This is NOT promotion.

[shorty]

Absolutely not.

It's a rant. You know, I look down the list of people who have posted in this forum *edit I meant 'thread'*, self promoting their music and the ratio of people actually responding to the number of look sees, is less than 1%. THAT's less than 1 out of a 100 people who look at the music actually respond to what's happening.

QUIT BEING SO SELFISH!!! If you post in this, VISIT AND COMMENT ON 10 posts. If someone wants real criticism, give it. If you don't want real criticism, don't post it. THIS IS NOT A "ME all ME" industry.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF MUSICIANS NOT GIVING A CRAP ABOUT OTHER MUSICIANS!

YES it takes effort to listen to other people's music, YES it takes effort to create music. And if you really want the truth, you'll get it. THAT BEING SAID, don't lie to musicians and tell them you like it. It does not help the industry at all and you will never get ahead by downgrading the rest of the musicians. You just encourage a standard of mediocrity.

A true fellow musician is like a true friend. They will tell you when you suck. They will tell you when you are good. They will be there and comfort you when you feel like the world is coming to an end, and they will say, "HEY!!! I FOUND AN AWESOME MUSICIAN!" They will also tell you yeah, it's good, but I KNOW you can do better.

You want to get better, help the people around you.

[Len911]

Shorty, I've actually considered lately that I have probably been posting too much, and need to cut down, because I don't think I've probably been that helpful,lol! When you spend a lot of time with a post, listening, searching, researching, formulating and writing your opinion, and then someone never returns to their post, seems to shun you, or you've actually offended someone, it seems less helpful and more a waste of time that could have been spent improving myself. At the same time it seems very worthwhile when you think you have helped someone. From the fewer times I get feedback from something I have posted, I have gained very valuable insight that I don't think I might have gotten elsewhere.
I checked and it looks like I have posted 43 times this month so far prior to this post. I also checked your posts, it looks like you have posted 9 times since Dec. 15, 2009. I feel like I am missing something, a vital piece of info somehow.

[shorty]

I actually host a weekly streamcast promoting local artists in my area. I find that much more helpful to artists than posting and responding online.

How many artists actually 'do' something like that? As a result, I tend to pick artists that aren't just promoting themselves, but helping to build the community as a whole to be a part of my show, to interview them, to discuss their work, and the entire enchilada they do. When was the last time an artist promoted another artist on their site? Or created a site where they could promote them? THIS is what I'm talking about. Instead of creating a net of helping each other, there's a bottomless pit to fall into with a thousand souls of despair at the bottom all wanting a helping hand and instead of helping each other to get out, they're stomping on each other's heads trying to edge ahead. So I try to pick artists that aren't just good musicians and write quality stuff, but are also helping the community as a whole.

You wanna know why I don't post in forums and engage in the gnawing off the side of my cheek after the countless peer reviews I've done, not this site, but others, is because no one gives a rats hiney. It's artists wanting quality reviews and never giving out more than a couple of quick sentences. And then there's the other extreme, the artist who will say to any artist whatever they create is amazing. Then the artist that got the 'drive by random review' of "hey your stuff is awesome come comment on mine..." gets the boost of thinking their stuff is good because they got 10 reviews like that on their page. Furthering the pit of mediocrity.

And then they never come out and say what they mean. I gather you meant by your response to my initial post: 'What the hell are you doing to help the situation, you've only ever posted 9 times on Taxi forum. ' My response to that, is why didn't you get straight to the point in the first place instead of dancing around the question you really wanted to ask?

----------

Further note: Looking at the amount of times people have posted and the response people get (in this thread), why would anyone want to post when the average response to a post is less than 1% ? Over a hundered views on some of them and maybe one or two responses? Then there's far less views with zero responses. That indicates a LACK OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT for fellow artists.

I came here looking for maybe an artist that's local to the Pacific Northwest that I could pimp on my show, but the lack of community online indicates that this is not the place to find great talent community. It's not Taxi's fault. It's the members.

[Len911]

Ah, the missing link,lol! I knew there was something beyond what was in the scope of what I could see. You've said nothing that I disagree with. When I drove over the road and was gone from home much more than I was home, and had the money, I was never home enough to get involved in the local music scene, and now that I am not trucking, home and broke, I don't have the money to, it's always something,lol!
I consider myself still in the learning stage, I don't have a site or anything that's worth promoting, yet. I don't think anyone is fooled long into thinking their mediocrity is genius. A mutual admiration society can only last so long,lol!
I think your weekly streamcast is great! But also keep in mind that we don't all have the same talents, it would be difficult for someone like me to get viewership, let alone guests.
What I said was what I said, what you might have heard was "What the hell are you doing to help the situation, you've only ever posted 9 times on Taxi forum." I didn't pass judgement because it didn't make sense that you would rant about no one posting on "this" forum. Then I was enlightened that it was outside forums etc. where most of your posts were, it makes sense now.
What I thought were very valid thoughts I didn't think as in your words were, "dancing around". I guess I was either being selfish with my thoughts or you were marginalizing them,lol! That was my point, was I being helpful when I posted, or was the best method to help myself first so that I could help others better. Personally, if the only point I wanted to make was your inconsistency, I wouldn't have given a rat's ass enough even to post,lol!
There is online community support in the Taxi forum, it is perhaps just not in the style you are accustomed, or looking for. It's not quite the pimp and promotion forum, but geared to help people better themselves at their craft and to tailor and customize themselves to the listings. Probably the best way to find what you are looking for is to ask in the general forum if there is some talent from the Pacific Northwest that you can pimp and promote on your podcast and quit "dancing around" and get to the point Off the top of my head, Hookjaw and sethlit come to mind. I am sure there are plenty others that I haven't noticed from where they came from.

