Why I won't be rejoining Taxi next year...

[davewalton]

Oct 13, 2008, 4:15pm, inyourdefense wrote:I will call TAXI and report it. I more shared it on here to see if anyone else had had the same experience.Here's the review:--------Music - 6Marketability - 6Arrangement - 4Production - 6Engineering - 6Musicianship - 6Lead Vocal - 7vocals are good when singer is singing.Status: Forward ReturnStylegood pop song.Overall CommentsOverall I like this song but have trouble with the very intro/first verse which is kinda whispered and then rushes into the chorus I believe before the song actually opens up. Too much time goes by before the instruments come in. not enough singing here. I think this has potential if you take a closer look at the melodic structure and redo the vocals so there's less whispering and more cool singing.Sound Quality:works ok for listing.The main reason(s) you were or were not forwarded for this listing is:combination of singer whispering and run on melodic structure ruins much of the song. --------So there you are. Just not the greatest writing coherence for a paid critique, in my opinion. Part of the problem with a forum is that you don't get to see my happy face when I'm commenting. In my original post, if we were sitting at the Taxi Rally sipping Latte's, I would have been relating that information just in a regular manner. I didn't include any smileys but I didn't include any frownies either. Well, I would definitely ask for another critique. Not so much for the forward/return aspect but for the learning aspect. That was the original reason I joined Taxi and still continues to be a big attraction for me. Not every critique has been helpful but overall, as a whole, I've been able to pick up some main concepts and run with them fairly successfully over time."Vocals are good when singer is singing"... THAT would have been the one to set me sideways. My advice for whatever it's worth... don't give up with this one critique. Having adopted a "long-term" strategy, I look back and see several places where had I quit, I would have missed out on something special.Believe it or not, a lot of good forum friendships started with huge misunderstandings. My apologies for any I might have created. Hope you stick around...Dave

[mazz]

Honestly I can see how one would want to "run it by" the group here before calling TAXI. TAXI is a really cool bunch of folks and are generally very friendly but if a person has never called or is a bit nervous about calling a company and complaining (or just afraid of getting stuck in the endless phone trees like at banks or phone companies!!!), then I can see how testing the waters first would be considered a viable alternative. (BTW: I've never gotten a phone tree or an answering machine when I've called TAXI!)Since music is such a hard thing to talk about in words, anyway, just posting a few quotes from the screener without any musical context is pretty difficult to respond to. There are many places on the web where you could park an mp3 under your screen name and still remain anonymous while at the same time providing a link here so maybe we could help you understand what the screener was talking about.You may have a legitimate beef with TAXI and I'm glad you're going to call them. Don't let your seeming lack of success or this little bump in the road impede your journey. Who knows, the next listing may be the one that gets you a deal. I'm not trying to sell you on TAXI because even TAXI will admit they're not the only game in town, but just in the music business in general, those that win are the ones that didn't quit. I may be speaking out of turn because I don't know your specific circumstances but it felt right to give a little pep talk (maybe I needed to hear it too!!).Good luck and don't let Steve scare you. Under all that puffing is really a cream-puff.Mazz

[llama]

Hey Inyourdefense,I hope you stick around here, though I totally understand why you wouldn't want to. I thought your post was valid and I understand where you are coming from. I would think the forum would be a place of support or at least constructive advice from fellow members. Especially to someone who is obviously new to the forum. I think a bunch of people were really jerks here and they realize it. I see that most have apologized to you by now for the crappy way they treated you and those who haven't darn well ought to.But anyways......I have only contacted Taxi on two occasions and both times I have been really impressed with how friendly and helpfull they are. I'm sure they'd be more then happy to help you......I really hope you do stick around the forum and feel safe enough to post your songs here.....Derek

[inyourdefense]

Hey everyone,Thanks for the latest comments... I appreciate and accept your apology, Steve, as well as everyone elses. I really didn't come here to make enemies, just to get a feel for other taxi members' perspectives... so I sort of freaked out a bit when I came back to my computer a couple hours after the initial comment to find such intense replies!I admittedly did make it sound like it was just that one review that totally soured my experience. I will say it didn't help, but it was sort of like the last straw for me, I suppose. My more prevalent issue with Taxi is that I've generally found that every submission I've made has received overwhelmingly negative reviews, and I don't feel that my music deserves it. Almost all of my marks have been in the 5's and 6's, and that's based on at least 12 critiques for various listings/songs by now.I don't want to make it sound like this is driven by arrogance, because it's honestly not! I wouldn't have any beef if at all I got some bad reviews here and there, because I know there are areas I could improve on. But I just feel it's been somewhat extreme, and here's the thing that just doesn't jive: it also is not matching the response I get from the general public. I mean, I'm an active, and fairly successful, singer/songwriter here in Toronto. I joined Taxi to see if it could further my career in some way. Again, I'm not saying that I'm the best singer/songwriter around, or that I don't have areas I can improve on, because I'm sure I do... but I'm pretty confident that what I've been putting out is not crap either. And to receive 5's and 6's consistently... that's pretty crappy.Another issue I have is that the comments on any given song from different reviewers are often quite contradictory compared to one another, so I don't even get the sense that there is some genuine flaw in what I'm submitting that I should correct. For example, I had one reviewer tell me that one of my songs had really strong lyrics, and then the next reviewer told me that the lyrics needed work for the same song! I had one reviewer give me 4's and 5's for two songs I submitted, and then with the same songs I received my only forward to date, to a very selective listing. It just doesn't jive, and I'm not really able to take much from it at the end of the day.So I guess that's why Taxi isn't really for me. I'm definitely not claiming it's not for anyone... I know it's been a very valuable tool for a lot of people, but it just hasn't done much good for me.Since I feel like we've reconciled our differences and no one is out for my blood, you can hear a few of my songs on here, at:www.taxi.com/jfarragherThe song I submitted for the review I posted here was 'Salt Water'. Ironically, the same day I got the review back, I also found out it was nominated for an Ontario Independent Music Award for Best Pop Song! The other two on there have also received various crappy, but inconsistent, reviews along the way, yet they've been pretty successful for me in my various other musical endeavours. Cheers,Janine

