No Forward...I'm a little bummed

[davewalton]

Quote:Thanks. I will try and get a grip on what I really want to do with this music stuff or if I have the gut to take the shots and keep going on. There's nothing wrong with regrouping. I was just reading some old emails I sent out to friends and family back when I decided to go back to doing music in early 2004. My writings about what I thought I'd be doing compared to what I'm actually doing today are worlds apart. Before joining Taxi I was apparently going to publish a New Age CD (I don't even remember thinking that but I wrote that to several people so I must have had it in mind). My word... how embarrasing. Anyway, regrouping, adjusting your course, or even rethinking the idea of your destination isn't the worst outcome of any situation. Dave

[spariam]

My position is similar to Dave's, and my direction has changed considerably in the last year...especially since joining Taxi.I too was going to put out a CD, a Celtic "Contemporary Instrumental" CD (just can't bring myself to use the term New Age), but in the end I've ended up using my best tracks for music library licensing opps, some through Taxi, some not. In fact, I just did an exclusive with a music library for my "signature" tune, though I've kept all rights and part of the deal was that I could release the song under my own name (the other tunes were also exclusive, but I wasn't going to release them anyway, so the buyout was nice). My CD project still rears its ugly head every once in a while, but I spend all my time on music library stuff now...however, I'm supposed to be included on a Celtic compilation CD (my signature tune - glad I got that special deal) that will include Phil Coulter. So you never know...

[stuartleggat1]

Hi Lad...why don`t you put one or two out in Europe and see how they do? I have absolutely no doubts you`d make the top 20 at the very least, get requests from dj`s for more and sell some to the general public via downloads. Also; can help the song`s profile by obtaining chart success and, you never know, an established act may well like it enough to do a version for the U.S.A market.At the very least, you will get a tremendous boost knowing that the dj`s and public like it a lot and this does wonders for inspiration re new material...I started 15 new songs in a week after hearing the dj in Ireland say it was number one, then played it...so get in touch if you want to give it a try and I`ll give you full details...can cost between $75 and $450 depending on what company you release it through.Best to all,Stu

[gitarrero]

Hi toncart,..well I'm not a country-typ, but a friend of mine is who's dad sold over 35 million records (over 40 years) and as far as I heared the bar is mostly extremly high if it goes to nashville.I can't say anything to your lyrics, but I think although your tunes are played and sung well, they're not a master-production, more a demo - maybe that might be a reason (too) for getting not forwarded..?

[toncart]

I appreciate your comments gitarrero. I'm honestly blinded by what TAXI is supposed to do for me. I pay them a large fee to be a member. I pay for each submission. Their advertising says that you have thousands of opportunities per year for submissions. I only have country songs. Is there really going to be thousands of opportunites for me? Nope. 50 if I'm lucky. Mislead by the hype I guess. I should read the fine print better next time. My excitement got the better of me. On top of that, there is no opportunity whatsoever if you don't get a forward. My reviews so far are very contradicting. Don't tell me that you like my song but reject it in the same sentence because you couldn't make sense of a lyric. I could question hundreds of songs on the radio right now that I don't understand certain lines of a song. I'm still wondering why girls are thinking Kenny Chesney's tractor is sexy. Bottom line, I thought that TAXI would be a wonderful opportunity to get my music heard, but all I'm doing is getting rejected by TAXI reviewers while I keep keeing emails from people who say that my songs are great and could have a chance, if given a chance. One of my songs "Put it in Drive" went to #1 on Soundclick in a week with absolutely no advertising. I just put it on there to see what it would do. Out of 2,500 songs submitted in that category, mine was #1 and was put on nearly 50 online radio stations. I'm just tired of mixed reviews. Obviously I'm frustrated. I nearly decided to throw in the towel a couple weeks ago until I got 3 emails in one day encouraging me to keep it up and that they loved my music. Sure enough, that night, I opened this forum thread and there was a message to me from a member telling me that my music sucked. What the crap? As far as production quality go for my demos, they are very good demos. Yes, they are demos. What are they supposed to be? I thought that was what this site handled. I didn't know that they were supposed to be master quality. Who does that? That is the artist's job if it gets to that level. I feel like TAXI looks more at negatives than positives of a song. What would they say if they had to listen to "Should have been a Cowboy" right now? Too much reverb? Too much echo? Poor production? Weak back-up vocals? Too cliche? Hook is not strong enough? Sorry, no forward. I submitted to 9 more listings this week. Hopefully, I will get a break and finally get my $500 worth out of this TAXI vehicle that is supposed to help take me somewhere. Now, TAXI loyalists, let the flames begin. They always do.

[neuphoria]

toncart i'm feelin' ya.but here's a suggestion: i think you should slow down on submitting for awhile, and put that same $ into getting some tracks mixed/mastered. you can get a full song mixed and mastered for $300 to 400 bucks. (i'm assuming you''re able to record it yourself) If you can mix it yourself, you can get it mastered for $100. (don't try to master it yourself). So for between $100 and $400 you can get a broadcast-quality track that you would greatly increase your chances of making your money back.(btw i've had tracks rejected by taxi that have already been licensed multiple times to major networks and generated significant income. so i'm not a true-believer either.)

