Lot's of Forwards but this one has me perplexed..

[hazineju]

Aug 22, 2008, 1:22pm, sgs4u wrote:Got all 10s once, without getting forwarded. That one was tough to figure out. But it just wasn't right for the listing...so Next. oh wow, that would really make my year, even without the forward. the only time i got 10s across the board was for an a capella cover tune!

[tedsingingfox]

Really? The only time I ever got 10's across the board was for a back dive in the layout position on the 3 meter board during an international competition back in 1972!!! And I STILL got the silver medal! (I choked on my very last dive and got ZERO's for my score, and lost the gold by .23 of a point.)OK, yes, I used to be a diver. And yes, I used to be REALLY good. And YES, I am very old. OK?

[tedsingingfox]

Ooops, Got sidetracked with all the Olympic fever going on around me. Sorry.Anyway, 1 decent guy...With TAXI, it is ALL about the listing. NOT the music. Well, that was a stupid thing for me to say, 'cause we all know that if the music isn't "broadcast quality", then 999,999 times out of 1M, it ain't going anywhere. But, just knowing you've already signed a couple of songs means you have NO reason to fret over this.You can rest assured that you can do this. don't worry about one screener's opinion. It ain't worth it.There's a group mantra around here that's been repeated thousands of times and still holds true..."write, submit, repeat"Congrats on the deals...Ted

[jay10music]

This is a great tune.....and the best part ...It will get another turn soon...Just hang on...jay..

[willwillp]

Yeah, I feel ya' on that. I submitted a song that some screeners said was off the chart and one said it inspired him and it was an A+++ and on and on, and another reviewer panned it, gave it all 4's and 5's and said it was dated, cliche and on and on about how terrible it was. And the listings were quite similar, and the reviewer said it was "on target" for the listing. Beyond a certain point of bad notes or bad sound quality, music gets pretty subjective. "Umbrella" was a huge hit, but a lot people think it's the worst piece of crap they ever heard...I guess that is why a lot of writers say it's important to have thick skin. Don't get too bummed at rejections, and it may be a good idea not to get too excited over the forwards, as the guy listening on the other side of the forward will have his own peculiar taste in music as well that might not fit with the screeners. But take what you can from each critique and try to improve as you go.

[georginasaint]

Hi guys, 1decentguy: CONGRATS on your 2 song deal!!!!!I've also had similar experience - great review, all 10's and rubbish reviews and low scores for the same piece a month later. We are in a difficult place sometimes.: If a listing is "NO CRITIQUE" it's very frustrating as we have NO clue why it wasn't forwarded, but then when we get a CRITIQUE we have to try to read between the lines and figure out what it all means!!! The advice on this thread is the best - write, submit, repeat and don't think about the conflicting critiques too much. I just got the best critique I've ever had (and forward) but I'm convinced the guy had had a liquid lunch... They can't win!I think the best idea is concentrate on writing more than on the results of submissions. There's no doubt this process works in the long-run - look - you have done it - you have a deal!!!!

[matto]

Aug 19, 2008, 3:25pm, alsemas wrote:I'm getting some really mixed reviews from TAXI screeners. I sent the same song in 5 months ago and then again recently for a similar listing. The one 5 months ago was forwarded with 8's and 9' in the reviews. This last one came back with 0 marketability and 4's and 5's (one 8 for musicianship). I thought I had a good song for a Comedy TV Instrumental, now this last screener makes it sound like its complete crap. WHAT GIVES? Confused..oh well, I think I'll keep the song the way it is, I'm pretty sure it will work as the opening song for a comedy sitcom. Here's a link to the song sample (please be kind).http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6820309Also, I wanted to mention that I had recently got a publishing contract for 2 or my songs, pretty cool.....1decentguy, congratulations on your deal!I agree with the many posters who have pointed out that music is subjective up to a certain point...but let's not make it look like it's ALL subjective. Most of the time, screeners have very good reasons why they forward or return songs, and they're not "uhmm I just (don't) like it!"Also, as Dave Walton likes to point out, you never hear anybody question a screener's judgment when a song is forwarded (well except for georgina apparently )Your song is certainly far from being "crap", and I hope no screener told you it was, cause otherwise (s)he would get fired.It's actually quite good!However, IMHO it doesn't fit particularly well within the genre of tv comedy instrumental. Could it be used as the opening theme of a tv sitcom? Perhaps...but you gotta realize it would be extremely rare for a production company to use a piece of library music for that purpose. Themes are normally commissioned and written by established composers with long track records. Where a piece of library comedy music would be used is as background for commercials, reality tv shows, news or entertainment programming...stuff like that. For those applications, the comedy aspect normally has to be stronger. In the case of your song, the only really "funny" part is that lead that comes in from time to time. The rest is pretty straight forward. No wacky breaks in the rhythm...no unexpected quirky harmonic turns...no ridiculous musical or sfx elements (with the exception of aforementioned lead).If you incorporated some of those elements in your piece (or future "tv comedy" submissions) I think the likelihood that the piece(s) would get forwarded and, ultimately, used (always the *real* goal) would go up considerably.Rejection sucks, but it's part of every composer's/songwriter's life.I always try to find *something* in a rejection critique that I can learn from...and in my experience I've learned a LOT more from returns and criticism than I ever did from forwards and praise. Not to say I don't prefer those , but if you look at a rejection as an opportunity to learn, it makes them a lot less upsetting...Congratulations again, you're obviously doing something right, so just keep on truckin'...HTH,matto

[alsemas]

Thanks for all the positive feedback. Sorry I haven't kept up with the discussion, I need to get use to using this forum. It seems I have so many websites to keep up with. Everywhere you market yourself or upload your music, just keeps adding up. I must have at least 20 websites to keep track of by now.