#Y060807NA

[horacejesse]

I have just about had it with Taxi. What are these guys sending on? I want to hear some of the stuff they have forwarded for listings for which I have been rejected. Namely #YO6O807NA.This is a New Age listing. I do not have broadband or the capability (as far as I know) to put my submission up for others to hear, or at this point I would, because I am now convinced these screeners are registerd, thoroughbred dimwits.You can't have any faith when you hit the listing criteria dead center with clean pieces that a couple dozen guitarists on earth could even play, and still get rejected.I also receive Dispatch Listings just so I can look at them. It is a real joke to think I would now subscibe to that also.Has anyone been accepted for this listing?Taxi is the joke and it is on you and me. We got snared by their advertising campaign and came into this thing believing in them. No more.Two or three people on this forum are making a little bit of money and the rest are crying in their beards continually. It is a fact, folks. I read this forum all the time, and hardly anyone gets anything forwarded. My pieces were played in artificial harmonics, something I am an expert at and which is seldom heard. If they are not appropriate for the neo-classical genre this listing included then I do not even belong on this planet, folks.When my songs do make a splash I will rub Taxi's face in it without remittance. This is my plan now. A person can be offended only so much. Especially when they know they are right in the first place.

[davewalton]

Hi,Forget about Taxi for the moment. What is your plan for dealing with rejection OUTSIDE of Taxi? For every record label, music library or publisher that doesn't sign you up for a deal, are you also going to use the same tired rant? Outside of Taxi in the last year, I submitted approximately 40 - 60 demos each MONTH. Out of all that submitting I got eight small film score deals. Even though I was "spot on" for each submission, on the average, that means that 592 films rejected me. So what?I'm not the greatest composer in the world but I'm no slouch either and I'm not inexperienced (anymore). The numbers I gave, that's the reality of the music business. Eight out of Six Hundred. It can seem discouraging and overwhelming but it is what it is. Nobody who really WORKS this business is going to feel sorry for you because you didn't get a deal after only sending in a piddly handful of submissions. I don't waste a SECOND of time even thinking about those 592 rejections and I'm certainly not going to recontact all of them to rub their faces. Do you want to find out why Taxi MIGHT have passed on your music for that particular listing? If you'll email me an MP3 (or MP3's) of what you submitted, I'll upload it to a private area on my site and send a link to you that you can post here. In addition to posting the link, make sure you post the text of the listing that you submitted for. Then, take the comments for what they're worth. Certainly, you have to have some respect for someone around here (Matto maybe?). Dave

[davewalton]

Quote:I seriously doubt that my attitude is going to make people want to come on here and say, "Great pieces, Taxi was really wrong." I seriously doubt it. When you come off as an egotistical bastard people want a piece of your hideYou're not important enough for all of us to conspire against. We've got better things to do. I'll be more than happy to help you, anyone, the same way that others helped me (in and out of Taxi). This is a VERY helpful group (well... mostly) and there are a lot of seasoned professionals here. I can never pay them back and I'm eternally grateful, so I try to pay forward. I'm certainly not out to get you. Forget about posting if you want. It doesn't matter. Let's say that you're absolutely right. Now what? What about if you got forwarded but didn't get a deal. What then? These aren't questions that I want to hear the answer to. Just food for thought. DavePS - If you don't mind posting the song, just attach an MP3 to a regular email. Log in and click my name on any of the messages. You should see my email address. BTW, you DID set yourself up to get flamed by a few people, but you probably already know that. I confess to calling you a crybaby but I erased it.

[Casey H]

Quote:Casey,Your observations on psychology and what you perceive as "other problems," do not interest me a bit. If you were so hog wild about Taxi you would still be a member. I didn't pay $300 a year for a personality fix from amatuers.As I already said in my initial post, I may have the capability to post MP3's without realizing it. This sounds like it might actually be the case.My or your ability to post an MP3 has zero to do with our songwriting abilities. There are better songwriters than either of us who still think a computer is for toasting bread.The message board is free so no charge for the personality consult ... The reason I am not a member anymore is that I don't have enough songs in my current catalog to make TAXI worthwhile right now. When I was a member I got some forwards, some returns and sometimes, like everyone, I disagreed. But I never viewed them as the evil empire with Michael being Darth Vader... I am glad you are taking Dave up on the offer to have your song posted. I would be very willing to give you my unbiased opinion. Even better, email me the file and I will listen without first reading any comments on this message board. Contact me to get my email address.Casey

[matto]

Quote:No, this is not how I react evertime I get rejected. This is how I act everytime I feel I am right and the screeners are wrong.Isn't that exactly the same thing??...I mean so far EVERY TIME you got rejected you felt you were right and the screeners were wrong... Furthermore...you didn't just say you were right and the screeners were wrong. You said you were one of the worlds 25 best guitar players (as if that had ANY bearing whatsoever on whether you should get forwarded to a New Age listing) and the screeners were "registered, thoroughbred dimwits".I'm glad at least you realize you come across as an "egotistical bastard"...you might wanna work on that attitude if you wish to ever have a chance at making a living from music. Seriously...Nevertheless, I will be the first to say "great piece" if it's really great, and if I think it should have been forwarded (which is an ENTIRELY different consideration) I will say so too.

