Newbie with second thoughts

[revnet]

Hey everyone,I'm not sure this is the right forum but I'll ask anyway. I've submitted a handful of songs and they've all been returned. Generally the reviewers like my stuff but it's not right for any listing I've submitted to yet. So basically I'm at the point of considering canceling my membership. I guess I'm looking for some feedback from you to determine if Taxi is the right place for me.You can hear the kind of stuff I do at:http://www.taxi.com/jhewitt79orhttp://w ... Thanks,Jim

[edteja]

Jim, there is an art to connecting your music with the way people write about music in listings. Most folks find it takes a while to get the hang of getting that together. You can post in the appropriate section of the forum, giving a listing and a link to the song you are thinking of submitting and get specific feedback instead of a general response. That might help you get on target.Bear in mind that the problem isn't TAXI, but getting a handle on how folks in the industry talk about what they want. Might as well tackle it head on now. Good luck, and remember if it was easy, everyone would do it.

[lieflin77]

Jim, you could cancel, or you could just view this membership as one more tool of the trade. I recommend hanging in there, and at least go to the road rally for feedback and networking. I thought the conference alone was worth the membership, as I have been to other conferences that charge quite a bit more. I listened to your music, it is catchy, retro, more artist driven, so maybe harder to place in commercial type listings. I know there aren't as many listing for that type of thing, maybe soundtracks and such. Just wait and see if any listings come up that fit your music. You might try the "Peer to Peer" board to get feedback, I just found out about it myself. Give it a chance, good luck.

[milfus]

listening to your stuff now, Its put together pretty well, mixing is a little non standard, but its still good, sound a little reserved but dont we all.yeah I would have to say, it seems more like a targeting problem than anything else, you just really need to tune your ears to exactly what situation they are trying to put music into, and then see if you have or make something to that exact situation. It is pretty rough to do at first, but if you really pay attention to tv and movies, you will see it ya know.I would stick it out, get some feed back, and just remember, its 50% hitting the listing.

[prez]

Jim, what I'm about to say may sting a little. I'm not as PC as most of the others here BUT I do have your best interest in mind. Be forewarned. If I may be pointed, this is sounding like a pout session. Things aren't going your way and now you want to bail. Welcome to the music industry.Rejection is part of the process and you will get plenty of it in this business. This is the time to develop some tough skin. If you can't take the heat...well...you know the rest. I took a listen to your material and if any of the TAXI screeners said that you need to remix the songs, they'd be right. It's not quite there yet. Close...but no cigar.Lieflin hit the nail on the head: you could quit which would be the easy way out of having to work. Or you can think of TAXI as ONE of many tools in your arsenal to get you where you want to be. If you are looking at TAXI as your only tool, you are shorting yourself. It should be one of about six or seven.Making sure you have the right song for the right listing is half the job. The other half is making sure the music you make is the best it can be. The second part is where you need to develop your chops a bit.Using Peer to Peer on the forums here can save you a good amount of frustration as there are a lot of experienced people who can help you in a variety of different ways. The critiques from TAXI can also help immensely. What do you ultimately hope to accomplish with your music? You've been gigging since 1989 but the music landscape has changed DRASTICALLY since then. Where do you want to be next month? In the next six months? Next year? Evaluate that and see if TAXI can help you reach that goal if you approach it a little differently. Jude 2

[hummingbird]

Some good advice above. If I were you, here's what I would do. The next time there is a listing that you plan to submit to, go to Peer to Peer, post the text of the listing, a link to your song, and the lyrics (if any) and ask for feedback. Try to listen to the feedback with an open mind and be willing to tweak your mixes as advised. I have used my Taxi membership and this forum as an education tool. I had no forwards for my first 2.5 years of membership & made lots of submissions. But the advice of the screeners, and the mentors on this forum, helped me bring my music up to par, and to the point where I am getting forwards and have music signed.The way I look at it is, you know where you want to go. Now you need see where you are right now, which is what the screeners and the posts above are trying to tell you. Once you can honestly assess where you are (I compose well, but I need to work on production; or, I compose well, but I have to work on getting a better sound library/get away from loops; or, my production is great but my compositions need work)... and you know where you want to go, then you set out, step by step, song by song, to learn what you need to learn and get what you need to get to bring your music to the level it needs to be to get forwarded.There are other members of this forum (and Taxi) who are on the same road, some are behind you, and some are a step ahead of you. That means, you fit right in I also agree with the post above about knowing what your career goals are as a songwriter & how you are going to use resources like Taxi to take you to the next level.warmlyHummin'bird

[mazz]

TAXI is really a little window in to the inner workings of the music industry. TAXI in and of itself can only give you the access to the listings, what you choose to submit to the listings will determine your success from that point on.The listings are pretty generously written compared to what you might get directly from a client. Just getting critiques of your music is worth the price of the membership because you probably won't get any critiques if you submit your music directly, unsolicited, to the industry at large.If you're targeting your music to film/tv, then you need to learn how to target your pieces to the listings. If you are wanting to be an artist and write only what you want to write, then you'll need to be more choosy when submitting.If you go fishing and the fish are eating insects off the surface of the water, you can stubbornly insist on using a worm, but you might catch more fish if you're willing to be flexible and switch to using a fly.Good luck,Mazz

[lqrose]

Hi Jim,I am having trouble listening to your songs.I'm new here as well, although I just got a second star!! I"ll throw my 2 cents into the mix. FIRST...JUST A HANDFUL OF SONGS!! I have had at least ....Ummmm? 5 handfuls of songs (lets call that about 30,maybe 40 songs) up for listings....I've had 3 forwards. I consider that wonderful!!! Frankly, more wonderful is the in depth critique and advice I am receiving from the screeners and from this very generous and talented group of folks here on this forum.I am a little shy about my song writing and sometimes as I post a lyric or song for review, I cringe. I have found nothing but good, solid and kind remarks and advice. I write and make songs for the reason "jchitts" (I think that's right) has written below her avatar....I am condemned by the Gods to write.....anything else is icing.Good luck to you, and I hope to see you around a long time.Lqrose

[revnet]

Thanks to everyone so far for the great advice!

[squids]

It's painful at first to realize that change is inevitable in this biz. Change hurts. But if you'll notice, those who've stuck it out and used Taxi as a tool to further their goals (amongst other tools), and changed the way they write, produce, sing, whatever it is, are generally pretty happy and excited to be here. Of course, I can't speak for everyone but a lot of them are people I've spoken to privately and they're generally happy to be involved in the weirdness of songwriting/composing. The initial cost was painful, sure, it hurts to hear the work isn't absolutely perfect and as God intended (heh) but eventually, there's a detachment factor that kicks in, allowing some good ideas to get through to us and that we can use to improve the song. I am in absolute admiration of folks who can hear opinions openly. I still have moments of grumbling but that's more "oh no, I have to work on this some more? I'm already sick of it, ack!" hahahah. Ya know, private whining. We can definitely be hurt on these forums, there's no doubt about it but if we work through it, the rewards, zey are many!