NOT renewing membership in 2012

[JamieMuffett]

I couldn't agree with crs7string more. Great post!

[sedge]

BING! of course, totally agree after reading through, without your music to hear Jordy, talking to you one way or another on a music forum about what you should do with your music is silly. Post up the links, I like many here love to crit, tell jokes and WORK TOGETHER to enjoy Taxi, the forum and the listings, then you get solid advice specific to you.

@Michael I thought your reply was fab, and shows me how with a bit more wisdom we can all see these types of posts for what they actually are and, well me, not be tempted to jump in and 'help' in the future.. pretty frutile I'm finding, or I am pants.

I am really looking forward to 2012 and i really hope everyone else is too!
This Taxi year has been a fab ton of learning and meeting folks here. Proper great!! Bring on the next one and tons more great music!!

[Casey H]

The decision here can really be taken completely outside of the 'renew or not to renew Taxi' issue. With ANY venture in life, if you are not succeeding and are not changing your approach at all, you will most likely keep failing.

Changing your approach can be what you sell and/or who you try to sell it to.

Wishing everyone the best for 2012!

Casey

[TheFid]

Chuck,

I'm much less concerned with agreement than I am about clarity, and about helping. I don't see how telling a person "You're living the consequences of your bad decisions" (paraphrasing, of course) is helpful. Again, if a person is momentarily disgusted or irritated, that doesn't mean he or she made bad decisions, or even that they're "failing", it's likely that the person's process is just in process. Vance & Tracey said it best when they stated that it took them YEARS before they started to get the results they wanted. I think if enough people would have said to Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and other great people, during times of being discouraged, "You're making bad choices, you need to change your approach or you're going to continue to fail", and other such useless Pop Pscyh nonsense, maybe at some point they would have decided that they were stupid and inept, and said the hell with it. So, when I see somebody who is having a hard time of it, instead of going at them with my finger in their face, along with self serving, discouraging words, I'll try to offer them something useful and realistic - not coddling and "positive" (I really hate that grossly overused word), but realistic.

I'm here trying to help people like Jordy, and everybody involved, which is why I made points on both sides of the subject. I'll continue to do that, some aren't gonna like my ideas & beliefs, so what's new?

[crs7string]

Gee Lee,

You are taking a lot of what I am saying and adding words I have not even used to make your point.

I am not pointing my finger at anyone and saying they are making bad decisions. Jordy has asked for input and I'm trying to share that in the same amount of time he has been a member I have a very different story to tell than he has shared in his opening post.

I am trying to point out that making choices on all the aspects of our TAXI membership can be a big factor in success.

Our friends Tracey and Vance have pointed out the same idea in their post. They had to make a choice to invest in better software instruments, chose to attend the Rally, chose to go to nearly every other industry meeting, chose to get over their reluctance to network and interact with people they did not know. They also have made the choice of introducing their composer friends to their business contacts. I am a beneficiary of that choice many times over. (and they know I feel very grateful to them)

Did they make choices that did not turn out favorably. We'll let them chime in on that subject.

If any member, assuming they have talent and ability, does not achieve success I would ask them about the choices they have made to move forward in their career. (Do they attend the Rally, do they invest in the right tools etc. etc.)

I take full responsibilty for my choices and I am very happy with the outcome. If am am suggesting others take responsibilty for their choices and if my suggestion doesn't resonate, I'm ok with it.

One of the things I am attempting to point out in my posts is that many TAXI members join for one year, submit 11 pieces of music, have two forwards and no deals and get on the Forum and complain about TAXI. TAXI works if you do. TAXI is not responsible for someone choosing to only submit 11 tracks in a year, TAXI is not responsible for a member submitting a country tune to a hip hop listing. TAXI is not responsible for a member not making use of the Forum or attending the Rally.

Yet, regularly, there is someone on the Forum blaming TAXI for the choices they made or did not make. For the many people who have made better choices and continue to grow in their success it gets a little tiring and insulting after awhile.

You don't have to buy into a word I'm saying. When I think of my TAXI friends who are on the path to success, I see a whole lot of people making good choices and feeling the empowerment of the personal responsiblity they have taken in their lives. I am grateful for their friendship.