[davewalton]

There are tens of thousands of non-heard-of killer musicians out there. Everyone knows who the guy on the right is (Dave Matthews). Very few people know anything about the guy on the left. That's Tim Reynolds, a music acquaintance of mine from the "old days". He really can make a claim to be one of the finest guitar players out there, but you'll never hear him say that. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Tim is a couple of years younger than me which puts him into his mid-40's. He has never done anything other than play music and he is NOT mainstream to say the least. As a result, he's spent several DECADES getting rejections, two steps backward, one step forward, etc. As Andre stated so elequently, he's been very real over the years about the shortcomings of his music and he's gotten pretty damn good as a result. I learn a lot from guys like him and it's the same formula - time, patience, hard work, open mindedness, etc. Dave Matthews invites him to play concerts with him exclusively because he's developed himself into a great musician AND he's a nice guy. Just being good is not enough. People with attitudes like Kid Rock are the exception and not the rule.From my own recent experience, here is a snippet out of the original "Oprah" listing that I was placed into (I'm not making this up):And...you MUST be a “team player.” He’s not interested in someone who has a huge ego and will be difficult to work withNow... send me that song and let's see what all the hub-bub is bub. Dave

[Casey H]

NEW LISTING -- NEW AGE SONGS & INSTRUMENTALS in ALL STYLES [Neo-Classical, Ambient, Celtic, Ethnic Fusion, etc.] are needed by a West Coast-based Music Library whose clients include Xbox, Microsoft, Visa, Clorox, Adidas, Esurance + many more. They offer a standard non-exclusive, 50/50 deal -- all royalties are split down the middle and they don't acquire your song's copyright. Songs must be broadcast quality (great sounding home demos are OK). You must control the publishing and master rights to your songs -- no samples that require clearance, please. Submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS ONLY -- NO CRITIQUES FROM TAXI. For ground submissions, please enclose a S.A.S.E. if you would like a response. Submissions must be received no later than Aug. 7, 2006. TAXI # Y060807NA HoraceFirst, kudos to you for having the tracks posted! These are nice sounding tracks and I like the harmonics alot. I don't know enough about this genre to say whether or not these tracks are a fit for the above listing. Many Y/N listings are screened by the client themselves, not even TAXI! So, it's possible that this particular library just didn't think these were on the money for their type of clients. I did, however, have some trouble myself envisioning these tracks for the clients listed above but, again, this is not my genre at all. One thought is that these tracks may be TOO simple I have to say that the above listing doesn't give a good feel for exactly what they are looking for, something that happens a lot. Given that, it's pretty hard for anyone to say they had a submission that was dead nuts on.Suggestions:(1) Contact TAXI and politely discuss this submission and see if they will help you get some insight as to why these were not forwarded. I always found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. I've often seen people complain on these boards, but when I ask if they have talked to TAXI directly, they haven't.(2) Do some on-line research and get the names of a bunch of music libraries. E-mail them and ask for permission to send in a demo in this genre. Compare the responses (or lack of) you get with that using TAXI. Often, you (that is ALL of us) hear nothing with no news being bad news. If you need help with this, PM me. Over the years, I've kept good records of all the places I submitted to.Good luck!Peace out Casey

[davewalton]

Quote:NEW LISTING -- NEW AGE SONGS & INSTRUMENTALS in ALL STYLES [Neo-Classical, Ambient, Celtic, Ethnic Fusion, etc.] www.DaveWaltonMusic.com/HoraceJesse/Har ... nics3.mp3I made my comments to Jesse earlier in a series of emails but I thought I throw a little summary out for additional discussion.Mostly I thought that tracks #1 and #3 were undeveloped and underdeveloped respectively. I think that track #2 has a lot of potential (actually I like it a lot) but, like Andre, I believe it needs things like additional instrumentation, layers of changing textures and filtered ambient sweeping synth sounds moving in and out of the guitar performance to really complete the track.I thought that track #2 was possibly borderline in getting forwarded but aside from needing more development, I think that it's beyond "Ambient" (which to me is something like "Native Indian" flute music, ambient but more structured). This sounded like something I'd hear on "Hearts Of Space" and while it could be under the vast umbrella of "Etc...", that because it's not something that can be more clearly defined that it was a little too far outside the mainstream of what the client really wanted. I didn't submit to that listing but if I had submitted a really ambient, trippy, space music type track, I would have also submitted two other more mainstream New Age type tracks, something along the lines of David Arkenstone, Yanni, or Enya. Songs I do for myself might be different, but songs I do for the Taxi listings I always try to target the center of what it's asking for and not go too far to the fringe, even though the listing might imply that fringe material might be OK.My "reading between the lines" interpretation of this listing, for whatever it's worth in hindsight, is that they were looking for fully developed, multi-instrument, structured instrumental tracks with high production values. Whatever that means. Dave

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Compliments of Dave Walton, here are the three pieces I submitted to this listing.www.DaveWaltonMusic.com/HoraceJesse/Har ... .mp3Though these may be technically brilliant,a five year old with a bottom of the range Casio could have come up with something equally good or better.Sorry horace,the screener got it right,for a change

[davewalton]

Quote:actually the "multi-instrumental only" idea is just Dave's interpretation and may in fact be a little misleading. Yes, I didn't make that clear. What I probably should have said was that I, personally, would have felt the most comfortable with my chances by submitting multi-instrument tracks like Enya, David Arkenstone or Yanni.