[shorty]

Having no money is the excuse a lot of musicians use.

If there's no meetup.com group for a genre of music you find yourself writing in. Create one.

Make meetings that meet once a month in a central location. Be faithful. Even if you are the only one showing up in the beginning.

If you don't like the people or their music that are showing up, help them become better, but let them be true to themselves as artists.

If you see a need in the community and an opportunity and you are a fit for that opportunity, fill it. That's how I ended up with my stream/podcast. There are people that would be so much better at it than myself and have better connections than I do, but they either don't want to or don't have time, my guests see it as a necessity to building community and will make time for the show. I said, that's something I can do, can I do it? I don't have thousands of listeners, I have a few and my listenership is growing, but I started with 0, I don't have the draw to do this, BUT, if I'm faithful to it, it will grow.

If you are a musician and creative, you are not limited to making songs. period. Every artist that has some level of success is not just a songwriter or singer. They paint, sculpt, teach, produce, draw, and are constantly exploring and learning. If you create, it doesn't end with songwriting.

You need to have a level of aggressiveness or passion. If you aren't passionate about what you are doing, then something is wrong. Passion bleeds out exuberantly into other facets of what you love or hate. My passion for music is so great that it upsets me when I see people who claim they love music and it comes across as a self centered obsession, such as this "Shameless Self Promotion" and there is very little interaction that happens here.

I know there is a 'supportive' community here in Taxi. I've met them. And it's full of pansies. I can hear panties getting in a bunch as I say it, but look, I'm bouncing on the edge of my seat as I write this, thinking of ways how I can ignite the passion in all of you, because you wouldn't be creating music if you didn't have a passion for it. DON"T SHY AWAY FROM PASSIONATE PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY

IF you want a music scene in your home town, MAKE ONE! There's artists out there that will never have the draw of... Katy Perry and charge exorbitant prices for a t&a show, but they make great local music. People in your home town will go see them because they are making music and are from your home town. I know there's this fantastic artist on this site, she makes children's songs, plays all kinds of instruments and is successful submitting on Taxi. She also hosts a ukelele circle every so often in her home town. PEOPLE attend it, all levels! If you want a ukelele circle, start one up. I bet someone in your home town is a closet virtuoso with a ukelele and you would never have guessed it. Or clarinet, or flute, or trumpet, or accordian or guitar. If you're from NY, get involved with the fringe edge of entertainment, there's fantastic people making murder ballads, 20's and 30's style folk music with contortionists hanging out in the background. Yeah, not all of what every person out there is doing is great, or awesome, but a lot of those people want to get better.

Apathy is a killer, do something.

[shorty]

To Len911 and other songwriters,

You say you are a 'novice' of sorts when writing songs. I know a group of about three guys who started a meetup group of songwriters, 3 years ago. 2 out of the three, would consider themselves 'novices' when they started as well. One of them didn't even have anything recorded. All of them older. All they did was start a meetup.com group online. There meetup is several hundred members now, and growing rapidly. It's a group that helps each other in writing songs, putting together albums, honing their hobby, craft, etc. There is nothing that substitutes the Taxi Road Rally, because that face to face contact is so important. But if you want something like that that is year round in your neighborhood, you have to put in a little extra effort.

Make one and cross promote here on Taxi.com. There's nothing wrong with cross pollination, in fact it makes the bees and flowers much happier.

Apathy kills.

[Kelil]

Thanks for the humbling posts Shorty. We'll try to do better I'm sure of that.

[Mark Kaufman]

I know there is a 'supportive' community here in Taxi. I've met them. And it's full of pansies. I can hear panties getting in a bunch as I say it, but look, I'm bouncing on the edge of my seat as I write this, thinking of ways how I can ignite the passion in all of you, because you wouldn't be creating music if you didn't have a passion for it. DON"T SHY AWAY FROM PASSIONATE PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY.

I used to manage a restaurant where the chef was a bully. His method of getting what he wanted was to browbeat and insult people. He called this aggressively disrespectful behavior his "passion". No one wanted to work for him, so I fired him.

What you're doing locally is awesome. I hope it makes a positive difference in your community. What you're asking for here, however, reminds me of that chef because you are choosing to condemn the very people of whom you are making demands.

If you could put yourself in the shoes of your readers, I don't think you'd find your panties in a bunch...you'd just think, "wow, for a motivational speech, that sure was demotivating."

[DesireInspires]

Absolutely not.

It's a rant. You know, I look down the list of people who have posted in this forum *edit I meant 'thread'*, self promoting their music and the ratio of people actually responding to the number of look sees, is less than 1%. THAT's less than 1 out of a 100 people who look at the music actually respond to what's happening.

QUIT BEING SO SELFISH!!! If you post in this, VISIT AND COMMENT ON 10 posts. If someone wants real criticism, give it. If you don't want real criticism, don't post it. THIS IS NOT A "ME all ME" industry.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF MUSICIANS NOT GIVING A CRAP ABOUT OTHER MUSICIANS!

YES it takes effort to listen to other people's music, YES it takes effort to create music. And if you really want the truth, you'll get it. THAT BEING SAID, don't lie to musicians and tell them you like it. It does not help the industry at all and you will never get ahead by downgrading the rest of the musicians. You just encourage a standard of mediocrity.

A true fellow musician is like a true friend. They will tell you when you suck. They will tell you when you are good. They will be there and comfort you when you feel like the world is coming to an end, and they will say, "HEY!!! I FOUND AN AWESOME MUSICIAN!" They will also tell you yeah, it's good, but I KNOW you can do better.

You want to get better, help the people around you.

I understand where you are coming from. Your heart seems to be in the right place.