Listing Y06062980 results

[Casey H]

Quote:I'm sure that the majority of the "good" stuff gets through with just one screener, but there is always a chance that on a particular day, the one screener that you may get might not be the best particular screener for that song and therefore you don't get a forward. If you entered your child in a baby contest would you want one person making the decision? How many times did Taylor Hicks get a thumbs down on American Idol this year? School boards and church elders are voted by a committee. I'd hate to get the screener that spilled his/her coffee on the way to work, or the screener that has diarrhea I'd be willing to pay extra for song submissions knowing that I could get a second opinion. My dog had a sore leg this year and we took her to the vet and he said that she had a torn ligament in her knee. $2,000 surgery. We got a second opinion and we are happy that we did. No surgery and no $2,000 bill. Sometimes people in their own profession are just wrong. I sure am. Sometimes. Hi ToncartScreeners are human and have good days and bad days and make some mistakes or misjudgments. What do you think happens when you submit directly to the A&R person at a publisher, label, or music library? Most of the time, one person gives your submission 30-40 seconds and if not impressed, "click". And yes, maybe they just weren't in the right mood when the heard your song. Maybe the A&R rep had a fight with his/her spouse that morning. This is the real world. Why do you expect TAXI screeners to be super-human? Would you complain to A&R at a label that they weren't fair and they should have given you a "2 out of 3"?? Also, when you are rejected with a direct submission to A&R, you rarely can get information as to why they "passed" on your material. With TAXI, agree or not, you at least get a reason (unless it is a Y/N). I'm not saying TAXI is better than direct submission or advocating TAXI. I'm just talking about how it is in the real world. Casey

[toncart]

Quote:Quote:I'm sure that the majority of the "good" stuff gets through with just one screener, but there is always a chance that on a particular day, the one screener that you may get might not be the best particular screener for that song and therefore you don't get a forward. If you entered your child in a baby contest would you want one person making the decision? How many times did Taylor Hicks get a thumbs down on American Idol this year? School boards and church elders are voted by a committee. I'd hate to get the screener that spilled his/her coffee on the way to work, or the screener that has diarrhea I'd be willing to pay extra for song submissions knowing that I could get a second opinion. My dog had a sore leg this year and we took her to the vet and he said that she had a torn ligament in her knee. $2,000 surgery. We got a second opinion and we are happy that we did. No surgery and no $2,000 bill. Sometimes people in their own profession are just wrong. I sure am. Sometimes. Hi ToncartScreeners are human and have good days and bad days and make some mistakes or misjudgments. What do you think happens when you submit directly to the A&R person at a publisher, label, or music library? Most of the time, one person gives your submission 30-40 seconds and if not impressed, "click". And yes, maybe they just weren't in the right mood when the heard your song. Maybe the A&R rep had a fight with his/her spouse that morning. This is the real world. Why do you expect TAXI screeners to be super-human? Would you complain to A&R at a label that they weren't fair and they should have given you a "2 out of 3"?? Also, when you are rejected with a direct submission to A&R, you rarely can get information as to why they "passed" on your material. With TAXI, agree or not, you at least get a reason (unless it is a Y/N). I'm not saying TAXI is better than direct submission or advocating TAXI. I'm just talking about how it is in the real world. CaseyI don't think that the TAXI screeners are "superhuman". They are human. I understand that. That's just silly. Everything you said confirms what I previously stated. Mistakes can be made. I don't want to be on the bad end of a mistake. Taxi is who I paid $300 to plus submission fees. I expect TAXI to be to be as "fair" as possible.

