Please enlighten us

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thedivys
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Please enlighten us

Post by thedivys » Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:39 am

Here is the listing:DANCE-ROCK SONGS & INSTRUMENTALS with an accent on fun and the unusual are wanted by the President of an Artist Mgmt. Co. to represent for film/TV/video game/commercial placement. Styles can range from campy Disco [Scissor Sisters, the Rapture] to Roots/Rock/Reggae/Dub [Sly & Robbie, Tom Tom Club] to Industrial [Sisters Of Mercy, Ministry] to New Wave [Depeche Mode, the Killers]. The company's owner will come in to screen your submissions. They offer a very artist-friendly non-exclusive licensing deal. Broadcast quality needed [excellent home recordings are OK]. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than Nov. 29, 2006. TAXI # S061129DRWe submitted 4 songs to this listing and none were forwarded even though they got very good reviews.The reasons they didn't pass them along differ a bit for each song.I'll list the song and the reason for not passing it along.You can hear all 4 songs at: www.garageband.com/TheDivys1. Get Up! Give Up! Move On! - Reason: Song lyric content needs to be made clearer and have more understanding of the characters offered. (what are we, novelists?) what sense does purple haze, black dog or I am the walrus mean?2. Shine - Reason: Song production and delivery is too close to influences(huh?)3. Tongue - Comment: The snaking rhythms opens this track up for a beat immediately. The arrangement is solid and moves forward like a freight train. The 'tongue' reference is well constructed. The jagged phrases that make up the bulk of the lyric content provides good soundbites of wording that comes together well for a consistent message. The overall tone of this track is techno and has lots of new wave influences. The musical and lyrical hooks are firmly in place. The techno aspect of the track is what is keeping me from a forward. For this Rock/Dance hybrid the techno side is a little overwhelming and locks the genre into the electronica category.Reason: Song style is not in the vein of artists such as Scissor Sisters, The Rapture, Sly & Robbie, Tom Tom Club, Sisters Of Mercy, Ministry, Depeche Mode and the Killers(wow! didn't know depeche or ministry or tom tom club didn't have techno elements about them)4. Disco Life - Reason: Songs style is not in the vein of artists such as The Rapture, Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Ministry, Scissor Sisters, the Killers, Sly & Robbie and Tom Tom Club. Comment: A strong new wave techno groove runs through this track. The minimalist techno soundscapes come through in the style of artists such as Alan Vega and Martin Rev's work in Suicide. Nicely put together and delivered, Clifford. Your use of musical and lyrical hooks is well represented. The style is what is holding me back from a forward din this category seeking Dance Rock tracks in the style of artists such as The Rapture, Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Ministry, Scissor Sisters, the Killers, Sly & Robbie and Tom Tom Club. (once again, we don't see what our styles don't have in common with Depeche & killers,etc.)

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by matto » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:33 pm

Hi "the Divys"Sorry to hear you weren't forwarded. However I wanted to point you to a sentence in this listing: "The company's owner will come in to screen your submissions."This means the person who screened, critiqued and rejected your songs was the actual individual who would've offered you a deal had he/she liked them.I don't think we can expect companies to give us a written explanation everytime they decide to pass on an artist or song.When I submit directly to companies I do business with, who have signed songs of mine in the past, all I usually get is "Sorry, this doesn't work for us". At least you got more than that...it may not help you much or make a lot of sense...but ultimately, what you had to offer just didn't work for this particular company. That's life... matto

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by thedivys » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:56 pm

Sorry but that's not good enough. We pay good money for taxi and to have our songs that are completely what the listing called for be turned down with a reason that has no logic, is unacceptable. We are still the customer to taxi. I am aware of the listing stating the customer would review it but that's not what the review said. read again please.

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by matto » Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:33 pm

Where in the critique does it say the screener was not the company's owner? Company reps still call it "a forward" and they have screener numbers too. I've had many submissions screened that way. Unless you have some insider information that we're not privy to, what you're doing here is arguing with a company president about his rejecting your material. And there I thought I'd seen it all...

