Frustrating Return

[kvnlnt]

COMMERCIAL/CONTEMPORARY SOUNDING/UPBEAT MODERN/ALT ROCK SONGS are sought by the Music Supervisor of a major cable TV network for a new NFL THEME SONG. Lyrically, songs should include NFL and Football. Nothing too quirky please. The chorus really needs to capture the audience's ear and be the "meat" of the song. Male or female vocals are OK. Vocal and instrumental performances must be top-notch! Broadcast quality needed [excellent home recordings are OK]. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD, include lyricsI wrote/recorded/submitted the following song for this listing:http://www.taxi.com/kevinlint > Knock You OutThe Screener was very nice:Hey Kevin - your song has a good energy and contains some good musical and melodic parts. The capable and strong vocal delivery suits the song well. The musicianship is solid, tight and fitting and the production sounds fine overall, with the exception of the vocals, which seem too quiet in places (e.g. choruses).You could also revise the bridge to keep the momentum moving forward more and strengthen the song - please see comments overleaf.I wish you good luck with everything.My Gripe: I feel like this feedback was judging my song as if it was a song for general media/film placement, verses something specific like an NFL theme song...a song that will be undoubtedly used for 15,30,60+ second commercial spots, random edited vignettes, etc...When I first saw this listing I was really excited because my wife is a Television Producer and was able to help me arrange/write the song in a way that would be an editors DREAM!!! The melody, the words, the concept are all short and sweet...there's no fancy intro....just bam into the chorus...I also backed off on the vocal a bit as not to interfere with voice overs and other audio elements that might need to be layered on top...I even through in some subtle robotic voice fx trying to make a play off of the "transformer in pads" guy you see on NFL broadcasts....the end of my song goes into a "hooah, hooah" bridge that is an alternate melody from the chorus and could be used in it's own right...each segment of the song is easily loop-able...distinct yet adheres to the theme... I felt that my song was very "malleable" for the diverse applications it would be used for...and incorported much higher level of skill and thinking than what others might have submitted.I find it tremendously frustrating when I get returns like this...it's such a "too bad good luck next time" situation, because I can't submit this song to another listing....it's all about the NFL!!!...that it really makes me frustrated. What happens if the screener totally hosed this? Sucks for me....I just don't think this is fair....these type of one off listings seem to need something more...maybe taxi can introduce a "challenge" timeout just like in the NFL, they can rereview it and overturn a call.....

[davewalton]

Nov 23, 2009, 3:57pm, kvnlnt wrote:When I first saw this listing I was really excited because my wife is a Television Producer and was able to help me arrange/write the song in a way that would be an editors DREAM!!! The melody, the words, the concept are all short and sweet...there's no fancy intro....just bam into the chorus...I also backed off on the vocal a bit as not to interfere with voice overs and other audio elements that might need to be layered on top...I even through in some subtle robotic voice fx trying to make a play off of the "transformer in pads" guy you see on NFL broadcasts....the end of my song goes into a "hooah, hooah" bridge that is an alternate melody from the chorus and could be used in it's own right...each segment of the song is easily loop-able...distinct yet adheres to the theme... I felt that my song was very "malleable" for the diverse applications it would be used for...and incorported much higher level of skill and thinking than what others might have submitted.Hmmm...Sounds like you might have had this thing won even before you wrote the song. I didn't see "Knock You Out" in your song list so I couldn't give it a listen (although I'd really like to). These "one off" listings are really fun... and can be frustrating. I have a *wonderful* Armenian Electronica song I wrote... that only really fit the one "Armenian Electronica" listing that ran a few years back. Although I did get a forward on that I never got the deal. Oh well...Anyway, I always take the approach that if the screener was incompetent in returning your song, then they had to also be incompetent in forwarding a few songs. A notion not too popular with the people that did get forwarded and feel they got forwarded on the merits on their song... not because the screener was clueless. Also the company running the listing... they know what they're getting into and if they didn't feel that Taxi knew what they were doing, the listing company would just listen to them all themselves. Without hearing the song I can't comment but the listing emphasizes "The chorus really needs to capture the audience's ear and be the "meat" of the song", while the screener says (as the reason for the return) "the production sounds fine overall, with the exception of the vocals, which seem too quiet in places (e.g. choruses)."I will say that I have seen listings similar to this... NFL songs aren't really that much of a "one off" kind of song. Certainly there's more potential life to an NFL song than an Armenian Electronica track. Post that thing up and let us have a listen. Dave

