumb. I am just not happy with accepting this kind of lack of information as a given.Cheers, and thanks for all,Benigno Calvo.

[guscave]

Hi BenignoThe listings you are talking about are set up as a "Yes/No" submission. This is usually because there is a very short turn-around time for these particular listings and there is no time for a thorough critique.You might see more of these showing up lately because there are more film & tv listings available. The short turn-around time is basically the nature of the beast with that part of the industry. As far as Taxi enforcing publishers to keep track; well that's like telling another company how to conduct their business in order for yours to be more efficient. Publishers and music supervisors are a "right here, right now" type of entity. If they like your music and could use it "right now" they'll contact you. Otherwise they're off to the next thing.P.S. Your post seemed to suggest that the publishers that come to Taxi are paying customers. (I might have read it wrong), but Taxi does not get paid to post listings.

[hummingbird]

re #1 - this has been discussed at length and Taxi is working with their programmers to come up with a short check-list for no-critique and dispatch listings. We would then be told the main reason for the return (production, not close enough to what the listing asked for, etc). If you want a critique, you can pay $20 for a custom critique, but I personally would strongly object to having to pay more for a critique on a submission!re #2 - it's not possible for us to demand that the receiver of forwards has any contact with us or provides any information to us, unless and until they decide they'd like to sign the music. They too are running businesses and dealing with time & payroll issues and the needs of their clients. Continue to submit the forwarded music to other listings, confident that you've made the grade.

[weslong]

Sept 15, 2008, 8:29am, hummingbird wrote:re #1 - this has been discussed at length and Taxi is working with their programmers to come up with a short check-list for no-critique and dispatch listings. We would then be told the main reason for the return (production, not close enough to what the listing asked for, etc). If you want a critique, you can pay $20 for a custom critique, but I personally would strongly object to having to pay more for a critique on a submission!re #2 - it's not possible for us to demand that the receiver of forwards has any contact with us or provides any information to us, unless and until they decide they'd like to sign the music. They too are running businesses and dealing with time & payroll issues and the needs of their clients. Continue to submit the forwarded music to other listings, confident that you've made the grade.Yeah! Now a short checklist would be good compromise. I think everyone could live with that.

[benigno]

Guscave, Yes, my impression was that they got payed from that side of the business (although I didnt suggest that they got payed per listing), anyway, they are doing a job for them too by accessing a wider musicians pool, and filtering their input, so it made sense to me. In any case I didnt mean it as a criticism, I pay for what I get and I am happy with that, the way Taxi manages their income is totally their business and not mine. I can only suggest on the things I would like to see, and mentioned it only because there could be some economical reason there, that was part of the reason why there was a difference between postings. You see, I did not know if the publishers etc, would get also their reviews on the songs forwarded (I think not, though as it may be a source of problems). Anyway, even if it is a problem of time on those YES/NO listings, it is still a matter of resource management, wether covering those work peaks, and investing some more time per song, makes it still worth it or not, is a business decission. I, as the customer, can only say that I wouldnt mind seeing that as an option, and that I wouldnt mind paying a little extra for that functionality when I choose to have a feedback on a YES/NO listing. As you can see Hummingbird does not cherish the idea of paying a little extra for that which is fine, and I can understand that, which is why I was asking for it as an option. My way of thinking was: If there is someone already taking the time to listen to a song, why should I have them listen to it twice, once for the submition to a YES/NO listing and another for the custom feedback, and on plus have to pay 25$ in total. There might be a way to submit to that YES/NO listing, and get the feedback, all in one go, and at least save 5$ (assuming the total cost would be that of custom feedback). Regarding the second point, I was only suggesting that Taxi is in a better possition than any company starting from scratch to build up a Service for publishers, having the "plus" of being able to integrate it with their current side of business and give us that extra information. As I said, it was a "wish" from the stand point of someone that does not know much about that business. I do know though about b2c and b2b platforms as I have my own little company that has done its share at that line of work. Hummingbird, Thank you, I didnt know that that part was already under developement. Anyway, I am not "expecting" or "demanding" anything. I posted this here as there is no "suggestions booth", and I was doing it from the conviction that it is exactly what I would want my customers to do to me. That they tell me what they miss, and what kind of things they might be willing to pay more for. Of course, I do not pretend that this is everyone's wish.

[aimusic]

My Question though - is how long has this "CHECK BOX" been going on for... I don't know anything about programming, but does it really take 6 months to design a page containing a few check boxes?

[billg]

Just five minutes ago I opened my email to find a "we listened but no thank you" message from a publisher who had a listing with another service that I use. So I don't think it's entirely off base to think that it could be implemented at Taxi as well. At least it's not an impossibility as it seems as though listing parties will provide a formal "selected" or "not selected" if asked to do so. The thing is Taxi has adopted a "hands-off" policy as far as what happens after the forward & I guess whether that's a good thing or bad is the question. I must admit that it is comforting to KNOW that the listing party actually listened but regardless of which way you feel about it, it's Taxi's policy and probably isn't going to change any time soon.

[hummingbird]

Hi - of course you haven't been here long, but the subject of critiques has been discussed numerous times. I don't think it's possible to have more than a check list on Dispatch. I would not want to pay for a critique on regular Y/N submissions. The submission fee is $5, whether we get a critique or not... meaning we really don't pay more for that service. Charging extra for a critique would mean more money out of my pocket - so let's say, out of 100 submissions I make a year, that 50 of them are no critique, and there is an additional charge of $2.50 for that critique. (How Taxi could charge for a critique on one type of listing and not another, I don't know, but let's assume your scenerio)... I would be $125 out of pocket. You'd say 'you can choose not get the critique'... and I'd say that doesn't make sense. I am very willing to invest in my career by paying my Taxi membership, Dispatch membership, and submission fees. But I would be extemely upset if submission fees were raised.This forum serves as a free review service of anything forum members post. It's a great resource that has certainly been part of the education that helped me bring my music to the right level to get forwards.H

[Casey H]

One thing you have to bear in mind is that there a lot more music available then people looking for music. Advances in home studio technology the past 5-10 years have had a major impact on the dynamics of the game.So no one who is a provider of music, whether it's an artist or a service like taxi, can make demands on the consumers of music. They can simply go on to the next pile of CDs sitting on their desk. Services like taxi also insulate them from dealing with phone calls and emails as to the status of submissions. That's one of the attractive points about using such a service. If they had to provide status to taxi on every submission, a big benefit of the service would disappear.I know it's tough. You never really know if or how well your track was listened to. The same goes for direct submissions outside of taxi. The best you can do is try to get as many forwards and/or direct submissions as you can out there to tilt the odds. Casey

[jay10music]

Again, suggestions such as these should be addressed to a TAXI Staff member. You can call them at 1-800-458-2111.Jimi