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by thedivys » Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:46 pm

ok matto, i want to know how we don't fall into the category of Depeche mode, the killers and the tom tom club. they said we were too eletronic for it? puh-leeeze....that doesn't even make sense. and i'll argue if someone doesn't give us a good, honest reason for turning down a submission.i wish taxi would come forward and clear this up. we had a little of depeche a little of the killers and a little of the other stuff in our songs....the reason they gave for not passing doesn't make sense. please explain. we pay for this service, we have every right to question this. so matto, unless u are the screener or someone with the honest answer....butt out. your comments have been of no use here so farwww.garageband.com/thedivys has our songs that weren't passed alongGet Up!, Tongue, Disco Life & Shine

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by matto » Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:27 pm

Come on now...if you want me to butt out don't post on a public forum, call or email Taxi.How is it Taxi's fault if a COMPANY OWNER rejects your songs? Does anybody who doesn't like your music owe you a written explanation? One that makes sense to *you*?Don't you realize how ridiculous and utterly unprofessional this sounds? Don't you realize that if any publisher, A&R person, music supervisor etc were to read this...they would make sure NEVER to even consider doing business with you?Please for godssake take a step back and look at the bigger picture here. You can't force a company to like your music, offer you a deal and pitch your songs to film and tv if they don't think they can use it. And they most certainly don't owe you an explanation.Your actions here are going to make Taxi reconsider their policy of letting company owners screen their own listings. This means Taxi will have to turn down some listings, which means fewer opportunities for all of us.

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by Casey H » Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:28 pm

Thedivys The fact that the company's owner was the screener here is the only thing relevant. TAXI didn't reject your song, the actual A&R person did. So, if you had submitted directly to a label or a publisher and got rejected, what would you do? Probably not get nasty with them...BTW, this is why most labels and publishers do not give critical feedback, just "we will pass on the material", or "not what we are looking for", etc... They don't want to deal with this sort of argument.I spent my day today reviewing material submitted to me for my own company's film/TV leads. I tried an experiment. For every song submitted , by every artist, I emailed the artists letting them know which songs I could forward and which songs I couldn't. Where I said "no", I explained my reasons. So far, the replies have been very favorable. BUT, it would only take 1-2 morons to start a big argument with me, and have me to stop being so nice. (And a special shout-out to a forum member friend of mine who got one of those emails today-- you know who you are )Casey

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by thedivys » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:52 pm

who are you freaks? do you work for taxi? if not, go away before i fart in your general direction. i could give a crap if they like our songs or reject them. if you read my post maybe you wouldn't be getting self-righteous on me. I want to know how we can not be passed along for being 'too electronic' when the listing mentions electronic acts in it such as depeche mode & tom tom club. no hostility here. just want to understand the logic behind the comments for not passing us along since we pay them.

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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by gitarrero » Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:27 pm

Hi "the diviys",I just read all the post's here, and well, I'm gonna be the third person who say basically the same as the other two did.Calm down and look at your situation from a bird perspective. A company owner screened your songs directly, as the listing said. This particular person didn't like them. Basically that's it.If you don't want a taxi-extern person to screen your songs, simply don't submit on such listings.btw most of the listings get a critique by a taxi-person, so this case is the minority.Martin
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Re: Please enlighten us

Post by edteja » Sat Dec 16, 2006 5:28 am

I can't see who it is exactly you are mad at??? If the compnay owner turned you down, and created the listing, then your problem is with him or her, not taxi. You paid $5 and got a critique. No critiquer is really going to do more than tell you what they think. If you pay a professional critiquer to review your song, that is what you get. And the owner of the company is not going to justify that position no matter what you demand or think you paid for. This has nothing to do with taxi, except that they got you a hearing for five songs. Maybe the reviewer is demented, or just wrong, ... who the heck knows. And it doesn't matter. You care, certainly, and are confused, and I heartily sympathize, but getting the story behind the story is not one of the things that Taxi does.
"In the future, when we finally get over racism, bigotry, and everyone is purple, red, and brown ... then we'll have to hate people for who they truly are."--George Carlin

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