A Screeners Perspective?

[michael11]

We have had a lot of negative comments about screeners recently and I was wondering what it’s like to be a screener.We are told they have all held responsible positions in the music industry and they are at Taxi because they are (between jobs).Do they resent having to work at Taxi,is it the musical equivalent of working at a burger bar,do they feel demeaned by doing what they do.What pressures are they under,do they work everyday,how many hours do they work,what’s the boss like LOL.Do they keep an eye on the forum.What is their musical background,musicians,management,both?I know the answers would vary from screener to screener but if there was a median,what would be the typical profile of a screener?

[mojobone]

Ah! Here's a candidate for Ask Laskow.

[jay10music]

May 7, 2009, 11:26pm, michael11 wrote:We have had a lot of negative comments about screeners recently and I was wondering what it’s like to be a screener.We are told they have all held responsible positions in the music industry and they are at Taxi because they are (between jobs).Do they resent having to work at Taxi,is it the musical equivalent of working at a burger bar,do they feel demeaned by doing what they do.What pressures are they under,do they work everyday,how many hours do they work,what’s the boss like LOL.Do they keep an eye on the forum.What is their musical background,musicians,management,both?I know the answers would vary from screener to screener but if there was a median,what would be the typical profile of a screener?Michael,I know we've had a few screeners lurk on the forums, but I would guess the vast majority don't and you could be waiting for a long time for answers.There are many reasons people work at TAXI as screeners. I don't know if they feel like they're working at a burger bar. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I can tell you that nearly all of them come up to me at some point and tell me how much they enjoy the work they do, and that they had no idea how incredibly hard it was.Two recent comments: From a member of the Donna's -- "I LOVE this job!! It's perfect for me, and I had no idea how much better it could help me make my music by having to really think about the members' music. Thank you so much -- this is my dream job!" She was effusive.From a woman who was Sr. V.P. of Sony Music Pub. and has been a music exec for 20+ years: "This is great! I love it! I had no idea how hard it was to put into words what you normally just feel. Having to SAY it and get it right really helps me become a much better publisher for my writers. I love it here."Those comments are extremely typical. New screeners are always shocked by how hard the job is. They go through a lot of training and monitoring under Robin's expert and watchful eye. In years past, I've calculated that only 1 out of 7 who apply get the gig.The screeners have been/are A&R people, publishers, managers, producers, film/TV composers and signed artists (did you know Katy Perry screened here for a year before her record broke? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs ).They typically come to work here for a couple of reasons. They've been laid off during a regime change or downsizing and they use the gig to pay the mortgage while they're looking for another gig.--or--They started their own company (typically management or publishing) and they use the income to support them while they try to get their new biz off the ground.Most of them work 2 or 3 days a week, but we never let them work more than 4 hours at a time. We do a morning shift and an afternoon shift. There are typically about 15 of them under our roof at any moment. More of less depending on inbound submissions. You can watch them during West Coast business hours via the screener cam. http://www.taxi.com/abouts/webcam.htmlTheir pressures are finding ways to communicate and quantify what has historically been only visceral -- what sounds like a hit and what doesn't. I invite anybody reading this to make an appointment to come in and play screener for a shift (real music, but not real decisions Sorry, we can't turn you loose on other members.They struggle VERY hard with the on the fence decisions. They have staff to come to when they are in need for things like that. They might also pop the headphones off and ask the screener next to them, "Am I nuts?" They've been known to take off their phones and play something great for the people around them.They are all confounded by 75-80% of the pitches being in the wrong genre, or songs that appear to be in NO genre. Come to any Road Rally and you'll instantly see what I mean by that.We do group re-training when necessary. We do individual re-training on a near weekly basis for those who appear to be sliding off the rails or not working to our standards or just need a little bit of freshening up.Some of the screeners get new jobs in the industry, and when they do, the invariably run listings with us. I would guess that 75% or more of them are musicians themselves. I would guess that nearly all of them have been exactly in your shoes at some point, trying to get signed themselves. Those situations surprisingly lead to A&R and publishing gigs because they meet a lot of industry people in the process and one thing leads to another.They are ALL great lovers of music. They are ALL in awe of great songs and the people who write them. If you come to the Road Rally and meet them, you'd be very hard pressed to find ANY of our screeners who you wouldn't want to hang with. Spirit of generosity is one of the characteristics that gets them hired and keeps them in the chair.They are all independent contractors. We tell them what we need done for the upcoming week. They accept or decline and pick their own shifts as long as their schedule fits our timeline. They are only assigned to genres we feel confident they are expert in. We reserve the right to overrule them. They are trained to come to our head screener as often as they'd like for clarification. We have a 1/2" thick training manual and a formal training process they all go through. They get paid $30/hr. We spent $1,100,000 dollars on screening last year. People who imagine that I get to keep those $5 sub fees are out of their minds. We do screener continuing education nights every now and then at a pizza joint. I don't spend much time chatting with screeners, although they do come to my office and turn me on to great music they find or give me suggestions. We have a best of TAXI sheet they fill out to hip us to stuff they find that may or may not fit the listing, and may or may not get forwarded for that listing. Stuff that gets written up on best of TAXI sheets goes to our V.P. of A&R (Andrea). I listen to comp CDs in my car during my commute. I don't get to listen to nearly as much music as I'd like because I get 300 emails per day on average and about 20 calls per day. I also answer questions like this to keep it real and factual.I think most people would tell you that I'm a fair boss and I don't suffer fools gladly.If there are any screeners lurking, please jump in and give your perspective.HTH,Michael