[Casey H]

Quote:Quote:Hi ToncartScreeners are human and have good days and bad days and make some mistakes or misjudgments. What do you think happens when you submit directly to the A&R person at a publisher, label, or music library? Most of the time, one person gives your submission 30-40 seconds and if not impressed, "click". And yes, maybe they just weren't in the right mood when the heard your song. Maybe the A&R rep had a fight with his/her spouse that morning. This is the real world. Why do you expect TAXI screeners to be super-human? Would you complain to A&R at a label that they weren't fair and they should have given you a "2 out of 3"?? Also, when you are rejected with a direct submission to A&R, you rarely can get information as to why they "passed" on your material. With TAXI, agree or not, you at least get a reason (unless it is a Y/N). I'm not saying TAXI is better than direct submission or advocating TAXI. I'm just talking about how it is in the real world. CaseyI don't think that the TAXI screeners are "superhuman". They are human. I understand that. That's just silly. Everything you said confirms what I previously stated. Mistakes can be made. I don't want to be on the bad end of a mistake. Taxi is who I paid $300 to plus submission fees. I expect TAXI to be to be as "fair" as possible. If you don't want to ever be on the bad end of a mistake then don't submit to this industry at all. Yes, the difference is the $300 you pay TAXI. Only you can decide if the feedback you get as to why your songs were not selected (and more leads) is worth the money. On "S" listings, you get detail. On "Y" listings or dispatch you do not. When I was a member my experience was that if I had a question as to why a track was not forwarded or something seemed amiss and I wanted a "re-review", my e-mail inquiries were handled well. Casey

[toncart]

This is getting stupid. Like anyone ever "wants" to be on the bad end of a mistake! It's gonna happen and I understand that, but nobody wants it. I will never "want" it. You are defending something for no reason. My point the whole time was that human error can be the life or death of a forward in a particular listing, on a particular day, with a particular screener. I am not suggesting that TAXI has a reputation for error. Their screeners are "highly qualified" I am sure, but I don't want to pay for someone elses lack of judgement. Did you read my earlier posts in this thread? A & R executives have gotten it "wrong" many times with artists and songs. That is why I suggested having 3 screeners per submission and if 2 of 3 give it thumbs up, then it gets forwarded. I know from my songs alone that for every 10 that love them, I have someone that doesn't. That one person could be your screener. Odds are that it won't be, but you never know.

[Casey H]

Hey Toncart'Nuff said... Peace Casey

[andreh]

Quote:I would be greatful if someone could give me some insight as to why I may have not received a forward on this one. Thanks in advance for your support and input!Chip-I'm bit surprised neither of your songs was forwarded; they seem to meet the listed criteria for the most part. Here's some speculation as to why they may have been passed over:1. The songs don't clearly fall into any of the particular genres listed (New Wave, Goth Rock, Punk, Adult Contemporary, Metal, College Rock, etc.)...to me, the songs fall into the "Pop/Rock" category. Of course, the listing did say "All Genres," but that may have been perceived by the screener to mean, "All genres that defined the 80's sound." Your music is very Van Halen-esue, and although Van Halen did create a sound of their own (which many bands copied), it's almost too ubiquitous to scream, "80's" (especially given that their popularity arose in the late 70's and continued well into the 90's).2. Though your music's production is excellent, I did hear some slight harshness in the vocals ~3-4k, and some buzz ~10k on occasion. This is super nitpicking (not to mention I'm listening through Ipod earbuds), but as the pitch calls for "Master Quality Songs," this small detail may have been exaggerated in the screener's mind.3. I could be wrong about this, but I seem to recall that pitches listed as "No feedback from Taxi" are sometimes screened by the client personally. In that case, you can't argue with what the client knows he or she is looking for...it's either there or it's not. Can anyone clarify this point?As a sidenote, I wonder if you're willing to adjust your songs to more closely meet the listing criteria. I actually wonder this of many members of Taxi, since it seems some of us are more interested in finding a client for our existing music than in creating music for existing clients.I certainly respect an artist who has a sound that he or she wants to be true to, but we should all be aware that from a commercial standpoint, this is almost always a limiting perspective to take. Given that Taxi is clearly about finding commercial opportunities for artists, is stands to reason that those who are willing to cater to commercialism (as bad as that sounds) are the most likely to be commercially successful.This is not to say that those who are true to their style never succeed; there are plenty of examples of that happening, and it's usually those who are willing to take chances, and sometimes the path of most resistance, who succeed on a truly grand scale. But there's a REALLY big playing field between sharing your music for free on Broadjam and writing a Platinum-selling record, and I'm personally willing to be a little (or a lot) flexible to maintain a comfy spot somewhere in the middle of these extremes...for the time being anyway.I guess we all have our own goals and priorities, so no one's approach to this is any more right or wrong than anyone else's.Respectfully,Andre