[matto]

toncart,I think it's important to realize that the charts on soundclick are not representative of the realities in the music business. Unlike "real" charts, they are based on voting, not sales or (terrestrial/satellite) radio airplay. And the people who do the voting are mostly other soundclick members...and unfortunately the quality of the music on soundclick is mostly pretty horrible. So on soundclick, somebody like yourself who can put together a decent song is a hero. In Nashville, somebody who can put together a decent song is a waiter... In order for an unknown like yourself to get a song cut there, the song needs to be as good as the BEST songs written by the established songwriters there, not like some of the mediocre songs (often written by the artists themselves...). Otherwise why would anybody take a chance on your song? They would much rather record one by a writer with a track record...or write one themselves and collect their own royalties...Kenny Chesney doesn't have to explain to anybody why his tractor is sexy. He has sold a gazillion albums and could sing the phone book and people would still buy it. You haven't and you can't...unfortunately life is not fair. Well maybe...cause of course Kenny struggled for many many years...people told him he was ugly, his songs sucked and his nasal voice was unmarketable...yet he persevered and tirelessly worked on his craft as a writer and performer...and now women think even his tractor is sexy...good for him. Millions of people BUY Kenny's music or PAY to go to his shows...that's an entrely different thing than somebody voting for your song or telling you they like it. How many of the people who are telling you the like the songs are sending you money or asking where they can buy your music? There's a BIG difference there, one every writer faces at some point in there career.Success in the music business is all about years of hard work and dogged perseverence. Not everybody has that in them. It's also about learning about the realities of the business, and about figuring out your own path within it.Taxi can be a great tool in this struggle, but it's not for everybody. Nor is the struggle itself.If you feel Taxi is not doing for you what they promised they would, you can always ask for your money back. mattoAnd btw, if you consider this post "flaming", then I don't think you skin is nearly thick enough to survive in this business

[davewalton]

Quote:(btw i've had tracks rejected by taxi that have already been licensed multiple times to major networks and generated significant income. so i'm not a true-believer either.)Howard Shore wrote the filmscore to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy (directed by Peter Jackson), winning (if I recall correctly) two Academy Awards and a bookshelf of others in the process. Following that success he wrote and had already recorded portions of filmscore to King Kong (also directed by Peter Jackson). With only a couple months until the film's final release Howard Shore and his entire score were tossed by Peter Jackson and another composer was brought in at the last hour to score and record an entirely new filmscore. There's a lesson in there somewhere about reality of the music business at every level and also about how gracefully one does or doesn't handle that kind of reality.

[aubreyz]

Quote:Quote:(btw i've had tracks rejected by taxi that have already been licensed multiple times to major networks and generated significant income. so i'm not a true-believer either.)Howard Shore wrote the filmscore to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy (directed by Peter Jackson), winning two Academy Awards in the process. He wrote and recorded the entire filmscore to King Kong (also directed by Peter Jackson). With only a couple months until the film's final release Howard Shore and his entire recorded score were tossed by Peter Jackson and another composer was brought in at the last hour to score and record an entirely new filmscore. There's a lesson in there somewhere. uhh... that King Kong sucked? Sorry... couldn't resist

[toncart]

"If you feel Taxi is not doing for you what they promised they would, you can always ask for your money back. "That is my next step. Thanks for your comments. I understand what you are saying about Soundclick and about the Kenny Chesney thing. It all makes sense, but I honestly don't feel like TAXI is doing what I thought they would do for me. My songs may not be the next hit for any artist, but they deserve a forward so that someone outside of TAXI can make the decision to keep it or trash it. That is what I'm paying TAXI for. I'm tired of reviews basically saying your music is good, but I don't see a #1 record there. I would honestly like to know how many country "hits" have come through TAXI. I know of only 1 and that is probably out of many, many thousand submissions, forwards, and rejections. Mostly rejections. TAXI needs to quit giving the excuse "If we forward songs that are not up to par, then the industry will no longer work with us". Sure, there are some lame songs that don't deserve a forward. I was fortunate enough to have 3 of my songs listened to by Bob Stegall (Keith Stegall's father). Keith is the co-writer of many Alan Jackson hits and produces Alan's albums. My disc was handed to him personally and he burned them to his computer. I was to be told to "put a feather in my hat for the good songwriting and to keep it up". Now, that may mean, "Thank you, but you suck", or "I'll keep these on file kid and maybe, just maybe you will get lucky someday". Regardless, he listened and that's what I expect TAXI to do for me. Get my music out there to be heard by someone other than a TAXI screener sitting in a cubby that has been reviewing songs for hours while being told to only forward songs that could be potentioal #1 hits. I've submitted my last batch. I'm curious to see what new contradicting reviews I get. Regardless, if I have the same frustration that I have now in 2 months when the listings close for my submissions, I will demand my money back and go back to doing the legwork myself.