[stevebarden]

May 8, 2009, 8:58am, TAXI wrote: I invite anybody reading this to make an appointment to come in and play screener for a shift (real music, but not real decisions ...We have a 1/2" thick training manual and a formal training process they all go through. Michael, thank you for this information. It was very enlightening. I might one day take you up on the offer to try first hand at screening. I'm sure it's much harder than it sounds!I think it would also be useful and *transparent* to be able to read this training manual. Is this a possibility, making it available to read?Steve

[rld]

Thanks ML,That was very informative.I think some of the blowups on the forum could be avoided if we did have an "Ask Laskow" thread as Mojo mentioned.I realize you don't have time to do this everyday, but it would clear things up instead of letting unanswered accusations grow, crash and burn.Thanks.

[michael11]

May 8, 2009, 8:58am, TAXI wrote:May 7, 2009, 11:26pm, michael11 wrote:We have had a lot of negative comments about screeners recently and I was wondering what it’s like to be a screener.We are told they have all held responsible positions in the music industry and they are at Taxi because they are (between jobs).Do they resent having to work at Taxi,is it the musical equivalent of working at a burger bar,do they feel demeaned by doing what they do.What pressures are they under,do they work everyday,how many hours do they work,what’s the boss like LOL.Do they keep an eye on the forum.What is their musical background,musicians,management,both?I know the answers would vary from screener to screener but if there was a median,what would be the typical profile of a screener?Michael,I know we've had a few screeners lurk on the forums, but I would guess the vast majority don't and you could be waiting for a long time for answers.There are many reasons people work at TAXI as screeners. I don't know if they feel like they're working at a burger bar. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I can tell you that nearly all of them come up to me at some point and tell me how much they enjoy the work they do, and that they had no idea how incredibly hard it was.Two recent comments: From a member of the Donna's -- "I LOVE this job!! It's perfect for me, and I had no idea how much better it could help me make my music by having to really think about the members' music. Thank you so much -- this is my dream job!" She was effusive.From a woman who was Sr. V.P. of Sony Music Pub. and has been a music exec for 20+ years: "This is great! I love it! I had no idea how hard it was to put into words what you normally just feel. Having to SAY it and get it right really helps me become a much better publisher for my writers. I love it here."Those comments are extremely typical. New screeners are always shocked by how hard the job is. They go through a lot of training and monitoring under Robin's expert and watchful eye. In years past, I've calculated that only 1 out of 7 who apply get the gig.The screeners have been/are A&R people, publishers, managers, producers, film/TV composers and signed artists (did you know Katy Perry screened here for a year before her record broke? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs ).They typically come to work here for a couple of reasons. They've been laid off during a regime change or downsizing and they use the gig to pay the mortgage while they're looking for another gig.--or--They started their own company (typically management or publishing) and they use the income to support them while they try to get their new biz off the ground.Most of them work 2 or 3 days a week, but we never let them work more than 4 hours at a time. We do a morning shift and an afternoon shift. There are typically about 15 of them under our roof at any moment. More of less depending on inbound submissions. You can watch them during West Coast business hours via the screener cam. http://www.taxi.com/abouts/webcam.htmlTheir pressures are finding ways to communicate and quantify what has historically been only visceral -- what sounds like a hit and what doesn't. I invite anybody reading this to make an appointment to come in and play screener for a shift (real music, but not real decisions Sorry, we can't turn you loose on other members.They struggle VERY hard with the on the fence decisions. They have staff to come to when they are in need for things like that. They might also pop the headphones off and ask the screener next to them, "Am I nuts?" They've been known to take off their phones and play something great for the people around them.They