it's a lottery and it's all super subjective

[asjones41]

I'm just another of many countless writers who everyday get returns for all different sorts of reasons, being dedicated to my craft I take everything on board and analyse all my critiques in the effort to improve, grow and ultimately gain some success from my craft and art. I Have, however, come to realise that there is a certain amount of pure luck involved and sometimes it's no more than a lottery. Some of my songs have been rejected for obvious and fair reason, some have been down to the personal tastes and preferences of whoever is listening (as they have stated in critiques) at the time. I've heard tracks on the favourites list each month that have really made me think 'I need to improve my standards seriously, because this is way better than mine' but others have left me thinking 'is that it? what's so great about that? and for various reasons been left feeling very underwhelmed...as I stated its super subjective and obviously somebody somewhere in taxi thinks it's great. I get the feeling that no matter how strong your song/track is, and how well recorded it is...it's still just a case of the luck of the draw with who you get critiquing it and how they feel on the day. It's just one big lottery. you can increase your chances by ensuring your tracks are as strong as they can be, but even then....it's still just one big lottery.

[cassmcentee]

I hear ya!

I've been using baseball metaphors for my thoughts about this process.
Stepping up to the plate means I'm going to make an attempt.
I've seen all kinds of pitchers, what's he (Taxi) gonna throw at me?
I can just swing wildly and get lucky (which I have)
But by steady practice my swing is getting better...
Getting to first base means I've recorded something I think feasible and have spent the $5
Then back to batting practice (forget about first base)
Second base is when you get the forward (Only half way there because now there are many fine players standing on second base with me)
(I haven't made it to Third yet)
Third base is the call from the Supervisor or Library pitched (sign a deal)
Home plate is placement and some profit
Getting a nod from the screener gets you into the pack, the real lottery is whether the Library wants to use it or not.
I want to get to where the Supervisors watch every swing!

Keep persevering... There is nothing but strength and joy in improving ourselves!
Sincerely,
Cass

[Len911]

A lottery is pure chance where every number is equally and statistically randomly chosen. The limit is usually 3 to 6 numbers.
Taxi wouldn't need screeners if that was the case. The only limit for forwards and returns would be the number of submissions.

It's not really a question about what music the screeners like best, Bob Dylan or Pavarotti, it's about which ones sound like Dylan for a Dylan listing, and Pavarotti for a Pavarotti listing.

Imo, most of the conflicts result from the parsing of the listings. For example, in a Bob Dylan listing it says male vocal, and people wonder why their Pavarotti vocal wasn't forwarded, it's male and sounds better than the ala in the listing?

That's a pretty simplistic and stark analogy, though I think it makes the point,lol!

Peer to peer is a good place to get objective and subjective opinions as to how well your number matches the listing before you make a submission.

hth, Len

[emilyfra]

I think any judgement of any art has to be subjective by nature, otherwise a piece of work is simply judged as a sum of its parts. I think what stops it short of 'super subjective' is the market. Taxi want to place as much as possible, but in the role of mediator they have to please both the writer and the buyer. Their danger is being too picky or too liberal in their assessments of our work, which could result in them losing clients on one side or the other. I think it is very much a buyers' market in that there are far more hopeful writers than buyers and so the dial gets turned up towards tighter judgement and more returns.

The subjectivity must be there and to that extent there must be luck involved as one reviewer's taste is different from another's , and you may have the good luck to be reviewed by someone whose taste is closer to yours, but this is mitigated by the demands of the buyer. I suppose whether you trust Taxi or not depends on whether or not you feel they understand the market well enough to judge your music against the needs of their other clients, but elements of subjectivity and therefore luck cannot be completely eliminated.

[Piewackit1]

["i] you can increase your chances by ensuring your tracks are as strong as they can be[/i]"

You already found the solution to the problem by your own words. Is there a way to increase your chances of winning the lottery?

Believe me I feel your pain as I have submitted 60 times in 2 years and got 5 forwards....but 3 of the forwards were in the last few months so I'd like to think I'm getting better.

Keep writing!

[VanderBoegh]

I'm always very sympathetic to Taxi's screeners, even when I disagree with them. Why? Because in my "day job" I'm a college communication professor, and I typically teach a lot of public speaking classes.

