Cautionary Tale

[Casey H]

They call it 'Universal Lyrics' here, avoiding lyric like "Fido my dog and I went for a walk down by the Thames river" that limit how film/tv directors could use songs in projects for film/tv listings

Damn! Another song I have to throw away! Sorry, Fido...

Casey

[eeoo]

Hi Richard - There definitely are opps for Americana cues and songs, maybe not as plentiful as other genres but thry're out there. the nice thing about Americana is that it tends to be timeless so you don't have to worry so much about following the latest production trends. If you write great songs and can record solid (Preferably inspired) performances your music will find a home.

Good luck!

eo

[coachdebra]

The other thing to keep in mind - and I see it talked about over and over on the forum and have experienced it with clients involved with TAXI - is the opportunity to hone and polish your craft. If Americana is what you do - you can use the Taxi listings for that genre AND the peer to peer section of the forum to become a better songwriter and producer. Which will help you to success with TAXI and everywhere else.

TAXI is an amazing vehicle IMO and it's up to you to learn how to bring your unique talent as an artist and learn how to drive this particular vehicle. Is it the right vehicle for you? I think it's too soon to decide that - dive in, get active, writing and submitting, get feedback, apply the feedback, rinse and repeat....

Debra

[T&V Marino]

Hi Richard,

Welcome to Taxi and to the Forum.

Regarding the last episode of Taxi TV, instead of taking the negative approach and getting discouraged, use it as a learning tool to dissect and understand what the industry is looking for. To succeed in this business, you really need to have the following:

1) The ability to translate your musical ideas into a recording (How do you get what's in your head onto a recording?)
2) Good musicianship and ears (Can you hear when the guitar and vocals are in tune, the performance is clean, the edits are done flawlessly?)
3) A quality recording studio with top-of-the-line sample libraries (Do you use EastWest, LASS, Hollywood Strings, Ivory Piano, VSL, Spectrasonics, etc.?)
4) Great editing, engineering, producing, arranging, and recording abilities (If not, do you know of a recording studio that has these qualities?)
5) Interested in keeping up with technology (Are you familiar with Tunesat, Soundminer; do you attend conferences and talk to people about what they're using?)
6) Marketing and business skills (Do you have a publishing company? A business checking account? Do you know who would want your music?)
7) The ability to analyze and "extract the essence" (as our good friend Brian is always saying) from a song (What makes the song work? What makes it contemporary? Why doesn't the song work?)

It took us YEARS to obtain these qualities (and we're still working on some of them!! ) But if you REALLY want to make it in the music business, you'll learn these, step by step. It takes patience, practice, and a LOT of feedback from Taxi, but you'll make it if you keep on doing it.

Don't get discouraged and quit. Instead, immerse yourself in the business and discover your strengths and weaknesses. That's what separates the successful from the wannabe's.

Good luck!

~ Tracey & Vance Marino

It's the old saying: "Quitters never win and winners never quit."

[Ellwood]

wellll...thanks for the comments, but I'm not very good at instant songs. Also, my songs tend to be in the "Americana" genre, and my sense of Taxi
so far seems to be the young, edgy, fun-oriented rock/pop genres rule the roost. I'm 66, and it may just be that I won't be able to fit into the fashions of the day. You write what you know, after all.

I've submitted to a couple of the listings that ask for "country" oriented songs, but even those don't really fit my music. There are a bunch of older people in this country, politically minded and with a fair amount of life experience...what do they listen to? Is Taxi attuned to this demographic? Or, to paraphrase Carl Sagan's anecdote, is it "commercials all the way down?"

I suppose I'll just have to wait and see what listings come out in the next few months before I decide that it's all a waste of time. Here's hoping.

Richard

I hear you Richard! and in many ways we are in the same boat! I write (or prefer to write Southern Rock and Modern Country) because that is my background in music also what is now called Classic Rock. I think some one suggested some where that writers and musicians like we are should think about taking on a younger writer to modernize our approach (if possible) I guess I am still hung up to some extent to what the difference between 60's 70's and 90's rock bands and what they call Indie now? although some of the bands that are given as examples of what is hip now really are not musicians that are developed musically or skillful in my opinion. However all that does not matter to how the industry is configured right now. So it's adapt or hang up your guitar strap I guess. It's such a stark difference between what the industry seems to want in recording and what I experience every week doing live gigs! We PACK every venue we play, and that is doing exclusively Classic Rock. Taxi can only offer what is asked for like Sedge said! I don't know, perhaps you should peruse more Nashville based entities? The older people in this country, politically minded and with a fair amount of life experience may not be buying new music at all, or very little bit, so they are not supporting new musicians.

