Pro Review from Broadjam.

[headcoach2]

So let me ask you a question. I have submitted one of my daughter's songs for review with Broadjam about two months ago. I have finally received the results today. The pro revirews name is: Keith Hannaleck. Here is what he had to say about the song called Deliberate. (www.broadjam.com/mia)"I Loved the hooks in this track. Mia has a great voice, very flexible and expressive. The guitar is nice, rhythmic, the fast strumming acoustic guitar is a perfect match for the vocals, the bongos adds a nice touch and I liked it when the guitar changed to electric and got a little more beefy towards the end of the song. The track is short and sweet, perfect run time, more than obvious to me that it is radio ready and great choice for a single."So here's the question....How can I submit this pro review to Taxi when I submit this song next time to the listing. Every time I submit this song to the listing, it gets rejected. Please advice!Thanks for your help.Headcoachwww.passthepuck.net

[davewalton]

Hi,You could submit the CD, lyric sheet, and review via snail mail. However, the third-party review you received would not be influential or given any weight or creedence.There are many reasons why songs aren't forwarded. I believe that one of the main reasons is that the people submit to listings that might not be a good fit for the song. The thinking is that it won't matter because the song is so good. That is rarely ever the case.A single third-party review won't carry the day and certainly doesn't address the song in the context of any specific listing.My suggestion is to try, really try to understand why the song isn't getting forwarded. Study the listing and study the critique. You might not take one return or one critique seriously but if there are several rejections for a single song, do your best understand the common reasons given by all the critiques.Based on what you're saying it's highly likely that a really great song just hasn't been submitted to the perfectly appropriate listing. Reading and really understanding the listings and reading the mind of the person who submitted the listing is not easy. I think it's an art in itself and something that takes practice.Dave

[headcoach2]

To be honest, I think that it should matter. Taxi, recommends Broadjam, that's why I am a Broadjam member. They said it would be easier for me to submit my songs to Taxi if I was a Broadjam member. So I signed up.If Taxi is not going to listen to Broadjam, then I think we have a problem and I have invested my money unwisely.If this is the case, then maybe I should cut my ties with both. What good is it to spend the money on Pro reviews if Taxi's not going to care or listen to the Pro reviewer? It just doesn't make sense.I'm just wondering now many other Broadjam members feel the same way. Taxi! Are you listening and do you care? Please comment!Thank youHeadcoach

[matto]

Quote:To be honest, I think that it should matter. Taxi, recommends Broadjam, that's why I am a Broadjam member. They said it would be easier for me to submit my songs to Taxi if I was a Broadjam member. So I signed up.If Taxi is not going to listen to Broadjam, then I think we have a problem and I have invested my money unwisely.Headcoach,I think you misunderstand the relationship between Taxi and Broadjam.The agreement Taxi has with Broadjam only pertains to song hosting and submissions. The reason they recommend Broadjam is because it makes it easier to submit songs (as opposed to mailing them in). It's that ease of submission that you pay Broadjam for.Any of the "features" of Broadjam such as reviews (pro and otherwise), charts etc are completely separate from Taxi and have nothing to do with Taxi submissions and forwards.Saying that Taxi "should listen to Broadjam" and forward songs that get positive critiques at Broadjam is like saying a record label should sign you because you got a positive review in your local newspaper.The newspaper has nothing to lose by giving you a good review, but the record label has all the money they would be investing in you at stake...so they will be A LOT more picky.Similarly, the pro reviewer at Broadjam has nothing to lose by giving you a positive critique...Taxi, on the other hand, puts their reputation on the line every time they forward a submission, and therefor their screeners have to be A LOT more picky.matto

[headcoach2]

Saying that Taxi "should listen to Broadjam" and forward songs that get positive critiques at Broadjam is like saying a record label should sign you because you got a positive review in your local newspaper.So I guess what you are saying is....If a label was told that a singer got a good/great review from the local newspaper, that they (the label) wouldn't even look twice or think about it?Headcoachwww.passthepuck.net

[matto]

Correct...unless your local newspaper happens to be the New York Times or something like that...that might cause them to give the demo an extra listen.Because it's virtually impossible for an independent artist to get a review in the NYT, and the Times has its own reputation to uphold, so a great review would really mean something there. Still wouldn't mean the artist would get signed though.

