Is TAXI a useful tool for a rock band?

[RK55]

I'm a performer in an alternative/AAA-type band looking into joining TAXI with the goal of getting exposure and placement. I wanted to get some feedback to see if members can offer advice about whether TAXI would be useful to our band.

We're just starting out and are hoping to do a few things through TAXI:

1. Expose the music to potential management/bookers/industry types and connect with them
2. Gain the attention of record labels (specifically independent labels)
3. Place the music in TV--with the goal of getting exposure

In so many words, we want to get the music out to as many people "in the business" as possible and use that as a basis to make connections and build awareness. The royalties are secondary. Is this something TAXI is good at? Or is it more of a glorified sound library?

We're an alternative rock band. Listening to a track or two may help give an idea about whether TAXI is right for our goals and our style of music.

Thanks for any feedback.

[mojobone]

Yes.

[marcblack30]

Definitely, and your EP sounds great, so that's a plus from the start. Liked all 5 of your tunes!

Best,

[davewalton]

Otto's Daughter (our own Jacqueline van Bierk) has has quite a few excellent TV placements like MTV Real World and Vampire Diaries (some really good promos for that show). The MTV thing was cool because for every track they used they put up a little tag at the bottom of who the artist/band was and kept their music online for people to listen/purchase, etc. This is a screen shot that I saved from that show...



Beyond Taxi, Jacqueline is a marketing madwoman and does a LOT of promo work for her band but she's gotten some pretty good placements both directly and indirectly through Taxi.

My suggestion is to follow the listings for a few cycles to see what kind of things you might submit to. You'll see pretty quickly what kinds of things are available for you. I just checked out a few track... good stuff!

Good luck!

[mojobone]

My friend Bartek Michael has over two dozen placements through Taxi, on shows like MTV's Real World with stuff that's in the vein of Good Charlotte and All-American Rejects; he pitches outside of Taxi as well, which I consider to be good strategy. Taxi is meant to be an arrow in your quiver, not the whole quiver, but it's an excellent tool for learning the licensing ropes and making connections. Judging by your Soundcloud samples, I expect you'll do very well.

[RK55]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and the nice words about the music.