Hot A/C forward.

[triviul]

I just got a couple of tracks forwarded to this listing ('Alright?' and 'Gimme'):Youthful and talented MALE HOT A/C-MODERN POP ARTISTS in the general range of James Blunt, Five For Fighting, Nick Lachey, Rob Thomas, Sugar Ray, Daniel Powter, etc. are being sought by the VP of A&R at a Major Publishing Co. Great writing chops and amazingly unique yet accessible vocals are essential. She'd love to find an artist that also has a strong local/regional following, but it's not necessary. Please submit two to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics/photo/bio. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than Aug. 3, 2007. TAXI # S070803ACI was a bit surprised I got through on this one, to be honest, because a previous Hot A/C listing had returned some of my tracks saying they were way outside the style. Anyway, if it's of any use to anyone to have a listen, the tracks are on my Taxi hosting page.

[gitarrero]

congrats!yep, giving some not-so-obvious listings a shot from time to time can show you some things.besides some rejections I also learned how some of my music fits in to cathegories I wouldn't have thought of before (..I hope that is understandable in english...)cheers,martin

[triviul]

Quote:congrats!Thanks! I know what you mean about not-so-obvious listings. The funny thing is that I've just had another return of both those tracks from quite a similar listing, where the screener couldn't make sense of them at all. It's probably just cos my stuff is a bit unusual, but I've been getting some pretty heavy disagreements between different screeners recently, and not only with songwriting stuff, but in terms of production values as well -- it seems there's a fair bit of variability in what screeners think is 'broadcast/professional quality' as well. It's no different from the range of responses I've been getting informally up to now, but it's interesting that there's not really seemed to be any greater concensus amongst the pros at Taxi, as I'd somehow suspected there might be.

[gitarrero]

Quote:Quote:congrats!Thanks! I know what you mean about not-so-obvious listings. The funny thing is that I've just had another return of both those tracks from quite a similar listing, where the screener couldn't make sense of them at all. It's probably just cos my stuff is a bit unusual, but I've been getting some pretty heavy disagreements between different screeners recently, and not only with songwriting stuff, but in terms of production values as well -- it seems there's a fair bit of variability in what screeners think is 'broadcast/professional quality' as well. It's no different from the range of responses I've been getting informally up to now, but it's interesting that there's not really seemed to be any greater concensus amongst the pros at Taxi, as I'd somehow suspected there might be.please post the song you submitted and the FULL critique from taxi - that will give a completer picture of the whole thing and I think you will get some comments.

[squidlips]

Quote:Quote:Thanks! I know what you mean about not-so-obvious listings. The funny thing is that I've just had another return of both those tracks from quite a similar listing, where the screener couldn't make sense of them at all. It's probably just cos my stuff is a bit unusual, but I've been getting some pretty heavy disagreements between different screeners recently, and not only with songwriting stuff, but in terms of production values as well -- it seems there's a fair bit of variability in what screeners think is 'broadcast/professional quality' as well. It's no different from the range of responses I've been getting informally up to now, but it's interesting that there's not really seemed to be any greater concensus amongst the pros at Taxi, as I'd somehow suspected there might be.please post the song you submitted and the FULL critique from taxi - that will give a completer picture of the whole thing and I think you will get some comments.Yes, I'd like to see that too. I've had some marked disagreements between screeners on the same songs for the same types of listings. I'd love to see what the deal is. I jes assumed it was a personal POV??

[triviul]