are all confounded by 75-80% of the pitches being in the wrong genre, or songs that appear to be in NO genre. Come to any Road Rally and you'll instantly see what I mean by that.We do group re-training when necessary. We do individual re-training on a near weekly basis for those who appear to be sliding off the rails or not working to our standards or just need a little bit of freshening up.Some of the screeners get new jobs in the industry, and when they do, the invariably run listings with us. I would guess that 75% or more of them are musicians themselves. I would guess that nearly all of them have been exactly in your shoes at some point, trying to get signed themselves. Those situations surprisingly lead to A&R and publishing gigs because they meet a lot of industry people in the process and one thing leads to another.They are ALL great lovers of music. They are ALL in awe of great songs and the people who write them. If you come to the Road Rally and meet them, you'd be very hard pressed to find ANY of our screeners who you wouldn't want to hang with. Spirit of generosity is one of the characteristics that gets them hired and keeps them in the chair.They are all independent contractors. We tell them what we need done for the upcoming week. They accept or decline and pick their own shifts as long as their schedule fits our timeline. They are only assigned to genres we feel confident they are expert in. We reserve the right to overrule them. They are trained to come to our head screener as often as they'd like for clarification. We have a 1/2" thick training manual and a formal training process they all go through. They get paid $30/hr. We spent $1,100,000 dollars on screening last year. People who imagine that I get to keep those $5 sub fees are out of their minds. We do screener continuing education nights every now and then at a pizza joint. I don't spend much time chatting with screeners, although they do come to my office and turn me on to great music they find or give me suggestions. We have a best of TAXI sheet they fill out to hip us to stuff they find that may or may not fit the listing, and may or may not get forwarded for that listing. Stuff that gets written up on best of TAXI sheets goes to our V.P. of A&R (Andrea). I listen to comp CDs in my car during my commute. I don't get to listen to nearly as much music as I'd like because I get 300 emails per day on average and about 20 calls per day. I also answer questions like this to keep it real and factual.I think most people would tell you that I'm a fair boss and I don't suffer fools gladly.If there are any screeners lurking, please jump in and give your perspective.HTH,MichaelQuote:HTH,MichaelPerfect.

[mojobone]

Please make this thread a sticky, maybe put it in the Screener Shoutout Forum.

[jay10music]

May 8, 2009, 9:29am, rld wrote:Thanks ML,That was very informative.I think some of the blowups on the forum could be avoided if we did have an "Ask Laskow" thread as Mojo mentioned.I realize you don't have time to do this everyday, but it would clear things up instead of letting unanswered accusations grow, crash and burn.Thanks.Hi RLD,I agree. We had one at one point, but it quickly became obvious that I'd need to babysit it all day every day.... 24/7/365. Ironically, that's exactly what I've had to do for the last 48 hours. People expect answer immediately, and if I don't give them, then speculation runs rampant for the whole world to see.BTW, The reason we don't make the manual public on the forum or the site is that we don't want our competitors to see it or use it. Members who have come in to try their hand at screening have seen it though. HoraceJesse and Dave Walton among them. Gents, care to comment?Warm regards,ML

[jay10music]

May 8, 2009, 10:21am, mojobone wrote:Please make this thread a sticky, maybe put it in the Screener Shoutout Forum.Good idea Mojo. will try to do it soon. Was also thinking about putting it in the newsletter and elsewhere on our site.thx!ML

[hummingbird]

from the General Hangout FAQs[ http://taxi.proboards.com/index.cgi?boa ... hread=2141 ]Q: How does Taxi screen music? How do I know the screeners are qualified? A: Read these threads, they are informative:Taxi Land - Dave - Part Ihttp://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1185818579Taxi Land - Dave - Part 2http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1186789715Taxi Land - Dave - Part 3http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1188921401Taxi Land - Screener Queries - Horacehttp://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?bo....read=1185748342-----