Rock Staff Writers Needed!

[Casey H]

Quote:Here's the listing:Commercial/Mainstream ROCK STAFF WRITERS are sought by a hugely successful industry mogul (producer/writer/executive) who has formed a new Music Group/Label. He's seeking the absolute best - writers who understand today's Rock market and can deliver hit songs to the likes of Daughtry, Evanescence, Hinder, Puddle Of Mudd, Nickelback, etc. Co-writing experience a big plus. Please submit two to three songs online or per CD/cassette, include lyrics & bio. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than Dec. 18, 2007. TAXI # S071218RKSo, my plan is to send in three songs, one of them being my song "Today's Catastrophe" that I sent in for the ala Green Day listing. Here's another one I just "finished" (when is a song ever really finished, right? ) This is definitely the "hardest" of the three, and I'm curious to see what everybody thinks. "Superficial"http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... &stream=1I really appreciate it! This could be a pretty cool gig. I guess it's a long shot, but I'm going for it... Thanks!DanHi DanAs you know, this is an incredibly high bar listing. I think, from your post about this being a long shot, you get that... For the benefit of others who may be new at this, when you see words like, "a hugely successful industry mogul", "the absolute best", and the fact that it is for a staff writer position, you need to understand just HOW great the submissions have to be to get forwarded. It's a terrific opportunity though! Rock songwriters don't have that many opportunities to write for other artists. If someone doesn't get forwarded for this it doesn't mean they are not cranking out great or very good material. I really like "Superficial"... I'm not sure the chorus stands out enough, especially in the critical first minute or so of the song. The song gets MUCH stronger as it goes on, with more repetition. An A&R person may not still be listening in time to really get it. There are many sub-genres of rock, with this being a little more metal, so I could be wrong- not "getting it" myself regarding the structure.I DO think this is an excellent song and would pass the bar for many film/TV and library listings... not sure about the staff writer thing...BTW, could you post a link to the other song you mentioned ("Today's Catastrophe") that would be part of this submission?BTW2... Nothing would be better than for me to be 100% wrong here!! Warmest, Casey

[daniel481]

First off, sure! Here's the link:"Today's Catastrophe"http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... trueThanks for all the tips Casey...I have a few ideas for changing the structure, actually, that I think might help a lot. They should be up by the time you get this, so I'm curious to see if that makes a difference...BTW, long shot or not, I REALLY want this gig...so whatever I have to do to get there I'm happy to do Thanks again,Dan

[daniel481]

Alright, new arrangement's up, and it's mastered now, as well, so it'll be a bit louder.Lemme know what you think, thanks! I think this one makes more sense as far as "hit" rock songs are concerned...Dan

[daniel481]

And here's the revised lyrics, just in case....You wanna take my pictureYou wanna let me knowHow much you’d love to feel me nowWhat am I forYou just wanna use me then you’ll goWhy won’t you get to know meI’m right here so talk to meI’m not down with pretty faces whoJust look but never seeCause I want itI need itSomething realSomeone that’ll come and rescue meSo lose itI hate itThe superficial mind is never gonna interest meYou want to have a storyThat’s all you want, you don’t want meYou just wanna make them jealous yeahYou wanna say you’ve met meYou want the world to hearThat you were close enough to touch me yeahAnd I want moreYou’re not gonna use me anymoreYou don’t need meBelieve meGive up the act Take a shot at loving someone backYou don’t want meYou don’t love meWhere are you at?I know your waiting The superficial mind is never gonna interest meThe superficial mind is never gonna interest meYour superficial mind is never gonna interest me

[daniel481]

Anyone?

[matto]

Quote:BTW, long shot or not, I REALLY want this gig...so whatever I have to do to get there I'm happy to do DanHey Dan,This is just my opinion. But...if you REALLY want this gig, walk away from these two songs, and write something that completely blows these away.Don't get me wrong, these are good songs, I think they can find a home in film and tv, in fact I'm pretty sure they will. They can clear a fairly high bar I think, Space Needle high even perhaps.But for this listing, the bar is the moon, and these songs won't get you over the moon.Remember, this is for a staff writer deal for rock. Most rock bands write their own songs, so the only way this "mogul" is gonna get songs cut is if his writers have stuff that's clearly better than what todays hottest rock acts write.So what you need here are "event" songs. "Signature" songs. UNDENIABLE HITS.I think the main "problem" with your songs vis-a-vis a listing like this is that conceptually they are not unique enough. Lyrically, they don't have unique hook. "The superficial mind is never gonna interest me" is not a strong tag line, it's kind of clumsy and stilted, not conversational. It's not a "rock" thing to say. The rest of the chorus is just far too "been there done that" lyrically.I don't think the starting point of the song is a good one to begin with (I don't think most rock stars feel that groupies present a serious problem that must be dealt with pronto ), but if you did decide to write a song about it, it would need to have a far more unique angle to it, and it would need a far more visceral, personal, believable lyric for it to work.The other song is arguably not a rock song to begin with (as compared to the "a la's" of the listing, and is again a very pleasant and well crafted song but just not unique enough from it's basic idea/concept where it would blow people away and have them go WOW! How did he come up with this.So my advice would be, spend some time just thinking about concepts and titles that would make a unique hook. Unique but relatable. Listen to strangers' conversations, watch some movies, search for those nuggets that would make a unique concept for a rock song. If you find one or several, brainstorm them and try to figure out the best way to make that hook/title/concept/idea into the most compelling song possible.You might not get there by December 18, but I don't think there are a many (if ANY) people who could write 2-3 songs in 3 weeks that would be worthy of landing them a staff writer deal like this. Not even among those who already HAVE a deal like this.Getting to that point typically takes years.I'm not trying to discourage you, just being realistic here. Cranking out library songs is an entirely different thing and process from writing the next mega hit that has a chance to make it thru all the closed doors and run all the gauntlets it will have to in order to have a chance at getting cut by a major rock artist.matto

