TIME FOR TAXI TO DIG A LITTLE DEEPER

[k o star]

I've been with Taxi for only 2 years now & have gained so much in terms of meeting Gr8 ppl, collaborators, mentors, signing to 3 pretty awesome publishers (2 directly thru forwards) & learning so much abt the industry (music for Film/TV). I've also had some TV placements in the UK & US with pretty substantial upfront $, backends are on the way.
Also, from the knowledge I've acquired thru wise & sharing members here, I've recently managed to collect some royalty payments (more on the way) from a placement way back when I knew nothing of backend $..
My non-musical friends living in the States are so amazed by the placements I'm getting in the US cos I'm right on the other side of the globe & getting all these TV music deals mostly from US..
I don't think these would have been possible if I hadn't joined Taxi 2 years back & I thank myself every day for that decision I made back then..
If I hadn't joined, I know I'd still be as passionate abt music but only as a struggling artist..
Now I can do it passionately & get recognized & paid for it.. No regrets man!

Just thought it'd be fitting that I shared my 2 year experience here, especially that Taxi has changed my life completely!!!

-Kellosphere

[Ellwood]

Elwood: In any case, Garfield the cat (the music industry) is looking over your bowl, and will decide if you are edible or not. Suz got it right. Ott

You are not wrong OTT!!! some days you eat the cat, some days the cat eats you........

[Kelil]

When I first joined I didnt have stars in my eyes I'll admit. I did construe the whole taxi concept a different way though, like I thought I could just submit my acoustic demos and they'd give it to someone who would consider buying it. haha.

BUT I learned a lot and fast, and because I'm Irish ( hehe ) and such a hard worker in things I love, I took their advice on board and went away and fixed my songs up and came back and got my first flowing 10 out of 10 and even when that song went downhill because of a work for hire agreement, I took my previous loss of promoting it on the chin and went to studio pros and still scored high flowing marks the second time around with a DIFFERENT arrangement.

Anyway your not the first to have a stab at Michael, I did too when I never got my tune I worked hard for forwarded LOL ( poor michael what did he do? lol ) that is until the members here came in and rescued me from my own self. I was humbled and took it on the chin and pleaded guilty to my ignorance. I think you need to do the same also Don.

If you have demos with crap arrangements in sound quality then dont be blaming taxi for your laziness to dress them up and give them life. You own a record company, would you want to sit and listen to bad broadcast quality songs all day submitted by someone? NO, you wouldnt and why? because you'd say ''this couldnt have been bothered to make the effort and create a good recording, which means he possibly lazy and I'm after the perfect business model as well as a musician, so why should I bother?''

Taxi is a nice company to be apart of when your doing other things too.

I hope this helps
Stephen

[JamieMuffett]

I'm still reeling from 'Simply The Best' being included in that list of songs.

[gtrmann]

Clarktheshark
Joined the forum Sept. 28th 2011
3 posts
R.I.P.

As a business you cannot please everybody. As a business you have to specialize in a industry to do a great job. If you want to learn how to song write for the film and advertising industry, there is not a better place to learn than Taxi and the Taxi Forum. Its not for everybody....... Thanks Michael Laskow...!!!!!

[sedge]

yeah gtrman! Michael deserves a medal.

Even after what does read as a very big attempt to try and make Taxi to look bad, Michael looked beyond that and spent what ? 1 hour / more / listening to the guys music and writing up what he thought.

That's it right there for me, why I hang around here so much, good vibe flows to everyone

From me, huge thanks to everyone too!

[clarketheshark]

Hey Guys, thanks for the interest in my posting, even though it has been somewhat misconstrued. As I have already said, my suggestions to TAXI about a new direction were not born out of bitterness at not being successful with submissions, because I have hardly submitted anything to TAXI during the past year. And I'm certainly not "having a go at Michael" because I have no idea who Michael is. Remember that I live in Africa where I have no access to TAXI's TV slots or roadshows.
I do agree that "Simply The Best" is not a great song, but hell I would love to have written it. You work it out.
And Kelil you are correct about the need to submit good productions with strong, contemporary arrangements. No question there.
At the end of the day I suppose it comes down to the fact that a person's response to music, like any art, is fundamentally SUBJECTIVE. Michael talks about looking for tunes that give him "gooseflesh". Well let's face it...one mans gooseflesh is another mans rash.
Forgive me for being so impertinent, but controversy and frankness are ingredients of good songwriting are they not? Ask John Lennon.
With love from the Dark Continent.
Clarke The Shark

[Ellwood]

This just may be the world's longest good bye? <sigh>

[allends]

I have a few brief observations:

First, I have a very strong impression that the original poster is a very interesting person on many levels.
Second, Michael's thoughtful response was the most loving answer I could ever have imagined.
Third, the parable had enough negative imagery that it came across as cynical.
Fourth, the main point of the story can be interpreted to suggest that Taxi would do well to expand its services to include the functions of a music library.

This last point, when read separately, is not offensive or bitter; it's actually a fascinating idea to discuss, but I can think of a page full of reasons why Taxi shouldn't do it.

In short, I believe the original poster 1) had a very simple ill-conceived business suggestion for Taxi, and 2) presented the suggestion with melodramatic flair, tangible cynicism, and palpable condescension. If we lived in a world where two wrongs make a right, the original poster would have come out the winner, but in this world he was mistaken in more ways than one.

[beachbum]

i'll admit to not having read every post here but I think I get the sentiment - "one mans gooseflesh is another mans rash."
is the phrase that caught my attention the most - the gatekeepers here at taxi (in my opinion) can miss the point that their observations may not be in line with the end user - sure they may forward something that fits but may also deny many tracks that would work as well - i've had plenty of tracks marked high but not forwarded because of things like - the drums were too high in the mix or the guitar in the intro sounded out of tune ( an intentionally dry guitar is "dry" and not out of tune ) trust me I tune and commenting on a mix of a pro producer and engineer again is preference - a lot of this boils down to preference - not to right or wrong - again, the end user should have the option to feel this out without wading through thousands of tracks..@ $5.00 a submission it just seems a bit tricky as to what gets denied - also - as a gatekeeper,remember - you're not in their head - that surprise that pissed you off in the mix could be the thing they love - open the mind - dig a little deeper and maybe someone like me (a former 2 year member) who makes decent $ w/out taxi (and NO deals thru taxi) might reup...bum