Finally, what have I suggested that is not realistic. There are many, many members doing everything I am suggesting and in some cases much more. I am not suggesting lighting some incense and chanting to the screeners for more forwards. I am talking about maximizing the opportunity by making some pretty basic choices and doing the work. I would hope that seeing and hearing from the people who are successful would be motivating, not discouraging as you are suggesting.

If there is a positivity "spin" on this it is probably because I operate out of the mindset of abundance and see opportunity and possibilty everyday. And, I am not alone in that regard as a
member of TAXI.

Happy New Year!!! I think 2012 is going to be terrific.

Chuck

[Mark Crozer]

Well... I just wrote a looooong rambling reply to this thread about why I will DEFINITELY BE renewing next year but then I realised... I could give a hundred reasons why Taxi is great but first and foremost... My Taxi membership has forced me to improve my songwriting skills. Simple as that. And that for me is a good enough reason. As a result of having better songs in my catalog I've had a ton of forwards in the last four months; I've written a ton of new songs that have had some great, positive, glowing reviews from screeners and peers alike; I'm bringing a new album out next year - mostly of songs written with Taxi listings in mind; I've had a Christmas song on a compilation album alongside The Avett Brothers and Jessica Lea Mayfield; I've had music placed in TV; I've had radio play all over the world; I've had songs licenced for a whole load of different uses; I've been written about in the local newspaper and I've even begun teaching songwriting and mentoring other songwriters...

Not all these successes are direct results of Taxi membership but every success I've had this year I can still attribute to being a Taxi member because that membership and striving to get my music as good as some of the other artists I've heard on here has been the focal point of it all.

So... Thank you Taxi.

And... dammit... by hook or by crook I'll be at the Rally next year!!

Happy New Year everybody!

Mark

[ragani]

Hi Jordy,

A big part of all the work I do involves networking, for sure. Like the meet-up's you had with friends in LA, this forum is also a great place to connect. When I looked at your profile, however, I didn't find any website or links to hear your music. Many people who do not post here visit these forums and they could be listening to your tracks. Offering a little information to your profile at least opens that door, and that's how little wonderful surprises can happen.

While I don't have an answer for whether you should renew your membership for TAXI or not, I know that it helps to have doors open for people to walk through to learn about your music.A few years ago I was contacted for a nice 2-page full-color feature interview in a music magazine because the writer was looking through websites for information and happened upon mine. So he contacted me. Who could have known?

In the end, may you follow your bliss and find what makes you happy to be alive!

Cheers,
Raags

[ottlukk]

Whenever I get a critique from somebody -- musically or otherwise -- I consider the source. As a real easy example, I'll pick Mark Crozer, who contributed to this thread. Click on one of his links, and see what you find. (I was impressed). I think that one of the first things you do to gain credibility (not to mention feedback) is to share your efforts with your peers. And frankly, on the TAXI forums, there are a ton of people who will never be my peers, because I recognize talents that I don't have. I feel a bit lower on the music food chain-- but not a single poster here has made me feel that way. They all want to help. There are absolutely amazing talents on this board. And they share! They truly give back. I'm not a current member, but I'll eventually come back. I've received comments here from board participants -- screeners -- and Michael-- that I will forever appreciate. Successful or not (hoping for the former), this site offers legitmate opportunity. Also, good for the soul. Happy New year! Ott

[allends]

For the record, it wasn't hard to search for Jordy's music because he signed one of his earlier posts under the name George "Jordy" Wallace and this name can be for on ReverbNation here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/georgejordywallace

The reason why I post this here rather than let Jordy speak for himself is because I'm enthusiastic about his work. Jordy is awesome! Jordy has a lot of experience and has produced some great sounding tunes. He appears to be a mature person who I would expect to take life seriously, so when I re-read his post about not wishing to renew with Taxi, I now have a more informed interpretion of what he is saying.

After looking into Jordy's background, I have every reason to expect that his intention is to take the bull by the horns in 2012 rather than wait for things to happen.

Good luck Jordy!

[shoodBworkin]

Listening to 'Hallowed Ground'. What a lovely track! Well done, sir!