Deaf?

[zowie]

Hi everyone,I am about to try an experiment,and would like your input on it.First a little background,I'm a regular guy with a regular life,and I like writing songs.I don't perform them,and I have no interest in being a "star",or even "known".Despite this,because I once sent a crappy tape of some of my stuff to an acquaintance in California,she made copy's for friends of hers which resulted in me getting calls from out of the blue from some of the biggest labels and artists on earth.(no kidding,it's a very strange experience being handed a post-it note from the office secretary saying to call someone who has sold 30 million+ records with their phone #.)If you guys had any idea how many times I have been told of my supposed genius and how close I've come in the past to getting rich from three and a half minutes of sound(without even trying),you'd want to strangle me.Anyway,for one reason or another ( that had nothing to do with the actual songs,ie label publishing hijinks,ect.)I haven't been able to get anywhere with my material.So I joined Taxi.And gotten nowhere equally as fast.I'm not blaming Taxi,I've submitted a bare handful of songs, mostly for t.v.placement, and been rejected,I think because of the less than great recording quality.None the less,when you get called very nice things by alot of very successful music biz people,,you start to believe it. Ha!So in order to get past the screeners on recording quality I'm presently spending around eight thousand dollars to properly present my songs.If that doesn't do the trick,nothing will,heres why.Last Sunday I got a call from a guy who happened to be on the cover of the cover of Rolling Stone magazine last spring,and incidentally,his band is mentioned repeatedly in Taxi listings.("in the vein of..")He asked if he could record two of my songs!YESSSSSS!But folks heres where the "EXPERIMENT"comes in.It shall be an experiment to determine if Taxi screeners have ears. I'm about to send two of my "greatest hits" to a couple of song pitch listings, guys and gals these songs are not only my coolest,but they happen to fit perfectly with the..in the vein of's,ect.I have called Taxi and been told recording quality is not an issue.If they do not get forwarded,then I will know Taxi is a waste of money.I will keep you informed,so whatt da ya think?

[mani]

I'm curious to see the outcome. After the experiment is over you will have to tell us who the artist is to maintain credibility though.

[zowie]

I guess I can name drop now since the deals are dead,the first was Meatloaf,then Arista Records called at almost the same time asking me to submit songs for Carlos Santana's then follow up to Supernatural, I wrote a song called "Dancing For the Saints" and sent it in.I called a week later because of a "paperwork" question,got patched through to my A&R contact and heard my song in the background as she picked up the phone.She was freaking out about the song saying it was a definate hit and when Carlos got back from his tour of Europe they where going to play it for him.Cool,I thought Im going to buy an island.Anyway Carlos returned,with all the songs he needed thank you,and never even heard my song.As far as Rolling Stone "coverboy",I'll tell when I can,but the cool thing is he is doing some amazing piano arangements of my stuff that I could never do in a thousand years.While its quite a complement,I wont make a dime from it if I cant get a decent publisher.It would be nice if I could get through the screeners at Taxi so I can find one with some pull.

[zowie]

By the way if Arista records ever calls,you should pronounce it AIRISS-TA ,not A-RISTA,for some reason they are touchy about it.

[matto]

Quote:While its quite a complement,I wont make a dime from it if I cant get a decent publisher.Huh? You should get 100% of the writer's royalties either way if he records your song...which is a nickel for every dime in royalties the song generates.Congrats on your near misses, btw! Still impressive even if they didn't end up going thru. Best of luck to you.However, this topic doesn't really belong under "Forwards".matto

[zowie]

Yeah matto,I know,I meant to post it in General Hangout,but I suck at electronics,(especially recording)The publishing end of it,as far as even the writers share gets very murky unless theres sombody outside of the record company it's self watching the store,in this case the company will problably be Geffen.I dont want an "in house" publisher.In house greed cost me the Meatloaf deal.Anyway I'm outta here until something comes up with all this.Be Good, Zowie

[liamkelly]

Um..... sticks hand up........ where can I hear the songs?

[timejunkie]

So what was the outcome of this experiment?I am curious to hear more.Just a side note...having a song recorded by a known artist does not guarantee success.I'm not saying your material is good or bad (Haven't heard it...yet)but there are many factors that break a song....payola being one of them.