My review of Taxi after 1 yr of membership

[mobonix]

First let me say this post is not bashing Taxi...but these are my experiences. So let me start by saying something nice. Taxi has 'nice people' who really do thorough reviews. But, beware...if you want to send your music in digitally...taxi doesn't mention this..but you need to pay for a broadjam membership to do it. Broadjam is another horrible story I won't get into.After 1 year, 4 forwards out of 13 submissions, ($405 in fees NOT including membership to taxi and broadjam) .......equated to ZERO deals. I didn't receive a single contact, email, snail mail from any of the forwards. I even called the nice people at taxi to make sure my contact info was current. But that is all you are paying for...is nice people to make you feel good but not do anything with your music. On the other hand, this past year alone i've made deals with 2 labels distributed through Sony and Universal, 1 publishing deal with a pub firm, paid placements in two different indie films, and few ongoing radio spins in the US, Canada, and the UK. All by myself, without Taxi and extra money.I think it's safe to say I will not be renewing. www.mobonix.com-edit-***wow....a typo...so sorry. i meant $105.13 submissions using 21 songs...my apologies for the confusion!

[matto]

Quote:First let me say this post is not bashing Taxi...but these are my experiences. So let me start by saying something nice. Taxi has 'nice people' who really do thorough reviews. But, beware...if you want to send your music in digitally...taxi doesn't mention this..but you need to pay for a broadjam membership to do it. Broadjam is another horrible story I won't get into.After 1 year, 4 forwards out of 13 submissions, ($405 in fees NOT including membership to taxi and broadjam) .......equated to ZERO deals. I didn't receive a single contact, email, snail mail from any of the forwards. I even called the nice people at taxi to make sure my contact info was current. But that is all you are paying for...is nice people to make you feel good but not do anything with your music. To be fair Taxi can't FORCE a company to contact you or offer you a deal...all they can do is forward your music to the listing party and hope it speaks for itself. That's what Taxi does and it is clearly described in all the literature I've seen.Quote:On the other hand, this past year alone i've made deals with 2 labels distributed through Sony and Universal, 1 publishing deal with a pub firm, paid placements in two different indie films, and few ongoing radio spins in the US, Canada, and the UK. All by myself, without Taxi and extra money.If you don't need Taxi to get tons of stuff happening with your music, more power to you! And congratulations! Remember Taxi bills itself as the "second best way" to get a deal. Obviously the best way is to do it yourself. But...some of us need all the help we can get ...this past year alone I've had almost daily placements on Oprah, plus placements on Ugly Betty, Dateline, Access Hollywood, One Life To Live, Standoff, Las Vegas...to name just a few off the top of my head. You might be able to get this kind of action on your own, but I'm not too proud to admit that I can't. Not if I wanna spend my life writing and producing music (as opposed to selling it). That's where Taxi comes in for me.Diff'rent strokes...Best of luck to you!matto

[hummingbird]

Quote:First let me say this post is not bashing Taxi...but these are my experiences. So let me start by saying something nice. Taxi has 'nice people' who really do thorough reviews. But, beware...if you want to send your music in digitally...taxi doesn't mention this..but you need to pay for a broadjam membership to do it. Broadjam is another horrible story I won't get into.After 1 year, 4 forwards out of 13 submissions, ($405 in fees NOT including membership to taxi and broadjam) .......equated to ZERO deals. I didn't receive a single contact, email, snail mail from any of the forwards. I even called the nice people at taxi to make sure my contact info was current. But that is all you are paying for...is nice people to make you feel good but not do anything with your music. On the other hand, this past year alone i've made deals with 2 labels distributed through Sony and Universal, 1 publishing deal with a pub firm, paid placements in two different indie films, and few ongoing radio spins in the US, Canada, and the UK. All by myself, without Taxi and extra money.I think it's safe to say I will not be renewing. www.mobonix.comHi - I think it's great that you got yourself some opportunities outside of Taxi - kudos to you. You obviously are doing it right!I am curious about your math though... how did you manage to spend $405 on 13 submissions? That only adds up to $65..H