[davewalton]

The one item that's missing here is that a review for a song (from any source) doesn't take into account the appropriateness of the song for a specific Taxi listing. It seems like you're saying that you think Taxi didn't forward the song because they didn't think it was good enough. Is it possible that the song wasn't forwarded because it didn't meet the criteria set by the listing?The reason that the Broadjam review doesn't matter is because that reviewer wasn't reviewing the song in the context of what the Taxi listing was asking for. He/she was just giving a generic review.If a listing asked for "Hard, peel-the-paint-from-the-wall Punk Rock", would the review given by the Broadjam reviewer have any meaning in terms of the song being appropriate for the listing? Trying to understand what the listing was asking for and then trying to understand the critique in context of what that listing was asking for will be a more productive vehicle for improvement than insisting that things should have worked out differently.A good song is one thing. A good song that meets the criteria set by the listing is another thing.Don't get discouraged, just try to learn from the process.Dave

[jay10music]

Hi Headcoach,Somebody sent me this thread, and I've read it top to bottom. Here are my thoughts;I DO understand your frustration. We get JUST as frustrated when we forward songs and artists and the record companies don't sign them. We obviously think that what we forward is signable or we wouldn't forward it, but alas, the people at the labels have to have ALL the stars line up in order to move forward on something.Is it a GREAT song... something they think is much BETTER than what's on the charts.Is it PERFECT for what they're loooking for?If it's an artist; are they young and "beautiful" ?Do they "fit" the market?Is their live show amazing?Do they have the ability to drop everything and go on the road for a year or two?Will they give up after 6 months of playing small dives and making no money while sleeping in vans and motel 6 every night?Do they have the ability to KEEP writing hits, or did they just get lucky with THIS one?and so on....I think Matto and Dave gave you really good answers, that frankly are what I would have said.A&R people get hundreds of songs/artists per month from people they DO accept material from; TAXI, publishers, managers, music attys., other bands, etc., yet less than 1% of THOSE ever get signed. They're looking for "perfect", and even THEN they know they're gambling their entire career when they sign what THEY think is perfect.As far as the issue of why we don't "listen" to Broadjam... I think it was Matto or Dave that hit the nail on the head by saying that the person who reviewed it at Broadjam was looking at it generically, not in the context of the TAXI listing. And it is EASY to be complimentary when your reputation doesn't rely on the critique. Ask the person who reviewed it at Broadjam this: "So, if you like my daughter's song that much, and think it's that good, would you please invest your time and money in her? We could do an incredible CD of her for lets say, $100K (labels typically spend $250,000 or more). I'm sure we'd sell enough to make your inverstment back many times over. Are you game?"If he/she answers "No," then ask them why not. That's when you'll get the REAL critique.I'm not trying to be coy at all here, but this is REALITY. TAXI is in the business of introducing relative "amateurs" to PROS at the top of the music biz food chain. When we forward something to them, it will be sitting on the same desk, and getting heard by the same ears that hear the very best in the businees. Unfortunately, we have to play by their rules (even though we don't always like them).Believe me, we hear a lot of music that we personally love, that for one reason or another isn't right for the opportunity. We learned long ago that when we try to shoehorn something that's not a good fit, we pay the price by losing the entree we worked so hard to establish.Again, I'm REALLY not trying top be coy, and NOT trying to be a wiseass or disrespectfull here, but if you feel so strongly that TAXI is wrong, why don't you cash in the equity in your home, make a record, and gamble everything you've got on your daughter?I keep a close eye on our screeners, and have found over 14 years that they're rarely wrong. If anything, sometimes I think they fall off the fence in favor of the artists/writers when they shouldn't. It's hard for them to NOT forward something. They have hearts, and they're artististic types by nature and writers too. They know what it's like to be on your side of the fence because at the beginnings of their careers, they were right where your daughter is now. If ONE of them didn't forward her, you could make the argument that he or she was wrong. If several have not forwarded her, can they all be wrong? Not likely. It's not like they sit around and compare notes -- "Did you forward her? NO? Oh, then I won't either."They really don't know from one minute to the next what the person sitting next to them is even listening to. It's really sort of a double blind test when you get several critiques on the same material. Think about this; every year there are numerous, and very credible song contests... Billboard, John Lennon, Unisong, etc. I can't think of one person that's been signed as a result, and if they DID get signed, where's the hit? Yet they won a contest!!! And most of the contests send out compilation CDs with the winners and runners up. Why don't the labels just sit back and wait for the winners to be announced and sign them rather than doing all the work they do to find new talent?Because they know the standard is lower. The same reason they don't surf websites that host music looking to see who is on the Broadjam top ten, etc. Those lists serve a purpose, in that they make people feel good, and reward them emotionally for doing a good job , but they aren't a TRUE indicator of what will be a hit. If they were, it would make everybody's jobs much easier.Listen to one of those top tens and tell me if you'd gamble your life savings on most of the artists on there. Would you?Tell you what. I'll put my money where my mouth is. If you sign one of the acts on the Broadjam top ten THIS WEEK, or your daughter, and invest at least $50,000 of your own money in the project (which needs to be totally provable), release it in the next six months, and it becomes a top ten BILLBOARD hit (on the Hot 200 chart) and sells at least 500,000 units any time before June 1st, 2007, I'll not only publically admit to being an idiot, I'll apologize to you in public (with the media there -- I'll invite them), and write you a personal check for $50,000 right there on the spot! I 'll stand behind this -- I've said it in a very public forum!!Are you game? Again... NOT trying to be facicious here, I'm just asking you to understand the difference between somebody SAYING a song is good, and having a stone cold hit in your hand.Thanks for listening to this rather lengthy rant ;-)Warm regards,Michael

