And the real answer is..... drum roll....
In this case (the staff just told me), the library was really impressed with what they got, and asked us to run all genres again, so they could get more of each! And this is a very picky company, BTW
So, the Listing re-run email went out shortly before the forward/return notices went out.
On another note: We have a much more complicated process, or chain of events that goes on behind the scenes for each listing.
Part of it is a person who is largely dedicated to going through every feedback form to do QC on screeners. So, there are times when the music HAS been forwarded to the client (on time, and all at once), but the members don't get notified on the same timeline because that batch could large and still be going through QC.
While we try to keep those processes on the same timeline, there ARE times when they don't line up. Pretty rare, but it happens. If somebody is out sick, or we have a holiday weekend, or another super short deadline is in our face for a big deal listing... things like that can affect the notification time to the members, but it doesn't affect when the forwards are sent to the client.
That's why there are times when the members get contacted by the listing party before they know if they were forwarded or returned.
There's really no mystery to what goes on behind the scenes, here. It's all very practical and pragmatic. It's also a tiny bit fluid, but getting the music in the clients' hands on time is priority #1. BTW, there are times when something that's seemingly trivial as a submission on CD arriving late in the day (via FedEx, UPS) can mess up the timeline for letting members know about forwards/returns. In cases like that, we would forward the material that was already designated to be forwarded, and if the straggler CD is also a forward, we'd speak to the client and let them know they are getting a one-off a couple hours later.
If the straggler is a return, it can hold up the entire batch of return notifications. Our database is set up so that notices don't go out until all submissions have been screened. That way, nothing falls between the cracks.
TAXI fact: During our 26 years of doing this, only one song has ever been lost! We DID eventually find it.
HTH,
Michael
P.S. It's not unusual for us to get a really great listing at 4pm, with a client, in-hand deadline the next day at 4pm. When those happen, all hands are on deck for the quick turn around. Just finding the RIGHT screeners for those short notice, quick-turnaround situations can be challenging! That's the sort of thing that can push back our notification times to members, and for good reason.