"Don't Leave" for Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz listing

[joshhowatt]

Hi Everyone,

I was thinking about submitting "Don't Leave" to the listing below. Pedro encouraged me to join Taxi about 2weeks back and offered to mix the song for me. I think he has improved it DRAMATICALLY. We would love to hear everyone's impressions on how it may compete in this listing, or if you think there may be another that seems to suit it better.
Thanks for all the advice. (still a newbie, still learning here.)

The updated Master is here: http://soundcloud.com/pedrocostamusic/j ... eave-final


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CONTEMPORARY, MAINSTREAM POP SINGER/SONGWRITER-type SONGS a la Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, John Mayer, Sara Bareilles, etc., needed by a successful Music Publisher who's gotten tons of great Film/TV placements for many TAXI members. Songs must have a commercial sound with instantly memorable melodies. They're looking for the Top-40 Radio side of Pop Singer-Songwriter, not the more moody introspective style. Keep your hooks BIG and your choruses CATCHY. Universal lyrics with no proper names, specific storylines, or place names, please. Vocal and instrumental performances must be top-notch! They offer a non-exclusive, 50/50 split deal - you keep your original copyrights. Broadcast quality needed (great home recordings are fine). Please submit one to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics. All submissions will be screened on a instrumental performances must be top-notch! They offer a non-exclusive, 50/50 split deal - you keep your original copyrights. Broadcast quality needed (great home recordings are fine). Please submit one to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS ONLY - NO CRITIQUES

[RogerG]

Hi Josh,

Close with Sara Bareilles being the closest, however yours is a little more mainstream I think...

And have you thought about getting a custom critique for this particular song and getting it "from the horse's mouth" so to speak? Yes it's $20.00 instead of $5.00 up front but you'll have a better idea of exactly what listings to pursue/target for this song later on which will be key in getting it forwarded. They give you a text box to ask specific questions when making the custom critique submission so you just ask about whatever your concerns are (e.g. What genre is this?, What application might it be good for?, etc).

I've certainly gone that route a few times when I had something very specific I wanted to pitch but wasn't exactly sure how Taxi was going to perceive it. For example, are your songs in the pop or songwriter genre? I'm not completely sure actually. Taxi should be more sure (I would hope... ). - Roger

[burpo]

Spot on.

[joshhowatt]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I submitted yesterday, so let's see...

[nick.moxsom]

Kudos, Josh – good song, nice voice, dynamics, memorable melody. Should be a forward.

Oh, and welcome, btw.

Nick

[joshhowatt]

Thanks Nick. I hope so!

[bwd]

Hi Josh,
Great song. Very catchy and a cool contemporary vibe. Strong vocals. The production is great. The only thing that bugs me is the snare sound. It sounds a bit artificial..and I agree that the strings good come up and touch. Good luck with it.
Cheers,
Doug

[rpittelman]

Hey Josh

Very nice song, outstanding vocals! This was exactly the vocal sound that I was talking about on that other song you had posted a week or so ago. This vocal is spot on, in your face, very contemporary sounding. My only question is whether the vocal might be a tad too loud actually? I'm not positive.

This tune is certainly on target in my opinion as far as mainstream pop is concerned. It doesn't really feel very John Mayer or Jason Mrazish but I think it fits the overall genre.

Here's my thoughts on what might stand in the way of this getting fowarded, the piano and the drums. You might be able to squeak by with the Midi piano but all of the artists referrences use live musicians. With the exception of Sara Barielles they all pretty much only use real piano too. Since your track starts out with just piano and then the drums it is very obvious that its not live players. Personally I think to get forwards in this genre nowadays there cannot be any question as to whether its live or Midi. Music sups won't go for it if it sounds Midi in my opinion. That being said, you can certainly get piano and drums done via Midi that can fool people or at least make them not even think about it, which is what you want.

Fyi, I'm not sure what your studio capabilities are but looking at the listing number it looks like the deadline has not occured yet. You can upload a new mix to something that you have already submitted as long as its before the deadline and the listener will get it.

-Robbie

[Nikita]

I can honestly hear someone like Leona Lewis singing this. This is a great pop ballad, the chorus is catchy, the lyrics are great and the whole song makes me feel insecure about my songwriting skills haha...thanks for that.

But I really like this song please keep sending this one through I can really hear this on the radio.

Claps.

Love N x

[joshhowatt]

Thanks for the input gents!