Grading public speeches is entirely subjective too. And what I think makes a good speech, another instructor may think is complete garbage. I LOVE dynamic deliveries. Other teachers love pristine organization and content. So we focus our grading scales on different things. For example, I may place a premium on vocal dynamics and energy of the speaker, whereas another teacher may place the bulk of the points on how many sources were used. But in the end, it's all subjective.

So I create a grading rubric with associated point values for different categories of the speech. Intro, Preview of Points, Strong Thesis, Transitions, Citations, NonVerbal, Hand Motion, etc... and when I finally listen to the speeches I have to grade the EXACTLY IN ACCORDANCE TO THE RUBRIC I've given the class. So there are no surprises. Like, "but you never said there were going to be points for moving away from the podium..." Sometimes a sub-par speech will still get a great grade because they did everything that I asked them in the grading rubric. Might not set the world on fire, but they did exactly what I asked. And sometimes a really exciting speech will get a low grade because they left some vital piece of the puzzle out. Like, maybe they rushed through their conclusion or didn't use visual aides. But the class still loved it, and I loved it too, but the grade suffers because they didn't follow instructions.

Taxi screeners are doing the same job I'm doing. They've got their own tastes, sure. But when they sit down to screen submissions they are grading each song according to the "rubric" of the listing. A GREAT song that's not on-target doesn't stand a chance, whereas a GOOD song that does exactly what the listing company asked for will probably get forwarded.

The lesson is to always read the directions. The directions are the listings. Research the a-la's. Do exactly what Taxi tells you to do in their write-ups, and you'll see your success start to snowball. I've seen it with myself and a bunch of other people here on the forums. If you don't read the directions, well, you're gonna end up like one of my students recently who was asked to deliver an informative speech, but gave an amazing persuasive speech instead. Just because it was really a phenomenal speech doesn't mean he got a good grade... because he didn't do the assignment as requested.

Bottom line: It's NOT a lottery. Treating it as such is the wrong way to approach this game! Instead, look at Taxi as a set of instructions. You can either read and follow them and start seeing success, or you can disregard them and get nothing out of it.

~~Matt

[andygabrys]

that's frustrating when it seems that there is no pattern to the returns.

I would tend to agree with just about everything posted above though.

Its not a lottery or random, its actually pretty highly scripted. Lottery indicates that with no effort, but just buying a ticket, you can win.

In this game, no effort = no chance.

its also playing in the "major leagues" to use Cass's reference. This stuff goes up against al the other pro stuff created by the people you listen to on iTunes or Youtube during the course of your week.

Sometimes a team approach can make it easier to get a success. enlist the help of people who have complementary skills. If you are a wicked lyricist but your production chops lag, then look for people who are great at production.

[AmandaJane]

I totally agree with both Matt and Andy above.

I spent last year submitting on behalf of someone else, my husband. Probably 40 submissions and no forwards. However I personally learnt an incredible amount from those returns and the comments that came with them, even though it wasn't my music.

At the start of this year I started showing people my OWN work. I am a lyricist. I have studied the rubric in various places for the last 2 years. Everything from the billboard 100 on spotify, to Taxi TV and the forums, both of Robin Fredericks books, free coursera songwriting courses from Berklee with Pat Pattison, John Breheny's book, Ralph Murphy & other top songwriter's seminars and much much more.

All this is learning my craft. As without the crafting, my art is worthless as a means to earn a living, or any money at all. I don't expect a placement within at least 2 years. I expect it to take about 5 years until I can say I am getting a few placements each year, and maybe a few hundred euros too.

My point is, it is not a short term game. It's a long term game. And it is only those who never give up and keep learning and listening, that win through.

One thing it most certainly isn't, is a lottery. Even if you get good enough to get a forward (which means you are good as anyone else going for that pitch), it is then down to which piece of music the music supervisor thinks most suitable, and conveys the best emotion for the slot. That isn't subjective, that's objective from start to finish.

Sláinte
Amanda

[ronnie35]

After reading all the comments I came to one conclusion hard work and rewriting rewriting " " " " listening to your peers it don't come easy as Ringo said But it sure is fun , When the fun leaves then its a job and music should always be entertainment.

Ron

[Casey H]

As others have stated better than I might, although there is (of course!) some subjectivity to this but it's not at all a lottery. That implies a random drawing not based on skill or quality.

Yes, it is subjective at times and different screeners will hear things differently. And yes, this can be very frustrating.

Yes, there is *some* luck involved but you make your own luck my putting great music out there to begin with. "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity"

Casey