[benjamine]

Oct 13, 2008, 9:51am, sgs4u wrote:This is a bullshit posting. You're too well-spoken to be telling the truth about your experience with a screener. And if you were serious about learning how to write songs that Taxi might find useful, you wouldn't just quit when you read something you didn't like in a review. If you were angry about actually hearing the language you say you read in a review, you'd be indignant enough to not give a rat's ass about getting a screener in trouble. And that screener would take his/her lumps and learn correctly. I don't think you are here to complain about Taxi's service. You are here to convince some other members to stop paying Taxi for a service, because you are working for a competitor of Taxi. Your post reeks of covert intent, not anger. Why call yourself, inyourdefense ? If you want anyone to believe you, link your song, cut and paste review and the listing you sent if for. Otherwise, go away and think of some other way to show us your lame attempt to discredit Taxi's quality standards. I am a Taxi mole, and Taxi pays me $1,000,000 a year to ferret out nimrods like you who show up hoping to screw Taxi out of business. And I sell bridges.Quote:I don't think you are here to complain about Taxi's service. You are here to convince some other members to stop paying Taxi for a service, because you are working for a competitor of Taxi. Your post reeks of covert intent,

[hummingbird]

Hey Janine, in that case I'm glad you're here. For all of us, understanding how to target the listings, and dealing with the screening of our music, isn't an easy thing.I assume you are submitting to Artist Listings? You might think of using the forum as a resource, ... if you see a listing you want to submit to... post, in Peer to Peer, the text of the listing, a link to the song & lyrics... and ask if we think it's a fit.If you are submitting to Artist Listings, then I would recommend you rewrite your bio to sound much more professional. The bio you've posted might work well for fans, but not for pitching to the industry. I think your pictures are fine. But your bio should tell me... where you've performed, what albums you've cut, what training you've had, what awards you've won, good comments from press, etc. (I don't know if seeing mine would help, but it's at www.taxi.com/vikkiflawith )One thing that was said at the Road Rally last year that made sense to me... was that when you get radically different feedback on the same song... it means that it doesn't fit well within whatever parameters have been set. As the "Return Queen", that gave me a sense of clarity as to why one screener might say the lyrics are fine and another might say they are not. You see this live in person at the Rally when a piece is played for a 4 member panel, and each of them have something different to say.. one wouldn't listen past 15 secs, another would give it a chance and listen til the end of the chorus to see if it goes somewhere, another thinks the lyrics don't fit the genre, another likes the unique take but thinks the production needs work. Who is right and who is wrong? Really the screeners are acting just like the A&R reps of a label might act when hearing your music... one might hear promise, and another might just move on, and another might be willing to risk their job & reputation by taking you on. I enjoyed listening to your songs. I felt the last one (Salt Water) was the best produced, IMHO. I'm not an expert producer by any means, but I felt with Gas Tack & Paper Airplane.. your vocals were lost in the mix sometimes. The instrumentation is fairly good, though. How were they recorded? I can't comment on the lyrics since you didn't post them. Gas Tank - has a slight country feel. I like the vibe. The bass is too prominent in the mix & the solo break is muddy.... and where you come back in, the instruments are covering you. Paper Airplane - the guitar is too bright and is covering your vocals. I like the ambient feel of the piece, though. There isn't a lot of contrast between verse and chorus, and the mix seems muddy to me - the drums aren't clear & sort of sound messy to my ears. I'd love to hear this with a clean electronica feel.JMHO. HTH.cheersHummin'bird

[horacejesse]

Quote:vocals are good when singer is singing.And not whispering.

[Casey H]

Hi Janine Good luck whatever you decide to do. There is no one best path for everyone. I've been listening on your page to your songs. You have some nice songs and a very pretty voice. The one thing that stood out to me was that the quality of your demos don't do your songs justice. Somewhere along the line you will have to address that. In today's world, excellent demos are expected. But I enjoyed the songs. All the best, Casey

[davekershaw]

Quote:Since I feel like we've reconciled our differences and no one is out for my blood, you can hear a few of my songs on here, at:www.taxi.com/jfarragherThe song I submitted for the review I posted here was 'Salt Water'. Ironically, the same day I got the review back, I also found out it was nominated for an Ontario Independent Music Award for Best Pop Song! Hi Janine,This is excellent work!I like all the tracks, and think they are well produced.Wish I could get mine to sound like that!The critique is a puzzle. I don't hear any whispering on Salt Water!I too would have been disgruntled to receive it.Nice guitar on Paper Airplane.These are certainly quality tracks, and I hope you decide to stick around. I'm betting you will see some success real soon.All the best,Dave.

[billg]

Janine, I just wanted to say that I really like your songs. Gas Tank is my fav, kind of a strange genre bending thing going on there . . . I like it. The production could be improved upon (we're all in that boat!) but all three of songs are very cool & your voice works for the songs imo.