Quote:please post the song you submitted and the FULL critique from taxi.I wasn't really meaning to gripe at Taxi -- I was really only posting because I know I found it useful being able to listen to what tracks other people had had forwarded. However, seeing that we've moved topic slightly, and I don't want to smear Taxi, here are the listings and reviews that I found particularly contrasted. I submitted my songs 'Gimme' and 'Alright' to both of the following listings, which seemed to me (perhaps naively) to be asking for broadly similar things:S070717ACHOT A/C-POP SONGS [no instrumentals] a la James Blunt, Katie Melua, Matchbox Twenty, Norah Jones, Goo Goo Dolls, Daniel Powter, Natasha Bedingfield, etc. are wanted by one of the biggest and most successful Music Libraries in the business. They want "unique, yet accessible" tracks -- material that is a "cut above" the norm. Great vocals, hooks, and tight, well-structured songwriting are important. They offer a standard exclusive deal. Songs must be Broadcast Quality (excellent sounding home recordings are OK). Please submit one to three songs per CD/online, include lyrics. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than July 17, 2007. TAXI # S070717ACS070803ACYouthful and talented MALE HOT A/C-MODERN POP ARTISTS in the general range of James Blunt, Five For Fighting, Nick Lachey, Rob Thomas, Sugar Ray, Daniel Powter, etc. are being sought by the VP of A&R at a Major Publishing Co. Great writing chops and amazingly unique yet accessible vocals are essential. She'd love to find an artist that also has a strong local/regional following, but it's not necessary. Please submit two to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics/photo/bio. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than Aug. 3, 2007. TAXI # S070803ACFor the first listing I had the following critique from screener #266:'Gimme': Music 7, Lyrics 7, Marketability 6, Arrangement 6, Production 6, Engineering 7, Musicianship 8, Lead Vocal 8COMMENT: This is interesting, but the drum machine and midi instruments give it a demo like quality. The background vocals in the middle a very loud and cover up the lead vocal. This listing needs finished masters that are ready to go to broadcast.STATUS: Return'Alright': Music 7, Lyrics 7, Marketability 6, Arrangement 6, Production 5, Engineering 8, Musicianship 8, Lead Vocal 8COMMENT: The answer vocals are distracting from the lead vocal. All the echos are confusing to the listener and the beat drops out at the hook. The hook should be the strongest part of the song. The lead vocal melody spans a large range and is difficult to remember and hum.STATUS: ReturnSTYLE: Hard to classify, Not close enough to what listing asked for.OVERALL COMMENT: Mike, When submitting to any listing, make sure that you satisfy All of the listing requirements.... "They want "unique, yet accessible" tracks -- material that is a "cut above" the norm. Great vocals, hooks, and tight, well-structured songwriting are important. They offer a standard exclusive deal. Songs must be Broadcast Quality (excellent sounding home recordings are OK)." They want to put out your production and mix.... Listen to the artists that they reference for production and style.."a la James Blunt, Katie Melua, Matchbox Twenty, Norah Jones, Goo Goo Dolls, Daniel Powter, Natasha Bedingfield...SOUND QUALITY: Not great, but clean enough for this listing, Drums/percussion sound stiff and/or mechanical, Instrumentation sounds too synthetic (see below) [there were no comments added below]THE MAIN REASON(S) YOU WERE OR WERE NOT FORWARDED FOR THIS LISTING IS: Hooks not strong enough, tracks have a demo quality, style is not quite right for the listing.For the second listing I had the following critique from screener #198:'Gimme': Music 8, Lyrics 7, Marketability 8, Arrangement 9, Production 9, Engineering 9, Musicianship 9, Lead Vocal 9COMMENT: Very creative song...... the harmonies are unique and have a little "Pet Sounds" (Beach Boys) flavor to them - super cool! The phrasing is great - especially in the Verse sections. The song starts out being a bit linear in melody, but you soar in melody and range as the song builds dynamically - super creative arrangement...... the vocal arrangements knock me out. The harmonies in the Br are intricate and amazingly tight. This voice has terrific emotion and phrasing - wonderful vocal performance. Lyric has some potent lines, but seems a little vague in story.STATUS: Forward'Alright': Music 9, Lyrics 7, Marketability 8, Arrangement 9, Production 9, Engineering 9, Musicianship 9, Lead Vocal 10COMMENT: This melody is stunning - I LOVE the phrasing in the CH........ stunning vocal range on this tune. This has a little "Muse" flavor, but is completely unique and creative. The harmonies and languid vocal delivery create a visceral reaction to this song - especially when the vocal range goes to the stratosphere. The "round" vocals is a GREAT effect - works fantastically in this song. Lyrically may be more repetitive and vague than this publisher typically likes, but musically/melodically and vocally this song is so fresh and potent, I feel they should check this out. I DIG this song.STATUS: ForwardSTYLE: On target for this listing. Extra comment: Sounds on target for this listing.OVERALL COMMENT: Hi Mike, Your vocal performance and the arrangements of harmonies are stellar - this music is potent, fresh and unique but has an accessible sound due to the CH sections. The way this voice phrasing and pronounces words is alluring and very emotive. The vocal range in "Alright" is stunning - this voice pushes the envelope and goes for it confidently -nice work! The lyrics overall seem a little vague in story and at times repetitive in wording, but the melodies are so incredible that I feel this music is more about that. The story & emotion is in the voice & melody. Very unusual to hear this done effectively and I feel this is creative and unique enough this publisher should check this out. I wish you the best of luck!SOUND QUALITY: [this wasn't given as an option on this feedback form.]BIO COMMENTS: No Bio.THE MAIN REASON(S) YOU WERE OR WERE NOT FORWARDED FOR THIS LISTING IS: Vocal performances are stellar and this voice has command of incredible range and very unique, stylistic phrasing. The harmony arrangements are intricate and creative giving this music strong identity. Might be close enough to target for this listing.This seems to me quite a wide divergence of opinion -- I'm not really complaining, it's just interesting to me to find that the kinds of polarised reactions I've been getting informally are also coming in from the pros at Taxi. It's also entirely possible that the screener knows a lot more about the originator of the listing than can be put into the listing, so that would be another reason for the bar being quite a lot different between what appear to me to be quite similar listings. Anyway, you can all make what you like of it. Both songs are on my Taxi hosting page, to which there should be a link in my forum signature below.

[nknjmes]

Well, I think the problem is that your sound is ala Triviul. Sometimes that put's you at a disadvantage to the listings "ala's, or if the screener is looking for a specific match. As far as I'm concerned....congratulations because you sound great! Pitch to the occasional film/tv producers (not libraries & publishers) but mostly indie and major labels looking to sign a pop/rock artist, if that's what you're looking to do.

[aubreyz]

Quote: This seems to me quite a wide divergence of opinion -- I'm not really complaining, it's just interesting to me to find that the kinds of polarised reactions I've been getting informally are also coming in from the pros at Taxi. It's also entirely possible that the screener knows a lot more about the originator of the listing than can be put into the listing, so that would be another reason for the bar being quite a lot different between what appear to me to be quite similar listings. Anyway, you can all make what you like of it. Both songs are on my Taxi hosting page, to which there should be a link in my forum signature below.Not trying to slam you here, but it always amazes me that some are so suprised when they get differing critiques. As if being a "pro" means you will always have the same opinions. Pro's often disagree. Some "pros" even make mistakes--- GASP .Never take one opinion as valid, either good or bad. Consensus is the key. If you are getting a variety of differing opinions, both from pros and ordinary joes--- it might simply mean that your music may not have a broad appeal, but it may have a very good appeal to a more narrow audience. I'll try take a listen later and give you at least one more opinion to sort through. Aub