For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Feedback on Taxi's current listings.

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

OrionSatori
Active
Active
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:46 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by OrionSatori » Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:44 pm

For example: ORIGINAL ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTALS and/or ORCHESTRAL/ELECTRO HYBRID INSTRUMENTALS

Only two of the examples given could be considered "orchestral/electro hybrid," IMO. One seemed to have zero orchestral instruments in it and was closer to Dubstep than anything. The last example had Taiko drums or something, but beyond that, was electronic.

Another listing used Adele's Hello as one example, and then said they didn't want any downer tracks. And others will post multiple songs that seem incredibly different from each other, yet, the description doesn't want a wide variety of moods. So, I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should bother to submit when these listings often don't give a coherent and consistent description of what they want.

Len911
Total Pro
Total Pro
Posts: 5351
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:13 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Peculiar, MO
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by Len911 » Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:54 am

There is a listing and there are examples.

example:

Listing: rock flutes
examples: Jethro Tull "Aqualung", The Who "Pinball Wizard", The Rolling Stones "Tumbling Dice"

You could argue that The Who and The Rolling Stones don't use flutes, but Jethro Tull does. The point is that they want rock flutes in the style, or mood of the examples. You could argue that the songs aren't similar. In that case, if you have rock flutes in a similar tune to aqualung, rock flutes in a similar tune to Pinball wizard, or in a similar tune to tumbling dice, it should work.

If you send in a piece that sounds like Pinball Wizard with no rock flute, it's a good bet you will be returned.

If you send in a rock flute similar to Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick", it's a possibility it will be returned.

Listing: wedding songs
examples: funeral marches

Context. Someone in the creepy Adams family is getting married. :lol:

If you can't draw any correlation, you should ask or call. Someone surely will shed some light.

It's impossible to comment on your conclusions without seeing the full listing. I mean, people lie all the time,lol! ;) :lol: :lol:

A concise definition or communication always has the potential for confusion or misunderstanding. There is no perfect communication, including pictures or films. That's why presentations usually include Q&A sessions at the end. It might be nice if there was a place on the forum to post questions for exact listings, and then the lister could answer them, but I'm not sure if anyone has the surplus time, it would surely provoke even more questions, not sure if it should be public information, and the forums already get those questions with usually peers answering them or giving their thoughts, and you could also just call Taxi.

It's even difficult sometimes to communicate on a forum, such as this one. I try to offer honest and helpful advice or comment, though I've been asked if I was a troll once, :shock: . There are a couple of people which I keep forgetting, that totally ignore my posts, I think I've remembered who they are now and can avoid commenting. It's funny, but it's not.
https://soundcloud.com/huck-sawyer-finn
Not an expert on contemporary music

User avatar
hummingbird
Total Pro
Total Pro
Posts: 7189
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:50 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by hummingbird » Sun Jan 22, 2017 1:42 am

I agree that it's necessary to see the complete listing and listen to the a la's. No matter what you hear in the a la's, what is written in the text description is most important. If you're unsure whether you are on target, post the complete listing and a link to your track in P2P, we'll try to help :)
"As we are creative beings, our lives become our works of art." (Julia Cameron)

Shy Singer-Songwriter Blog

Vikki Flawith Music Website

User avatar
Casey H
King of the World
King of the World
Posts: 14163
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by Casey H » Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:56 am

hummingbird wrote:I agree that it's necessary to see the complete listing and listen to the a la's. No matter what you hear in the a la's, what is written in the text description is most important. If you're unsure whether you are on target, post the complete listing and a link to your track in P2P, we'll try to help :)
Interesting. I've found that when there is some conflict between the text and the 'a la' references, the 'a la's are king. The screeners definitely use the 'a la' tracks as a guide when screening--- I often get screener comments very much based on the difference between my submission and the refs.

Many members have been successful at getting forwards by dissecting one of the ref tracks and going from there (but not ripping off).

That being said, some listings will say clearly something like "in the wide range of", etc. So sometimes there is more leeway.

Lastly, no description or decision making system in the universe (unless you are a married male and it comes from your wife ;) ) is 100% perfect. Yes, there will be some amount of 'gut feel' by the screener, though a great deal of it is cut and dry. More than some give Taxi credit for! :D Those of us who have pitched outside of Taxi directly to libraries or sups are used to the fact that sometimes it's just not what they want for a given catalog or opp.

