How useful is a song critique service?

[lovefilmmusic]

Dear all,

I’m a newbie here and have enjoyed reading other posts about songwriting.

May I ask this question? On the internet, there are many who offer ‘song critique/song consultation service’. Basically, you pay $20 or $30 for each song and will receive the feedback on the song quality.
How useful is it? For example, recently I read David Foster’s memoir, Hitman and he wrote that when he produced Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable duet album, he did not think the album would be a hit. And it was very common for people in the industry to judge wrongly the song’s commercial potential.

If that is the reality, then how useful are those song critique services?
Thank you.

[mikeymike2000]

Hi there,

The Taxi custom feedback is very useful. I have used it 3-4 times already.

The other services you speak of ('on the internet') may or may not be worth it. Really depends on who is on the other side. This is a service Taxi provides but they don't really advertise it all that much. I stumbled upon it and tried it and went back for more. I have seen other sites that really shove it down your thought, so to speak.

It is very useful if you are serious about improving your skills. If you are just looking for someone to tell you that you did a good job and have potential to be a very successful commercial writer then it may not be the best thing at this point.

So, give it a try with your best song but keep in mind the whole idea of it is to tell you how to improve. It would be rare that you get anything back that says this is perfect, it is a hit, we want it now. They do point out the good things too.

There are always gonna be flukes with songs that become hits that nobody thought was going to be but more often than not you know a hit when you hear it.

Just keep an open mind, that is the most important thing to apply to all aspects of life.

[Casey H]

I do think using a reputable song critique service is of value. There are many good ones out there.

It's especially a good idea to use a service if you do not record your own songs and depend on outside demo services. The more you can fix before investing in the demo, the better. Too many times I've seen folks pay $500-$1000 for a demo, only to learn later that there were show-stopper issues as far as marketability that could have been addressed beforehand.

I have to say that Taxi's custom critiques at $20 are excellent and, so far, I've gotten more for my dollar using Taxi's service than others (not that the others weren't very good as well).

One advantage Taxi's service has over some other services is Taxi has many reviewers who are familiar with film/TV. So if you are writing for film/TV, you can specify that and Taxi will direct your critique request to someone who has expertise in that area.

When ordering a critique from Taxi or anyone, always include what your target/goal is and a list of specific questions.

Best of luck,
Casey

[ottlukk]

To add the obvious, the "Peer to Peer" review forum on this site is peerless (hold the boos), and it is free. Ott

[Salty]

Hmmm- gotta agree with the above posts.
not sure I would use a song critique service- the forum is much better for that-
but if not, 20 bucks for a custom one is worth it just to see if its the kind of feedback you want; things that cost much more than that are ridiculous imo unless you are talking about something symphony sized.

[lovefilmmusic]

Your replies are all very helpful. I would like to thank you for your kind advice.

[Kolstad]

It may be useful, but I think it may be more useful for an experienced writer, than a newbie writer, imho. Knowledge is more produced by questions than answers, so if you can ask the right questions to the critique, it can be really helpful. The "right" questions are usually very, very specific. Like, I'm aiming to release this song on the Indie Rock market as a DiY artist - does this song have the right appeal for that type of mrkt? Which elements pulls it in that direction, and which does not? Or, I'm aiming for a universal lyric with contemporary sounding music that will have a good chance on the TV licensing market, how does this add up to this? What are the developing points?

The more clear you are on your genre and your market, the more specific questions you can ask, and the better critique you can get back. This will of course also apply for the newbie, but it is very difficult to ask these type of questions, if all you are trying to do is to work out a coherent song. And you will of course still be able to gain a lot from a critique, but then in the perspective of learning the craft. And I think for that particular purpose, there are better alternatives than critiques (like attending classes ect.).

At least you have to realize that you gain more from critiques, the more specific and well informed questions you ask, imo.

[Casey H]

It may be useful, but I think it may be more useful for an experienced writer, than a newbie writer, imho.

Hey Magne
I don't agree with this. I think beginners can gain as much if not more from professional critiques. Every day we see beginners post songs here on P2P for review whereby the hook isn't differentiated enough, the lyrics aren't understandable, basics aren't there, etc. Getting some professional feedback early on can be very helpful. I think Taxi reviews on "S" listings probably do more to help beginners than others. (Not that experienced folks are immune to needing help by any means!!)

Interestingly, for me, I'd rather review songs for beginners than experienced folks. When something is at least very good, things become much more subjective. Many times when a beginner posts a song, it's easy for me to zero in right away on an area that needs improvement and I feel I can be the most helpful.

Casey

[Kolstad]

Well Casey, you're the more experienced of us, so my thoughts are not written in stone. I just think that a pro critique in many cases can be overkill for a beginning writer (at 30$ a piece), simply because the terminology is not yet established. It might still be useful to try it out once in a while, but to my experience pro critiques are more about finetuning something that is close to finish, than building something up from scratch. A song with lots of work remaining sometimes requires much more process than a pro critique can facilitate in order to develop, imo. Milage may vary a lot depending on the person doing the critique too, though..