potential new taxi member i just need to ask a few question

[chris beaver]

hi guys.

Ive been looking at potentially joining taxi, i write instrumental music only at the moment .
Ive been looking at the current listings and there seems to be very little in the instrumentals section. could somebody please tell me if this is typical of what to expect from the listings or does it change a lot with more opportunity for instrumentals?

secondly my music tends to be different in the way of i tend to write multiple genres in the same song and while this can give my songs a unique sound I'm not sure if it would work here or not. do you think it is best to just do what you do best or change the way you write specifically for taxi?

Ive posted some YouTube links of me playing some of my songs i would very much appreciate it if someone could tell me if these songs stand a chance of getting forwards or are the genres i do are not right for taxi?. I Will really appreciate any advice given and thanks very much for your time

Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z__yOcQOPXU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMldhLaNhHU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo4oXCI6fC8

[fret17]

Hi Chris...first let me say that your music and chops are great...I enjoyed listening and watching you play...Hopefully I can start the ball rolling here and instrumentalists here at Taxi will chime in....basically...I can tell you that Taxi is a lot of things to a lot of people...for me it has so far been an incredable help in that I'm learning more about the real music business , how it works , whats expected, and most importantly...I think...a realistic chance at getting somewhere with my music....compositionally speaking, I feel I am close to what it takes...I'm weak in production..but everyone here understands what we're going though and trying to achieve...and it's a great place to build on whatever you're starting with and making your goals more obtainable....Taxi not only puts up new listings twice a month (1st and 15th)...for a little more money you can upgrade to "Dispatch" membership...which is what I think you're after...."Dispatch" is where Taxi needs something on spec...usually within a day or two..(sometimes a little longer) and emails those listings to Dispatch members....most of the time, it's an instrumental piece thats being asked for....you must be able to provide Broadcast quality on all your submissions, (dispatch or otherwise) and be able to provide it quickly.
In the event you achieve a forward on your piece, and a Library contacts you...this is where you may be able expand your product specifically....the more Libraries..the more ops for your music....but be flexable Chris...give them what "They" want...learn here what that is....make those contacts through Taxi and you'll be on your way...possibly with so much work from your new contacts that you won't have time to submit to Taxi's listings any more...Taxi is a perfect vechicle for anyone wishing to further their carreer in music and better themselves as musicians.
What ever you decide Chris, I wish you much success...
Tom

[llama]

Hey Chris. Firstly welcome to the forum. I just watched your youtube videos. Very nice. I don't see why you wouldn't get forwarded for the right opportunity. A big part of getting forwarded is to actually carefully read the listing. This was something that took me a while to grasp. But if it says they want blah then blah is what they want . So it may be the most beautiful track in the world but if it isn't what the listing is asking for it won't get forwarded.
I think that compositionally and playing wise you have what it takes. It's just a matter of finding the right listing. As far as instrumental listings go the type of listings change a lot from month to month. You cannot always guarantee a listing that will interest you but you know that at some point a listing will be posted that will interest you. I found it easier to write for a particular listing rather then write something and hope it fits but that's just me....others do it the other way round.
As a suggestion , if you are unsure maybe wait a while before you join and just carry on looking at the listings available and see if it's what you are interested in.
I was skeptical of Taxi at first but after being with them for about three and half years and attending the road rally I can tell you that they are the real deal. I found that writing for Taxi listing really stretched me both in terms of the styles I write and the overall quality as well as quantity that I write. Anyways what ever you decide I wish you the best.

Derek.

[mojobone]

Instrumental music differs in some respects from 'songs'. A publisher looking for songs to shop to an artist will seldom take more than one song from a given writer, particularly a writer with little track record. (feel free to be amused by my entirely intentional pun, ) Heh, in fact, they'll rarely take even one. Instrumental listings can sometimes result in the licensing of several tracks by a single writer, particularly if the writer can nail the desired style. In other words, there may be fewer instrumental listings, but there are likely far more instrumental forwards, because production music libraries are often looking for more than just one track.

[chris beaver]

thanks very much for your advice guys

[Mgcollins21]

Generally speaking...are the listings on the main site the total listings for those 2 weeks?

http://www.taxi.com/industry.php?icid=TXILBTHW00000001

Seems like the competition would be extreme if that's all there was.

[mazz]

Chris,

Nice sounding stuff! I'm not a regular listener to this kind of music but it sounds a bit like prog rock to me. Hopefully you'll take that as a compliment because it was meant as one! (I hear a bit of Zappa influence in some of it, at least the way you use the mallet sounding stuff in the second piece).

Regarding instrumental listings: they seem to be cyclical in the amount and frequency of the listings. Some of it is probably driven by the production schedules of the various networks and production companies that the folks that run the instrumental listings serve. That being said, there seems to be no end to the appetite of these companies for new instrumental music and once you're in a good library, they may continue to request new material fairly regularly. So I would suggest that you watch the listings for a time and determine which ones you would want to submit to and/or write for.

Your music is very full sounding and goes through a lot of different moods and tempos. Keep in mind that if you want to write for production music, there's a bit of a different aesthetic regarding mood, tempo, textures and key changes when writing for that market. I think your music would be a good fit for games and trailers as well. You have an orchestral mind set when putting your pieces together even though you're using guitar for most of the orchestration.

Keep up the great work and good luck with the listings.

Mazz

[fusilierb]

Cool stuff man! There aren't too many listings for the style you have (one of my favorite styles by the way), but they do come up and when they do, you've got a great shot at getting forwarded. You can get the listings for free. I'd watch them every two weeks to get a real sense of what comes around. Instrumentals do come around in waves. You might want to pick an instrumental listing that comes up and try to write something new for it. That's where a lot of the fun is around here. Targeting music to the listings is a big challenge. I think you're up for it.

B

[rnrmachine]

Hey Chris,

I love your work, really good stuff. Reminds me a bit of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra but with a touch of Satriani. Whether or not Taxi would be good for you is VERY hard to say. When I think about Film/TV there is no doubt that there is room for your work in those markets... have I even seen a Taxi listing that this would fit? Hard to say. You have a lot of views on youtube for this so it's apparent word is getting around about you. I would definitely stick to that avenue as well as anything else you do. Imho, just keep up the PR on yourself anyway you can. The more views you get on your stuff the more chance someone may come to you wanting to use it.

Good Luck!!!

Rob