What I Learned At The Road Rally

[happyron]

WHAT I LEARNED AT THE TAXI.COM CONFERENCE: Writing for yourself vs. other writing for another artist. In my opinion much of the tension that I and others feel in the music industry, I think, a confusion between two different roles that we might chose to play (we can play either or both at different times) the role of writing for yourself as an artist and the role of writing for others. In writing for yourself you can write whatever you want and present it however you want and that will reflect on you and your “image” to people who enjoy your music. In dealing with partners musically and in business you need to find people that will support that music and image and avoid people who want to make you and your music into something you don’t want to be. In writing for other artists you obviously have to write a song that would fit their image and their skills. If you submit a song like to a Garth Brooks listing and the song is nothing like what he would sing it’s hardly their fault for rejecting it, you haven’t done your “job” which is obvious if you know what your job is, but remarkably many don’t. They confuse trying to tell Garth or whomever what he should like vs. respecting what he and his fans expect of him and of his songwriter. In writing this out it seems so clear cut and self evident but it’s amazing how we confuse these obviously different roles.

[Bad Monkey]

hello happyron,
Great topic.It can be confusing weather to create your own sound be unique or write the product that is expected from a certain artist.Writing from the head or from the heart is a tough choice.I didn't get to attend that class while I was at the rally so I appreciate the topic and your note.Before I discovered Taxi I must confess I went thru a period of time where I wrote only for myself from real life experiance as I had pretty much given up on this thing we call the music biz .But since I discovered the vehicle (thx Taxi)I've been able to get back on the horse and write more from the head as I'm not 22 anymore and my artist days are far behind me.I guess the key is writing from the head and from the heart at the same time .One without the other comes out (for me anyway) sounding cheesy and the emotions that a writer can make another feel is the magic that artists are looking for.Good Luck.

[carsonandtesshenley]

I am new to TAXI and going to my first Rally this Nov. I am looking for advice on what EXACTLY to bring (besides contact info, what do the CDs I bring contain? one song, song snippets, full songs, many songs). I appreciate any advice from "the pros"! Smile. Tess Henley

[arslan1]

Hi,
This is exceptionally decent and wonderful post.
I like it exceptionally much....!!!!

[sansharbour]

Picture yourself in a box.

A box that represents how you have always worked on a regular basis writing for yourself when the muse strikes.
This is how I worked before joining Taxi.

Now i look beyond the box in all directions and move outside the box with purpose, i.e. writing for others. My songwriting world not only became bigger but my skills are getting better, I think and the possibilities are greater to be a writer.

Yes I still write for myself but others too.

It's way more fun now

This is what I learned from joining Taxi and the Taxi Tv segments and attending the Road Rally.

[andygabrys]

I am new to TAXI and going to my first Rally this Nov. I am looking for advice on what EXACTLY to bring (besides contact info, what do the CDs I bring contain? one song, song snippets, full songs, many songs). I appreciate any advice from "the pros"! Smile. Tess Henley

you are pretty close to the right place - here is an epic thread by Casey H on what to bring etc:

http://forums.taxi.com/topic72927.html