To quote a brilliant friend of mine (Steven Guiles), "Write, submit, forget, repeat"...

Best
:D Casey

User avatar
philsmith
Active
Active
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:59 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by philsmith » Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:36 pm

I just submitted for that listing. If anyone is interested, it's at http://www.philsmith.com/InOverdrive.mp3. I'm new here, and this is only my second submission, but I totally agree with the post. I'm trying to figure it out, and if I ever do, I might write a book called "Demystifying The Listing." Sometimes the text and the examples seem completely contradictory. I'm hoping that with a little more experience I'll begin to understand.

@OrionSatori I don't quite remember the example, but I think those were tympani which sound like Taiko drums, so they're orchestral.
@Casey Cool, thanks! I was wondering whether the text or the "a la" was more important.

For this submission, I didn't really pay that much attention to the text or the "a la" music. I could see they wanted something driving, if you'll excuse the pun, and it sounded like they wanted tympani and massive basses. I concentrated on the feeling more than the instrumentation, which was mostly "orchestral" but with some synth pads thrown in. We'll see how close I came in a couple of days.

This is actually kind of fun, it's like a game trying to sort this out.

User avatar
Alasdair
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 161
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 4:59 pm
Gender: Male
Location: East London UK
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by Alasdair » Sun Jan 22, 2017 1:21 pm

Lol.. well if you figure it out and write a book.. I know what your next one will be.. understanding women...

Any way I've been penalised twice now over following the YouTube examples over the text so iam more text focused.. not that that helps my confusion mind..lol

Guess it's down to the screener and differs accordingly.. any way best advice I can give is don't bin a track just because one screener didn't feel it fitted.. if you think it's relevant submit it, and learn.. hopefully.lol

User avatar
hummingbird
Total Pro
Total Pro
Posts: 7189
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:50 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by hummingbird » Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:22 pm

"As we are creative beings, our lives become our works of art." (Julia Cameron)

Shy Singer-Songwriter Blog

Vikki Flawith Music Website

User avatar
Casey H
King of the World
King of the World
Posts: 14163
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by Casey H » Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:59 pm

I certainly didn't mean to negate how critical the listing text is ESPECIALLY when it emphasizes certain do's and dont's, requirements such as melodic motif, etc. I will say that for songs with vocals, most of my return critiques focused on how the submission compared to the ref tracks. But that doesn't mean the text didn't matter a whole lot.

Bottom line is you have to look at EVERYTHING. #ListingTextMatters #ALaReferencesMatter

And like I said before, study it all very carefully, give it your best shot, lather, rinse, repeat. :D

Thanks, Vikki! :D

8-) Casey

Len911
Total Pro
Total Pro
Posts: 5351
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:13 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Peculiar, MO
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by Len911 » Sun Jan 22, 2017 7:11 pm

I guess for $5 it's still cheaper and better than the old days of the payola scandals or the cassettes and postage you wasted to maybe get 6 seconds of a listen and no comments or critique. :shock:

Assuming the person actually has the skills to create the piece, it's not unlike a lottery ticket with the winning numbers hidden in the listing and examples, sort of like "Where's Waldo?".
https://soundcloud.com/huck-sawyer-finn
Not an expert on contemporary music

User avatar
Casey H
King of the World
King of the World
Posts: 14163
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Re: For some of these listings, it's hard to know what they actually want

Post by Casey H » Sun Jan 22, 2017 8:39 pm

Len911 wrote: Assuming the person actually has the skills to create the piece, it's not unlike a lottery ticket with the winning numbers hidden in the listing and examples, sort of like "Where's Waldo?".
Don't agree and I think this is a bit unfair to Taxi. No, it's not perfect world. But they do go WAY out of their way to give listing descriptions and 'a la' references FAR BEYOND what you'll find in listings ANYWHERE else that I know of. It's NOT some cryptic puzzle. The lottery comparison is very wrong.

Also, Taxi provides this forum, the rally, and Taxi TV to help people get more forwards and deals.

Casey

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests