Members Contacting Listing Companies -- Ouch!

[orest]

After multiple forwards with confirmation each time of who the recipient was, I just had a forward where the name wasn't mentioned.
I'd actually seen this thread right before the forward, so I was happy that a specific name wasn't given. I'd rather not know who it was and hopefully be contacted at some point, than find out that the whole thing had fallen through because a few people managed to mess things up for everyone.

One thought, though... Until I saw this thread, I was actually thinking that I'd made a mistake by not following up on past forwards, because I didn't even realize that we weren't supposed to follow up. Should TAXI be doing more to make it clear to people that they shouldn't be following up with the company? As in, right after the info about who you're forwarded to, specifically mention that they're not to be contacted, and that you're not to give the specific info to others?

Membership cancellations and/or suspensions aren't a bad idea at all, but you can't do this without being sure that people know there's a Rule and what happens if you break the Rule.

Personally, I like the "going dark" approach, where people don't have specific info about the forward, but that's easy for me to say because TAXI has done so much for my music. I don't see how this would work for most people, though, especially new/skeptical members.

I agree!
When you become a member this should be stated clear and loud in the welcome letter.
Also with every forward you can add this information along with the "congratulations"..

[coachdebra]

When you become a member this should be stated clear and loud in the welcome letter.
Also with every forward you can add this information along with the "congratulations"..

I agree, that right next to the name of the company that the forward went to should be a reminder - in all caps, bold, red - DO NOT CONTACT THIS COMPANY - doing so is cause for termination of your TAXI membership.

That should make it pretty clear...

Debra

[guscave]

I like the idea of going dark because even if you tell members not to call, you'll always have one or two that will do it anyways. I think that Taxi has been around long enough and has proven itself to be a top-notch company where they don't need to worry too much about the negative things a few outsiders will say about them.

There will always be people that think Taxi is out to steal their money, no matter how hard you try to show them otherwise. So I think Taxi would be doing a great service to the listing companies (and to it's member) by not advertising who the music was forward to.

Just my 2 cents

[DaNolman]

I'd like to add my two cents

-- Taxi should NOT go dark. Most members are responsible adults and going dark would mean that a very, very few bad eggs, some who are not even members, would be creating a global change that would remove the transparency of Taxi. I think transparency = integrity.

-- Taxi should constantly remind members not to contact the company their song was forwarded to. This is necessary, especially if someone (like the previous poster) wasn't even aware of the post-forward procedure.

-- Taxi can give a warning to offending members and then cancel their membership. The warning could be as simple as a cut-n-paste of ML's previous post in this thread from a VP. Once the offender knows they're toeing the line of being blacklisted, it would be their (bad) choice to pick up that phone or shoot off that email.

We're all adults and should take responsibility for our own actions.

[guscave]

I agree we all should act as responsible adults, however as it's been shown before, all it takes is one "irresponsible" person to not follow the rules and the damage is done. An ad company or publisher can decide not to use Taxi anymore and "all" the members would be hurt.

My question is; if we are not supposed to call these companies, then why do we need to know who it was forwarded to? I like to subscribe to the theory so many here use of "write/ submit/ forget/ repeat". If the forwarded company wants to use my music, "They" will contact me.

[mojobone]

It's very simply a matter of credibility; new writers need to know they've been forwarded to opportunities that are real, and that they can check out the website and the music they'll be competing against. This information is part of what we pay Taxi for, and I think a lot of members would be discouraged without it.

[DaNolman]

Right - I agree with mojobone. Believe it or not, outside the Taxi forums, there are a lot of Taxi haters. Most of the L.A. musicians are still on the fence about how Taxi being legit -- and that's after they've been around for what, 15 years plus?

"Dark" forwards just gives the uninformed ammo to spread ill-will ad nauseum. And you know how people believe everything they read even if it's from Mr. Anonymous right?

But, Taxi does need to hammer home the "don't call us, we'll call you" line. A lot of us are too busy and miss an instruction here and there (guilty!).

[coachdebra]

I agree we all should act as responsible adults, however as it's been shown before, all it takes is one "irresponsible" person to not follow the rules and the damage is done. An ad company or publisher can decide not to use Taxi anymore and "all" the members would be hurt.

My question is; if we are not supposed to call these companies, then why do we need to know who it was forwarded to? I like to subscribe to the theory so many here use of "write/ submit/ forget/ repeat". If the forwarded company wants to use my music, "They" will contact me.

I think also that, with the floods of emails we get, and the many scams that are floating around, when you do get contacted it's good to know - Oh, yeah, this was from the TAXI submission 18 months ago....

I've heard stories of people getting contacted on a forward and NOT responding, because they thought it was just another scam.

Debra

[Unstar]

I'm sorry to bump this old thread but I'm just trying to educate myself.

What is it the current practice on forwards? Is the requesting entity suppressed on the forward certificate?

The expectation remains that members should *not* contact the companies even for professional follow up, correct?

Cheers

[hummingbird]

I'm sorry to bump this old thread but I'm just trying to educate myself.

What is it the current practice on forwards? Is the requesting entity suppressed on the forward certificate?

The expectation remains that members should *not* contact the companies even for professional follow up, correct?

Cheers

I haven't seen the name of the entity I have been forwarded to for some time now, unfortunately that practice was stopped thanks to those who did not listen and contacted the end users after forwards. There is no need to follow up a forward, IF they want to use your music, they will be in touch.