Getting in contact with a producer

[TonyTyrrell]

Hi folks,

I'm new to Taxi and recently got some feedback on a few songs. One suggestion was for me to re-record a track with a producer who had worked with hit songs / artists. So the reviewer like the song but not the current packaging.

Can anyone tell me how to go about identifying and contacting a good producer (one who has a track record of success) and how much that might cost?

Btw, I'm based in Dublin, Ireland.

Thanks,

Tony

[johnnyrowing]

This may not work . . . but . . . I'd post your track here on this forum and offer even splits for an active Taxi member to produce the track.

Of course, you may want to have the volunteer share some examples of what they produce to make sure you feel comfortable with them.

But a well produced - well written track is much better than a poorly produced - well written track. You need someone . . . someone might want you . . . So, it could all become the stuff of Taxi legend.

Or, it could be a terrible collaboration . . . but . . . you always have the next track.


Alternatively, you could post the track here and ask how much $'s someone would charge to produce your track. You might get a bite that way too.

[cosmicdolphin]

Have a look on Soundbetter.com

[TonyTyrrell]

Have a look on Soundbetter.com

Thanks for the tip - looks like a real treasure trove...Tony

[melodymessiah]

yes, sites like soundbetter can be a treasure trove, but you may not always find gold. you say you want to find a producer who has a track record of success. if you're talking about MAJOR success, well...it seems that some of these producers are operating on sites like soundbetter, and paying them will probably be the only way you will get producers with major success to work with you. but be aware, some of these producers feed from their former glory (yes, FORMER glory, why would they be offering their services online if they were still hot?) by exploiting naive songwriters and artists, overcharging for mediocre, dated sounding productions (remember, they had their peak 20-30 years ago, and that's how they still sound like. believe me, i've checked out a few of them).

if you're looking for REGULAR collabs (not work for hire) you will probably only find this amongst people who's roughly on the same career level as yourself, anything else is not very realistic. i get a feeling that you're into contemporary pop. whatever you choose (wfh or not), be sure it's a producer who lives a breathes contemporary pop, not someone who just wants to give it a go, even if he hasn't been listening to the charts for the last 30 years or so. remember you're competing with the top guys in the industry, and they're TOTALLY into it.

when it comes to these online services, fiverr has become my favorite. it's a lot cheaper than soundbetter or airgigs, and the quality varies more. but you can find some amazing value for money if you know what you're looking for and are willing to spend some time searching. fiverr also have the pricings upfront on each seller, and you can even filter on price. soundbetter doesn't have these options it seems. (actually i find soundbetter to be the lest user friendly of the three).

i'm curious to hear what you've written. as a songwriter myself (mostly pop), i'm always looking for collabs


cheers from norway,
paul

[TonyTyrrell]

Hi Paul,

Great advice thanks with reference to both Soundbetter (there are some really talented people on there but I did think that the best might not need to be selling their wares on the site) and in relation to fiverr, which I had heard of but hadn't used.

I'm not sure how to share the track in question but am trying this (link below). The track was recorded about 10/11 years ago.

I'd be interested in collaboration too - not something I've done on a virtual basis but happy to try. I have many songs written but very few recorded and they cover a variety of genres (I think). This one is probably more adult contemporary / singer-songwriter.

Tony

https://www.taxi.com/my/artist/songs/f7 ... fe-society

[mwb2]

I'd say it may be true that "the best" don't need to be advertising their wares on Soundbetter... but they don't need to do Taxi submissions either.

Soundbetter can be hit or miss, but misses can be big IMO. And it's expensive if you want anything decent. Also, people there are not incentivized to tell you your writing is mediocre, so it's not necessarily that helpful if that is where you need to grow.

If you want to be learning from the Taxi submission process (i.e. submit, get returns, get feedback, get better) then Soundbetter will be very expensive, very quickly. Best bet is to network online (Taxi forums, other boards, Reddit, whatever) and collaborate IMO.

Cheers,
Mike

[TonyTyrrell]

Thanks again for the tips and advice.

If you don't / can't use high end or relatively high end recording engineers / producers, how to get stuff past the 'ears' of the folks who evaluate? Then again, if you have a lot of material and want to get it recorded so that you can respond to pitches, how can afford it? I suppose the question is, how do folks record sufficient material at a reasonable standard and price, particularly if using actual musicians?

I've tried to copy a track from soundcloud - hopefully that works

Tony

https://soundcloud.com/tony-tyrrell-988 ... fe-society