[beachbum]

Richard...I read something in a John Braheny book (I think that's his name) years ago that went something like "there's a market for ANYTHING that's done well" - I too joined Taxi in 06 (2 years/no longer a member) and found few opportunities to submit to as my stuff is a little left of center and I won't water it down to suit someone elses needs - that doesn't mean I don't rewrite til it's as good as it can be - it's just that I won't compromise the song - I frequented another messageboard this past summer and learned a TON from some seasoned pros in this business - they were from the same train of thought - universal vague lyrics,hip trendy music w/great production = placements - I tried doing some of that and it just felt HOLLOW - i'll admit to occasionally coming up with a melody that I can't write lyrics for and then trick it out for a hopeful placement - but writing that way does not work for me - (may work for some/not hating here) - it's just that if the song isn't based in some sort of emotion or experience I feel like a fake writing it -

i'm rambling here so i'll get to the point - there are libraries and companies who WILL find uses for all types of music - you may find some of these through Taxi (I didn't) but they're out there because i'm living proof of that - I continued writing songs my way and am having a decent amount of success - YOU WILL LEARN A TON FROM TAXI - (again i'm not a hater) but taxi is one of many things you should be doing to get your music heard -

don't be discouraged...bum

[sedge]

I frequented another messageboard this past summer and learned a TON from some seasoned pros in this business - they were from the same train of thought - universal vague lyrics,hip trendy music w/great production = placements - I tried doing some of that and it just felt HOLLOW

all depends on the subject i guess and what you want to do in a song?,
yep maybe you can go too far and end up removing all description , the story

My thoughts ,

universal lyrics come in to play for when we are looking to get tunes in film/TV

for our own stuff, we can do what we like of course

I personally like the challenge of trying to broaden a story to be wider though, more people might then know what I'm singing about kinda thing..

all good fun, if it stops being fun, game over huh

[Casey H]

I frequented another messageboard this past summer and learned a TON from some seasoned pros in this business - they were from the same train of thought - universal vague lyrics, hip trendy music w/great production = placements - I tried doing some of that and it just felt HOLLOW - i'll admit to occasionally coming up with a melody that I can't write lyrics for and then trick it out for a hopeful placement - but writing that way does not work for me - (may work for some/not hating here) - it's just that if the song isn't based in some sort of emotion or experience I feel like a fake writing it...

Hey BB
I do understand where you are coming from. Most of our songwriting ideas come from deep personal feelings and experiences. I've been changing my writing style to go more and more universal over the past few years and still not always getting there. But making progress! I want placements more than I want to "hold on" to more personal lyrics.

Some things to consider:
* First write the song any way you want using those personal feelings to motivate and inspire you.
* Then do a re-write for a universal version.
* Nothing says you can't record TWO vocal versions: One more personal as well as a "film/TV" universal version.

The above only applies if you strongly desire placements, especially in film/TV. If the universal writing or re-writing is no fun for you and it’s something you hate, it’s just not your thing. When people hate doing something, they rarely become good at it.

Best,
Casey

[beachbum]

I frequented another messageboard this past summer and learned a TON from some seasoned pros in this business - they were from the same train of thought - universal vague lyrics, hip trendy music w/great production = placements - I tried doing some of that and it just felt HOLLOW - i'll admit to occasionally coming up with a melody that I can't write lyrics for and then trick it out for a hopeful placement - but writing that way does not work for me - (may work for some/not hating here) - it's just that if the song isn't based in some sort of emotion or experience I feel like a fake writing it...

Hey BB
I do understand where you are coming from. Most of our songwriting ideas come from deep personal feelings and experiences. I've been changing my writing style to go more and more universal over the past few years and still not always getting there. But making progress! I want placements more than I want to "hold on" to more personal lyrics.

Some things to consider:
* First write the song any way you want using those personal feelings to motivate and inspire you.
* Then do a re-write for a universal version.
* Nothing says you can't record TWO vocal versions: One more personal as well as a "film/TV" universal version.

The above only applies if you strongly desire placements, especially in film/TV. If the universal writing or re-writing is no fun for you and it’s something you hate, it’s just not your thing. When people hate doing something, they rarely become good at it.

Best,
Casey

thanks for the effort Casey but I am making $ without compromising anything...I was trying to hopefully tell Richard he could do the same if he tried hard enough - seems I may have hit a nerve here - not my intention - whatever works for you (or anyone) works as long as you can look yourself in the mirror and feel good about it...bum

[beachbum]

I frequented another messageboard this past summer and learned a TON from some seasoned pros in this business - they were from the same train of thought - universal vague lyrics,hip trendy music w/great production = placements - I tried doing some of that and it just felt HOLLOW

all depends on the subject i guess and what you want to do in a song?,
yep maybe you can go too far and end up removing all description , the story

My thoughts ,

universal lyrics come in to play for when we are looking to get tunes in film/TV

for our own stuff, we can do what we like of course

I personally like the challenge of trying to broaden a story to be wider though, more people might then know what I'm singing about kinda thing..

all good fun, if it stops being fun, game over huh

that said it all..all good fun, if it stops being fun, game over huh - definitely for me...but again - to each his own...bum