[Casey H]

Quote:Quote:First let me say this post is not bashing Taxi...but these are my experiences. So let me start by saying something nice. Taxi has 'nice people' who really do thorough reviews. But, beware...if you want to send your music in digitally...taxi doesn't mention this..but you need to pay for a broadjam membership to do it. Broadjam is another horrible story I won't get into.After 1 year, 4 forwards out of 13 submissions, ($405 in fees NOT including membership to taxi and broadjam) .......equated to ZERO deals. I didn't receive a single contact, email, snail mail from any of the forwards. I even called the nice people at taxi to make sure my contact info was current. But that is all you are paying for...is nice people to make you feel good but not do anything with your music. On the other hand, this past year alone i've made deals with 2 labels distributed through Sony and Universal, 1 publishing deal with a pub firm, paid placements in two different indie films, and few ongoing radio spins in the US, Canada, and the UK. All by myself, without Taxi and extra money.I think it's safe to say I will not be renewing. www.mobonix.comHi - I think it's great that you got yourself some opportunities outside of Taxi - kudos to you. You obviously are doing it right!I am curious about your math though... how did you manage to spend $405 on 13 submissions? That only adds up to $65..H$300 for TAXI membership, $65 for submissions, and $40 for broadjam, I think...

[edteja]

Casey,He specifically said NOT including TAXI membership or Broadjam. I was curious about the math too.

[Casey H]

Quote:Casey,He specifically said NOT including TAXI membership or Broadjam. I was curious about the math too.Must be that dang NEW math... Casey

[arkjack]

Just speaking for myself.... having another two lines of business to attend to plus family and my fishing time = TAXI is a good value and probably the only way to go for me right now..... I get feedback to make the necessary improvements to my songcrafting and production skills plus whatever I am submitting at least has a shot at a forward.... I figure after thirty seven years playing music part-time that I can still be patient and get it right in a short period of time --- next two years?? Not like hanging Sadamm where you only get one shot to do it right..... For me its a cost of business.... and I still get a quad venti machiatto at starbucks every night....ArkJack

[michael11]

This post is quite interesting because I have just re-joined Taxi after a year out.My submission to forward ratio was abysmal but I knew the problems were all mine and not Taxi's.With some invaluable help from Matto,I am willing to have another go, but if I fail again it won't be Taxi's fault,it will be because either the sound or the content,(both of which I'm working on)are still not good enough.Just as a matter of interest I have two friends that are both director's of music library's here(UK)but until my music's good enough for Taxi I won't even let them listen.Mick.

[jchitty]

I've only been a member of TAXI since June. I haven't gotten any fowards either, (only submitted to 4 listings so far), but I will probably renew my membership next year. I look at it this way....maybe it's hard to get a foward, however, you never know what will become of submitting your music. Say one screener doesn't like your song for a certain listing, but then he/she remembers your song when something else comes up. It could happen. It's very hard to get a deal these days, almost next to impossible, so I want as many irons in the fire as possible. If nothing else, maybe the screeners get to know your music, get to see 'improvement' and you get the critiques. I'll also be trying other ways to pitch my music, used in conjuction with TAXI. I'll pitch to publishers on my own...make a trip to Nashville (since I do live far away), try to come up with anyway I can to get some exposure out there.I don't think TAXI is the be all and end all, but if nothing else, you are having contact with people who one day might be able to help you with that break you're looking for. I think if you approach pitches songs with a long term goal, you're better off. I'm having to learn patience, and I've never been good at that.

[neuphoria]

hey mattocouple questions, if you wouldn't mind. those placements - Oprah, Betty, Dateline, etc. - were they all from libraries? 50% split? And did any of them come as a direct result of taxi over the last 2 years, or were they via a taxi forward to libraries sometime before that? and on the mobonix math, taxi + dispatch + broadjam + broadjam pro + submission cost = not inexpensive. (my broadjam is definetly not $40, more like over $300 i think.)