[timejunkie]

Just wanted to thank evryone for the support of my music. Hey, it's only one listing... however if I see a trend then yeh I may reconsider my membership. If my music can't make the cut on an 80's listing then I have know idea what they are looking for.You are correct the client has the last word and if my stuff didn't cut it...oh well maybe next time.I'm going to keep submitting songs for a year or two and see what happens. I just hope I haven't joine the "Amway" of the music business. Just kidding Michael. My real problem is defining what my music is suited to (Modern Rock, Indie Rock..etc..) I just don't know anymore. Yeh it has an 80's feel to it but I could easily hear it next to many of "todays" tracks. I was writing for my solo CD when I found Taxi and decided to submit the songs so this selection process is new to me and I am learning VERY quickly.Writing for a specific listing is best left to the people who have 24 hours a day to write and record (which I don't at the moment).Anyway, I don't think Taxi is going to change their selection format any time soon. They have to do what is best for their clients...that is what pays the bills in the long run... so I guess time will tell.

[davewalton]

Quote:My real problem is defining what my music is suited to (Modern Rock, Indie Rock..etc..) I just don't know anymore. Yeh it has an 80's feel to it but I could easily hear it next to many of "todays" tracks. I was writing for my solo CD when I found Taxi and decided to submit the songs so this selection process is new to me and I am learning VERY quickly.Boy do I relate to that. I came to Taxi several years ago after a very long time away from music. As a result, I was still stuck in the analog 70's and 80's while the rest of the music industry was operating in the digital 21st century. I didn't really know where I was and didn't really know how to get to where I thought I needed to be. Looking back on it, the fact that I wasn't able to define what my music was suited to, was partly a result of being in transition. In other words, it sounds like you're in the process of making some discoveries and observations about your music that you hadn't made before. That's a good thing and is, in my opinion, one of the key ingredients to evolving into a niche that you can define for yourself and carve out your own identity.Regardless of your ultimate disposition with Taxi, keep telling yourself (because it's true) that this is a journey that will take some time. I went from an 8-month plan to a 5-year plan as a result of the posts by others in this forum and 3 years into this 5-year plan, I've been able to evolve and make some changes that have been bringing a little success my way.Quote:Writing for a specific listing is best left to the people who have 24 hours a day to write and record (which I don't at the moment).I would recommend trying to find listings that are far enough in the future to be able to write new material specifically for the listing. For me, it really made me a better songwriter and personally I think it's much easier to get a forward by writing to the listing rather than trying to find a listing to specifically fit a song. I've done it both ways but I think you're starting to consider some new concepts and ideas and I think that new music will reflect that.Overall, there's no reason why your music can't get forwarded from a musical standpoint. If I remember right you picked a "high-bar" listing for your first submission. Those are much more difficult to get forwarded on and so you can't really judge your chances for other listings by that standard. Keep submitting and post stuff here for feedback. Dave

[timejunkie]

Thanks Dave... I appreciate your comments.I am definately not apposed to writing for a listing. In fact, that would be a great challenge. I think once I have my CD complete I can then concentrate on that type of approach. I would like to strive to become a well rounded writer and performer and writing for individual listings would be a great avenue and experience.I truly believe I could write decent "modern country" songs since country music is now the 80's rcok of yesterday (IMHO). Clean up the guitars a little and away we go! Yeh... if it was only that easy eh. I honestly feel I will learn a great deal form the feedback I receive from both the helpful folks on this forum and the critiques from the "dreaded and mysterious" Taxi screeners. It's all about the learning and developing, somewhere someone will like the result... even if it's only me.

[spariam]

I can definitely understand not having much time...it's hard for most of us I think. Between "paying the bills" and spending time with my family, I generally have to delegate "me" time to between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. I have started writing a lot for listings and what's fun about that is that I'll often try styles I'm less comfortable in. It's also a great challenge and a good way to improve your writing skills. I actually recently licensed a piece through a non-Taxi source that I originally wrote for a listing (but ended up not submitting).