[daniel481]

I only have a second, but thanks so much for your tips Matt. I agree with you...they may be cool songs, but I haven't been completely sure about these two, and I honestly wasn't planning on turning in Today's Catastrophe when I planned for this in the first place. I just thought I might since I wrote it for the other listing.But you know what? I just might have something up my sleeve....stay tuned Dan

[twilsbach]

Dan,The songs so far sound good, can't wait to hear the next round and ultimately hope you get forwarded.and Matto, I'm just a fly on the wall in this particular thread, and I've read a similar comment to the one I'm about to make in countless other threads you've posted in, but your reply is just really fantastic, grounded, completely helpful and at once deflating, yet somehow encouraging advice.I'm going to copy and paste your reply and keep it for myself when I think I've written something spectacular to make me work a little harder on making each song the best it can possibly be.Its no wonder that Michael recently recognized your contributions on these boards, and although I'm a relative newbie here I just wanted to express my thanks as well.Quote:Quote:BTW, long shot or not, I REALLY want this gig...so whatever I have to do to get there I'm happy to do DanHey Dan,This is just my opinion. But...if you REALLY want this gig, walk away from these two songs, and write something that completely blows these away.Don't get me wrong, these are good songs, I think they can find a home in film and tv, in fact I'm pretty sure they will. They can clear a fairly high bar I think, Space Needle high even perhaps.But for this listing, the bar is the moon, and these songs won't get you over the moon.Remember, this is for a staff writer deal for rock. Most rock bands write their own songs, so the only way this "mogul" is gonna get songs cut is if his writers have stuff that's clearly better than what todays hottest rock acts write.So what you need here are "event" songs. "Signature" songs. UNDENIABLE HITS.I think the main "problem" with your songs vis-a-vis a listing like this is that conceptually they are not unique enough. Lyrically, they don't have unique hook. "The superficial mind is never gonna interest me" is not a strong tag line, it's kind of clumsy and stilted, not conversational. It's not a "rock" thing to say. The rest of the chorus is just far too "been there done that" lyrically.I don't think the starting point of the song is a good one to begin with (I don't think most rock stars feel that groupies present a serious problem that must be dealt with pronto ), but if you did decide to write a song about it, it would need to have a far more unique angle to it, and it would need a far more visceral, personal, believable lyric for it to work.The other song is arguably not a rock song to begin with (as compared to the "a la's" of the listing, and is again a very pleasant and well crafted song but just not unique enough from it's basic idea/concept where it would blow people away and have them go WOW! How did he come up with this.So my advice would be, spend some time just thinking about concepts and titles that would make a unique hook. Unique but relatable. Listen to strangers' conversations, watch some movies, search for those nuggets that would make a unique concept for a rock song. If you find one or several, brainstorm them and try to figure out the best way to make that hook/title/concept/idea into the most compelling song possible.You might not get there by December 18, but I don't think there are a many (if ANY) people who could write 2-3 songs in 3 weeks that would be worthy of landing them a staff writer deal like this. Not even among those who already HAVE a deal like this.Getting to that point typically takes years.I'm not trying to discourage you, just being realistic here. Cranking out library songs is an entirely different thing and process from writing the next mega hit that has a chance to make it thru all the closed doors and run all the gauntlets it will have to in order to have a chance at getting cut by a major rock artist.matto

[aubreyz]

Yes, yes... Matt both knows his stuff AND how to say it. I'm sure there will be many trying this listing -- many are called, few are chosen...I honestly think a couple of our most forwarded cuts might stand a chance of getting past the right screener (if the all genres were different), but nothing I have right now would I consider good enough to land the gig. Ponch and I came home from the rally with the goal of getting off the ceiling and lower roof and hitting the sun.21 days for two masterpieces... hmmmm... let's see what this rally buzz leads to. You may not hear from me until the 17th... but we're gonna shoot for the moon... uhhh, sun Aub

[daniel481]

Good luck Aub! I hope that you and I are both writing hits for the big guys here soon.So yep, my two songs I posted are gone for this listing, but I just wanted to chime in again and say this:I WILL have two or three potential hits by the 18th. There's just no other way to go about it.