One Loves, Another Hates

[rooftopscreamer]

Hello TAXI People,Been a TAXI member for just 5 months. Submitted a few songs. Aware of the fact that the songs didn't exactly match what the listings were looking for, I wanted to hear what the reviewers had to say anyway. I must say that 5 out of 6 songs from my debut album got very good reviews, accompanied by some very helpful and enlightening suggestions to make them that much better. With that being said, I have one song that I'm most excited about and it's the reason for my post. The song is "Stuck Up" and it's a Kid Rock/Beastie Boy-ish hiphop/rock song with a anthemic theme that all guys can relate to. I submitted it to a hiphop listing calling for a 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Ludacris sound. Here's the review (my thanks to listener #246):Sound Quality - Well Recorded (which means Broadcast quality, right?)Mostly 8's and a few 7's"Bass on the track is solid. Song has some great guitars, but is more of a rock track then a hip hop track. Mc's delivery gives the track an almost Beastie Boys feel to it, but chorus gives it again more of Rock feel. More along the lines of something Kid Rock would do.Thank you for this submission. This is a nice track in regards to it musically. Unfortunately stylistically it isn't in line with what this listing was looking for. This falls a little more along the lines of something like a Kid Rock or artists of a similar style. Much more rock heavy then a rap track. The MC has a nice voice and delivery, but unfortunately style wise isn't quite right. Please keep up the good work, I like what you guys are doing and I look forward to hearing more in the future from you."Sounds positive, yes? Well, I submitted the same song to a UNDERGROUND HIP HOP listing that turned out to be "On Target" according to the reviewer (#296) but then he/she rips up the mixing, EQ and mastering. Sounded like an engineer reviewed it and not someone who can spot a good vibe! A complete opposite review! Hell, I can grab a boat load of top 40 songs from the past 20 years that need help sound wise but deliver on the most important part; a connection with the listener!Then a few months later I see a listing for a "RAP/ROCK SONGS a la early Beastie Boys" and I think... damn, this one is right on target and perfect. It was a YES/NO deal and I got back "not broadcast quality - Vocal performance". WTF!!!!I KNOW the song I submitted has real potential, backed up by the first review plus I had the song streaming anonymously on a music snob website and the feedback was extremely positive. This ain't no "well, all my friends and family say it's good" crap.Has anyone else experienced this? If you're interested in listening to "Stuck Up" it can be found on: <http://www.myspace.com/romantytla>Any discussion on this would be greatly appreciated. See ya'll at the rally.Respectfully,Romanwww.RooftopScreamer.com

[bucyboy]

It sounds to me like Broadcast Quality. Seems to fit the listing too. Sometimes it just doesn't seem to make sense does it.

[mazz]

For Film/TV listings, it's really about whether the song fits the need of the client. It doesn't really matter whether it get's great response live, or whether audiophiles dig the production, if it's not right for the usage, then it's not going to be picked.Some listings may be higher profile and may require a higher level of mixing and mastering and so the same piece might be forwarded for one listing and not meet the bar for another.I think you'll learn a lot at the Rally about how the business works and hopefully you'll learn to take a long term view and keep moving on, regardless of a few returns. 5 months is a short time to be submitting and it can take somewhat longer to get the hang of it. Lots of people do what you did at first, which is to throw some songs at listings just to see what the critiques are, but the folks that have had the most success with TAXI have learned to target the listings more directly.Returns are part of the game, in fact, there's usually more returns than forwards in any aspect of the business, inside or outside of TAXI. Learning to slough off the "rejection" and view your music as a product when it comes time to do business will serve you well.Cheers!Mazz

[BraveNote]

I think that's sound advice mazz.Hi Roman, I've only been with TAXI a couple of months so I don't know the extent of the type of "club" like circumstances I've been welcome to. [Community of musicians with the same goals at heart] I've been submitting my compositions to other libraries, post houses, and various multi-media companies for many years, had some music accepted into libraries and used here and there in training films etc.. There's a trick to getting your stuff accepted for sure and I don't really know what it is. I gave up comparing my stuff with other stuff that's been accepted and used in the larger arena however. That only gets me more frustrated and want to give the whole thing up. You can't keep doing that and retain a semblance of sanity. When your best just ain't good enough, and you have no other choices and options, you might end up here on the TAXI forums. If you're lucky. If it weren't for guys like mazz and others here who proved that "staying the course" IE, learning as you go, and adapting is one of your greatest assets to exploiting your music, there might not be this dialog and some very important music might not be published to the world.No mater how great your music and production skills are, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink from the trough.Opps! your time is up! Please place another dollar in the machine for further discussion! Thank you!

[mazz]

It can be frustrating, for sure. One thing I think we all as composers of commercial music can do better at, and that's putting ourselves in the shoes of the potential users of our music.Imagine if you walked in to Guitar Center and really fell in love with a certain axe. Wouldn't it suck if the sales person kept trying to sell you something else? Even if the other axe was more advanced technologically, or a pretty color or whatever, if you were already sold on the first axe, you might get really annoyed if they continued to try to sell you what you don't want.It's a similar situation in the production world. The producers and music supervisors have agreed that a specific style will be the best for a certain scene in their production. They may have even temp'ed the scene with a well known, but extremely expensive piece of music and they won't settle for anything but what gives them that exact vibe. They come to TAXI and give the best description they can come up with for the piece, including a la's. Let's say that the piece is going to be foreground, for example playing over a montage where there's no other sound. Well, they're probably going to want a really excellent sounding production, as opposed to what they might be able to use if they need a background song playing from a jukebox in a noisy bar.So TAXI has to forward them what they want, because what they want is what they want. It's not TAXI's job to try to "sell" them something else or try to get them to accept something that's "close", in hopes they might change their mind. That's not TAXI's job. People come to TAXI to get what they want, not a music lesson or an artistic experience. They need the best music for their production (assuming they're film/tv clients), no matter what your fans or anyone else's fans say. If they could afford that famous song, then they'd be using it.So it's a hit and miss game anyway, and you can't read their minds. So don't try, just do the best you can and learn to target your music to the listings better. You'll win some and you'll lose some and that's the sales part of the business. No store sells something to everyone who walks in the door. If you were the store owner and you expected everyone to love everything you had for sale and everyone to buy something when they came in, you'd be pretty devastated pretty quickly.After you're done creating your music, you have to become a sales person, at least pretend for a while, otherwise it will drive you crazy.Sorry for the long rant.Mazz

[rooftopscreamer]

Hello again TAXI peeps,Thank you kindly for your comments and for the reality check. I must realize that I'm sitting in a football stadium filled with musicians who are all performing their own music at the same time.You're right about the sales part. Go figure, I've been in the sales and marketing industry for most of my life and should know better when it comes to selling yourself. It's personal, that's the problem.Based on some of the tips I've heard, I don't know if I can ever write music to fit what people are specifically looking for. For me, when a song comes it just comes. It takes on a life of it's own in the studio and that's it. I may package them differently with remixes or instrumentals but they are what they are. With that in mind, as you said, I just have to wait for the right listing, even if it means waiting for a while.This is new territory for me and I'm looking forward to meeting folks that are in similar situations at the rally. Thanks again.Regards,Romanwww.RooftopScreamer.com