The one thing I am concerned about is the perceived 'unwanted distortion.' It wasn't unwanted. It was intentional. I guess that didn't come across though... I added a little crunch to the vocal as I thought it was a cool effect and would make it stand out more. This raises an interesting point I think... I mean, if the screener knows for sure that the listing party wants clean, distortion-free tracks then it's a fair enough criticism... but if they just don't like the sound of unexpected distortion then that's a different thing. To me something like that falls into the difficult area of personal preference which is something that's never going to go away. I dunno... saying you like a song but there's too much distortion on the vocal track to me is like saying "I like your wife but she's a bit fat." Ha ha!
I mean, this band I played in for a while was famous for their total disregard for standard studio practices.
Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK2nJWNgZBA&ob=av2e
Now I could see how from a traditional engineering standpoint you could argue that there's too much distortion on the track... but that's the whole point. So while my track goes nowhere near this level of distortion I was intentionally going for something crunchy and perhaps a little unsettling to enhance the bed track of the verse. Maybe not right for the TV business... or not for this listing at least...
Anyway... just saying... It was a good critique over all and very detailed which is appreciated of course. (Although the screener said "Yes, it's true that the 80s are making a comeback..." when really they came back when The Killers released Hot Fuss in 2004 and are now an integral part of all hip, mainstream, commercial pop - hence all these listings looking for bands with 80s sounds. Maybe not so much in the US as the UK though. Sorry... My wife's always criticizing me for being pedantic. I just can't help myself.
Anyway (again) I doubt that the level of distortion on the track would have changed the outcome for me on this listing as the screener had some other reservations too which I think were fair enough probably.
I'll stop rambling now and get on with some work!
Have a good day.
Mark