Country Listings

[nknjmes]

Man I get frustrated with country! My last submission was on target but as always...lyrically too vague. This time in my line:"You're a hard working woman. Traveling far to meet them demands. It's too far from where we're together, far from where we need to stand to keep the love we have." The reviewer says it needs to to explain more about those demands. Does it really??? Do I need to make up some line about work demands?Maybe so....I don't know anymore.

[pogodog]

nknjmes, Without the music, melody and/or complete lyric it's difficult to agree or disagree with another persons criticism. But, I'll do my best to agree based solely on the 4 lines included. You're a hard working woman. Traveling far to meet them demands. It's too far from where we're together, far from where we need to stand to keep the love we have.These four lines have been done before, unfortunately, in about the same manner (some said it better)... all except the unique inclusion of the phrase " them demands " . This is an odd bit that sparks intrigue and sets your lyrics apart from the others that came before. IMO But, It's your baby and you can raise it how you'd like. On the other hand... you did submit your song for professional review and in their opinion it was lacking in someway. It's up to you to decide if they have the publics ear or not and move accordingly. I'll close my sermon with a game of sorts- Let's assume the above 4 lines occupy about 36 seconds of your song and that your song is 3 minutes long. Now consider your own lifespan, and assume you have only 3 minutes to live , would you waste 36 seconds quoting someone else or would you dig deep and find something original to say? I wish you the best, now and in your future efforts.RanG

[nknjmes]

I hear ya. Thanks for the feedback.

[arkjack]

nknjmesI can feel your pain. I have pursued those country listings as well and it will really test your patience. the one thing that I have realized about the TAXI listings for country is that the bar is in the sky...... So to make you feel better I'll share some research.... imhos..... I took a look at various top country albums from Mcgraw, Cagle, Groban, Paisley, Hill.....etc... Look at who the writers on the songs are... that's who we're "up against". In Tim McGraw's case, I dodn't recall seeing a song where he was principal writer. All done by collabarations of Nashville megahit writers. When you seach the web and check out the songwriters webpages and resumes, you can see that its usually people who have lived and worked in the Nashville scene their whole lives as writer, artist, producer, engineer..... staff at a publisher, A&R.... they probably had alot of lean years .... and now they are swimming in dough from the hit after hit they get becaused they are established "hitmakers". (Do the math...... total albums sold x number of songs written x 8 1/2 cents..... ) I figured that in order to break into this elite group where you see how high the bar is, your music has to be absolutely phenomenal. The reviewer at TAXI has to have the "factor" that makes them overcome the trepidation of sending a song that is not up to the bar. That factor is the WOW!...... Holy S*** ..... or "man it sends shivers or some incredible nerve synapse reaction in my body when I listen to it." Some of the reference points I use....Drive by Alan Jackson - incredibly well written.... Believe -- Brooks & Dunn - great musically and makes you choke up.... Friends in Low Places.... rowdy.... I can't honestly say that I've yet written that song, and if I have, I don't know which one.... thats why I have to send it off to TAXI to see if it "works".... does it have a "factor"...? Alot of songs have a piece or two that works, but the song as a whole is not together... thats when it comes back saying it needs "development". If you put your reviewer's comments into this perspective, he or she may be saying to you "you have something with a factor but...." This doesn't mean rewrite to put in a description of the demands... but that something at that point in the song dropped the ball on the "factor" that was working....I hope this helps. Like I say I feel your pain..... or is that agony....? Patience is a virtue, its a marathon...not a sprint.ArkJack

[davewalton]

Quote:nknjmesI can feel your pain. I have pursued those country listings as well and it will really test your patience. the one thing that I have realized about the TAXI listings for country is that the bar is in the sky...... I'm not a Country person/artist/musician but at the Taxi rally, one of the Taxi screeners that deals a lot with Country mentioned that on these "high bar" Country listings that the bar is so high that maybe only one or two songs get forwarded, and - the thing the surprised me the most - sometimes no songs are forwarded. Wow. Arkjack is right. Through Taxi you're competing against some of the biggest powerhouses in the Nashville songwriting market for just a handful of music slots. Pretty heady competition that doesn't change by "bypassing" Taxi.

[nknjmes]

Good points all around. I've had one song forwarded to Nashville and it went to a publisher, so I'll keep at it with a bit more focus. Thanks!

[jchitty]

Man, when I read all these posts about the frustrations of 'creating a hit,' I think about Jason Blume and Jeffery Steele and all the years that went by before they finally scored a hit song. Guess we all face the same road. I recently had a non-foward myself. Not fun, but it comes with the territory.

[hummingbird]

One of the songwriters I'm acquainted with is in Nashville and has been sharing his journey. I thought I'd copy and paste a post of his that I think applies to this discussion:"Here’s the real competition in Nashville these days. If you want to get big time cuts, you’ve got to write better than these guys: http://www.myspace.com/chriswallin http://www.myspace.com/bobbyterry http://myspace.com/bobbypinson http://www.myspace.com/bigloudshirtmusic http://myspace.com/bobdipiero http://www.myspace.com/riversrutherford http://www.riversrutherford.com/music.html ..................BobbyJoe"H

[pogodog]

Quote:One of the songwriters I'm acquainted with is in Nashville and has been sharing his journey. I thought I'd copy and paste a post of his that I think applies to this discussion:"Here’s the real competition in Nashville these days. If you want to get big time cuts, you’ve got to write better than these guys: http://www.myspace.com/chriswallin http://www.myspace.com/bobbyterry http://myspace.com/bobbypinson http://www.myspace.com/bigloudshirtmusic http://myspace.com/bobdipiero http://www.myspace.com/riversrutherford http://www.riversrutherford.com/music.html ..................BobbyJoe"HHummingbird, Seein' that 3 of the 6 folk listed are Bob's of some sort. Maybe changing my name to Bobert is the key to makin' my wayhalfway thru the Nashville door? Just a thought and a thank you.

[hummingbird]

and that was posted by Nashville's BobbyJoe