LASKOW BLOWS HIS STACK

[jay10music]

Ok people. This is a new one for me. I'm still onthe taxistaff email list ad was accidentally forwarded a copy of this inner-office email. Looks like some member emails have finally pushed Michael to his breaking point. Depsite possibly getting in trouble for this, I wanted to share it with all of you because I think it may really be an eye opener for some.JimiHere's the email:Dear Staff,Just wanted to share some interesting points of view (and some frustration) that showed up in my email box over the last couple of days. You may have already seen some of these, so please disregard them if that’s the case.MLPosted by a member on our forum @ taxi.com: “We've had 11 submissions passed along by Taxi in the 9 months that we've been members. So far, we've only had 1 of the companies contact us and this company is from London. The contract was insane but after consulting an attorney, we've decided to sign with them. We've had a couple submissions passed along to the same companies, one a film company and the other a television program.Sounds like we are doing something right. At least with the Taxi reviewer's opinions. We just hope a few of these 11 submissions that Taxi forwarded result in something to be proud of.”Okay, so let me get this straight. They’ve had 11 submissions forwarded, and signed a deal (that their attorney approved) with a company in London (which I’m guessing is NOT anywhere close to where they live;-).That’s more than a 9% success rate, and they’re using the phrase, “So far, we've ONLY had 1 of the companies contact us and this company is from London.”I wonder how many OTHER things they’ve done that resulted in a deal 9% of the time they were forwarded, and got them signed by a company on another CONTINENT?!!! Geeesh! This kind of crap really frustrates me. Don’t they realize that this is at least a LITTLE bit miraculous? Maybe I expect too much.On the flip side, I got this email from a Film/TV publishing company that we’ve worked with for years.Hi Michael,Overall, I'd say we are taking (signing) about 10% of the Taxi submissions. There are some real gems in there. Of course in comparison to the street action, we get a bigger variety from Taxi as we've posted listings for the (exact) type of music we want. From the street we've been mostly getting pop, rock and country. I'd say we take in about 1% of what comes off from the street.Okay, so there’s a letter from a company that’s been using TAXI for at least 12 years, and they’re telling us that the ratio of music they sign from TAXI versus what they find on the “street” is 10:1! Again… is it just me, or is a Ten-to-One ratio incredible or what? These are REAL numbers sent in by REAL people on both sides of the member/company fence!And finally, this email from CB regarding another company that runs listings with us:Subj: TAXI LOVE from the other side of the fence Date: Thursday, September 7, 2006 2:50:26 PMFrom: cb@taxi.comTo: TAXI StaffGang,Just wanted to share some kind words from a company that’s new to TAXI, but has thus far been quite impressed in our service. They’re a film trailer/production/commercial house in Santa Monica and have run a couple listings since July. We forwarded about 20 writers to them and per Scott [my contact there], they’re already working with a handful of them. Plus, per his e-mail below, it looks like they’re interested in more than just a handful – that they may be in contact with more as the right project comes along. I’m also forwarding a few vocalists to them today per a listing he just ran – singers to potentially work on some of their projects. Hopefully they dig them as well.So I just wanted to share this with everyone. I know we get e-mail love letters from our members and those always warm the heart, but it’s kinda rare that someone from the industry side takes the time to go “holy shit man – you really helped out big-time and we’re gonna continue going to you for future projects.” It’s fun impressing these guys. Good stuff. I know it can sometimes sound a bit corny/funny to say, but we make a difference here in our TAXI office. Don’t think we don’t. And that means all of us. =-)Ciao,CB------ Forwarded MessageFrom: Scott ************Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 14:04:58 -0700To: Chris Baptiste Subject: Re: TAXI WRITERS Frickin' Awesome! Already talked to Greg--he's on it and I have a call into Matt and hope to talk to him soon. I am really looking forward to hearing the rock vocalist material. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for this quick turnaround and for all of your ongoing help. The Owner of Our Company / Executive Creative Director has become extremely enthusiastic about some of the material you are sending and I have worked out a streamlined system of cataloging all of the artist / musicians so that they can remain ongoing resources. In short, I am thrilled that we are developing a relationship that is helping us find great new talent and I hope that we can create lucrative working experiences for some of the quality individuals that you represent. –ScottSo there you have it kids. Is it just me? Am I the only one who gets pissed off by the members who just don’t get it? I know the nice letters we get from members FAR outweigh the complaints, but after reading the two emails from people we work with in the industry, I have to wonder why we get ANY complaints at all. What do we have to do to make these people realize how well we do our job for them?I’ll bet you anything that the member who posted about the deal with the publisher in London didn’t even bother to tell us about the deal! Kind of typical, huh?I think it might have been Rachel Bellinsky (the member who wrote the article about her trip to the office) who most recently told me that I (we, TAXI) don’t do a good enough job of letting members know this kind of stuff. Am I nuts in thinking it sounds like bragging, and knowing that some people are STILL skeptical after all these years, that they’d just think we made this shit up anyway? Opinions?Also want to let you know that Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and Robbie Robertson of The Band are both CONFIRMED speakers for the Road Rally. I anticipate a big spike in Rally reservations after we announce that they’re coming, so be prepared for the phone onslaught.If it gets too nutty, I’ll spring lunch for a couple of days so we can stay in to handle the flow. Obviously, if you have anything pressing like a Dr. appt., take the lunch hour.Thanks,MLP.S. didn’t mean to depress you too. Just needed to vent. As CB said in his note, we really DO make a difference in people’s lives every day, so please don’t ever forget that.

[Casey H]

JimiWhy would you get in trouble for posting THIS?? It's all good the way I see it. Regards,Casey

[og]

Yeah, aside from somebody being a tad unreasonable, I think that's all pretty good news. Just goes to show that some people would bitch if ya hung 'em with a new rope!

[davewalton]

Hi Jimi,One thing that I can say from personal experience is that forwards can be VERY exciting. My first forward was to one of the biggest post-production houses in Los Angeles. I didn't leave my house for a month because I was SURE that a foward was only a whisker away from a deal and they'd be calling any day. If you don't know any better (and I didn't), you assume that if a single forward is OH SO CLOSE, that 10 (or 11) forwards have to be guarantees for near-future success.I got a better perspective when I started pursuing other opportunities in addition to the listings on Taxi. I've mentioned in several posts that in about a year's time I submitted to approximately 600 filmscoring jobs and got 8 films. That's a 1.3% success rate at the low levels of ultra-low-budget films. After that, I started seeing that although the success rate for forwarded material was undoubtedly higher, it wasn't 95% or whatever I though, or hoped it was. Anyway, if that was the post that scraped a nerve, wow, he's really missing the GOOD stuff that gets posted here from time to time. Black helicoptors and the whole works... all part of an enormous Taxi conspiracy. Dave

[jay10music]

Hey Dave,That's exactly why I posted it. I thought you guys might want to see the types of stuff we get from members and what the staff thinks about it.

[edteja]

It is usually the case that complaints get voiced loudly while compliments are mumbled, usually in the wrong ears. Just as Michael says that he doesn't want to seem to be bragging, I imagine some people think that telling Taxi how happy they are, or about successes, might be a form of sucking up. Ah life!!