[mazz]

Hey Kevin,I feel your pain. It took me three years of relatively consistent forwards before I got any "action". I don't know how long you've been submitting to TAXI, but it can take a while to get some traction, everyone's mileage varies.I will say that part of the trick to this is understanding how to target the listings. On this one, I think you over thought it and tried to give them what you thought they wanted based on your experience and the experience of your friends. But what you thought they wanted and what the actually wanted were different and it was all in the listing the whole time: The chorus really needs to capture the audience's ear and be the "meat" of the song. Your broadcast experience said to "stay out of the way of the voiceover", which is a good strategy, except that in this case you don't know how they are going to use it. Maybe they are going to duck the verses and make the chorus "capture the audience's ear" by not having anything but the music featured there. By second guessing the potential client, your song, which may have been perfect with a different mix, didn't get through.I'm not trying to be harsh or personal here, it's just business and trying to give the clients what they want. There's times to be an artist and it looks like you get a chance to do that with your gigs, etc., but the film/TV side of the game, particularly writing to specs, is where you put your artistry into a little bit of a different vessel. It's no less creative or artistic, IMO, just a different side of the game.Keep going, your stuff is good, but just don't take it personally. It's not easy, but it's a valuable skill to cultivate. That and a thick skin!! Mazz

[hummingbird]

Nov 23, 2009, 8:07pm, kvnlnt wrote: Flip it 500 different ways, I can make any changes they want...it's the "song" that I was submitting...Hey, sorry for the return, I know it's a bummer. Been there, done that, have a collection of t-shirts, believe me I just wanted to clarify regarding what you said in quotes here, about submitting the song and being able to change it if need be.Unfortunately, for film/tv, that's not how it works. Yes, you're submitting an mp3 and they will need a wav or an aiff from you if they decide to sign the track. But in order to get forwarded, you have to fit the requirement of broadcast quality... and assume that whatever you send must sound like it could be popped right into the soundtrack without any editing.In this case I would have mixed the song like it would sound on the radio. Because the vocal needed to sell the song to the screener and to whoever listens to the forwards. Likely the end user would have asked for a vocal copy and a sans vocal copy and done any editing required themselves. Just chalk this one up to experience -- and don't forget to use the forum as a resource. Post up what you plan to submit with a copy of the listing, the great folks here will give it a listen and give you some feedback that you can consider before submitting.cheersH

[kvnlnt]

Thanks Everybody, that's really great feedback - Mazz - good words...I feel better now... But honestly, I am done with these types of listings. Too much effort for a shot in the dark. It's been 10 years since I started to write/perform music, 5 since I started recording, 4 since I started submitting and only 1 since I've started to get some radio play, taxi forwards, etc...just seems like it's been a very very very long road and I've never made a dime...and after watching the AMA's the other night I'm trying not to loose hope that the world has lost their mind. I'm about to go to the nearest college, find a male rapper and a female vocalist, dress them up in dominatrix gear and write/record songs about sex, money, cars and everything ignorant...back it with gangsta beats and a pedal steel and call it "new country". lol...peace,-K

[davewalton]

Nov 24, 2009, 10:01am, mazz wrote:Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've been playing piano for 40 years...It makes *me* feel better. I feel younger already!

[stevebarden]

Nov 24, 2009, 11:19am, davewalton wrote:Nov 24, 2009, 10:01am, mazz wrote:Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've been playing piano for 40 years...It makes me feel better. I feel younger already! And I thought my journey was long....

[mazz]

Hey, you guys are older than me, come on, admit it!!

[stevebarden]

Nov 24, 2009, 12:29pm, mazz wrote:Hey, you guys are older than me, come on, admit it!! You're as old as you feel...and today I feel ancient!

[mazz]

Nov 24, 2009, 2:08pm, stevebarden wrote:Nov 24, 2009, 12:29pm, mazz wrote:Hey, you guys are older than me, come on, admit it!! You're as old as you feel...and today I feel ancient! Hey Kevin,See what you have to look forward to?