[headcoach2]

Michael,Thank you for your warm response. I do understand where you are coming from. The original question was..."Is there a way" to add the Pro Review to the information that I send to the listing.And yes, maybe it's the wrong listing that I have been submitting too. Naturally, i'm not going to submit a Pop song into a country listing.However, for some of the listings, I feel that I should submit the song to multiple listings. However, I was wondering, If one submits it to, lets say one of their songs to a "AAA" listing and It's more of a "Pop" listing, will your review say...."You know, this song would do better in the "Pop" listing than in the "AAA" listing, why don't I just move that song over to the correct list."Or, Does the review say...."Stuoop! That will teach them for submitting to the wrong listing......next!"Is there some type of tutorial that you have on your site that talks about this, say..."The Art of submitting songs to Taxi."As far as the investment. My daughter has been singing in Choral groups since she was 6 years old. She started with the Seattle Childrens Chorus.I think I have spent over your $50,000 investment in vocal training. She currently is attending Northern Arizona University and is majoring in Vocal Performance Classical. You don't even want to know what the bill is there, the cost is around $20,000 a year.However, her degree requires her to take more credits than the normal degree. So she will be in school one extra semester. Which after all that money spent, what's one more semester.In the mean time, we have been at three different studios, producing an album. Currently we have 5 singles and 2 covers (covers that I have already paid royalty/license for.) The currently producer is the producer for "Sister Sledge."I just finished her first music video. Lets' not talk about the cost there.Now, I am just waiting for the video from the producer to add to Broadjam.The good part is. I want her to finish her education first. So if she doesn't make it in the music business, she could fall back on her degree.Here is a place where you can listen to both....her Pop and Classical music. www.broadjam.com/miaRob Lopez AKA:Headcoachwww.passthepuck.net

[davewalton]

Quote:Michael,However, I was wondering, If one submits it to, lets say one of their songs to a "AAA" listing and It's more of a "Pop" listing, will your review say...."You know, this song would do better in the "Pop" listing than in the "AAA" listing, why don't I just move that song over to the correct list."Or, Does the review say...."Stuoop! That will teach them for submitting to the wrong listing......next!"If they did that, what would be the point of posting the listings? Everyone just send in a dozen songs every month and let Taxi sort things out. I think the reviewers job is to review the song in context of the listing. Nothing more. Think of it as them being temporarly employed by the company that submitted the listing to find songs for that listing. They only "work" for one listing at a time and are "specialists" for that listing. There's way too many other listings for them to know about anyway. They're busy with literally thousands of submissions for their particular listing. Quote:Is there some type of tutorial that you have on your site that talks about this, say..."The Art of submitting songs to Taxi."Interpreting the listings is an art and is not unique to Taxi. But like anything else, it takes patience and practice. I'll spare you the hockey analogy of the importance of knowing the rules, regardless of your skill level. You can't be phased by getting your song returned. Many songs did get forwarded and the reasons are more tangible than "it's not fair". Here is a thread that has a lot of useful information on interpreting the listings:http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?a ... 4&page=1If you don't read the thread, at least take time to read an "interpretation" by Matto, the most insightful reading of a listing that I know of:========"You're right that this listing casts a wide net, stylistically speaking. Your common denominator is to be found in the first 5 words: HOT A/C-ADULT POP ARTISTSHot AC (= Hot Adult Contemporary) is a radio format that plays all the artists mentioned in the listing. It is a more modern, hipper version of AC that wouldn't play artists such as Celine Dion or Phil Collins. Yet, it is a format that's targeting adults (thus ADULT POP) as opposed to kids and teens; they play hardly any hip-hop, contemporary R&B, or very teen oriented stuff such as Hilary Duff, Simple Plan etc.So this listing is looking for artists that would fit into that specific radio station format, artists that would appeal to the same target audience. It's important to realize that radio formats are oftentimes less about musical style than about lifestyle; thus artists with rather dissimilar music can co-exist on the same station as long as they appeal to the same demographic."========Be honest. Do you have this kind of insight? I don't. Yet. So I have to work on it and it's something that doesn't come in a weekend. I stand by my original post that said this. "My suggestion is to try, really try to understand why the song isn't getting forwarded. Study the listing and study the critique. You might not take one return or one critique seriously but if there are several rejections for a single song, do your best understand the common reasons given by all the critiques."Dave