Taxi feels more and more like a scam after all these years...

[Casey H]

Colten
The reason you got so much backlash for your OP is you said or implied that Taxi was a scam. Since many of us know it's not, it gets our backs up. If you had just expressed frustration that you got a lot of forwards but no contacts, that would have been different- at least to me.

Taxi is a totally honest and transparent company. I've known Michael personally for at least 12-13 years. However, a company can be legit and still not be the vehicle that achieves success for any one particular person.

Since it hasn't worked out for you, it could be time you stop renewing and try other methods. But I do hope you won't throw around that "S" word. It's just not so. I had at least 5 placements on "The Young & The Restless" the past month or so, all because of a forward to a Taxi client library. So I know it does work. That doesn't mean I haven't had tons of forwards with no callbacks just like everyone else.

Casey

[VanderBoegh]

Hey man, thanks for posting links to your music. As others have said here, coming in to the forums like a bull in a china shop and throwing around the term "scam" so haphazardly will get all of us riled up fairly quickly, especially those of us that can vouch for this company and see every dollar we spend with them as an investment in our future. Some $5 expenses are gone in the blink of an eye (returns), some result in hope (forwards), some result in even more hope (forwards that turn into library signings), and others result in good chunks of money (forwards that turn into signings that turn into TV placements). All of us here deal with the same stuff as you every day. The same rejections, the same crickets. It's all part of the biz... and all part of investments in general.

I get your frustration. I really do. But words like "scam" and comments like this...

You must be on their payroll. Your reply has no heart or soul. It literally sounds like it was generated by Taxi CEO's themselves.

...will rarely result in getting people to sympathize with your cause.

You can come visit me any time you're in Boise Idaho. I see you're in Bend Oregon... not too far away from myself. Come on out and you can see for yourself that I'm in no way shape or form connected to Taxi's payroll or employment staff. I work in a freakin' tool shed. Seriously.

That being said, if you're this frustrated and see no signs of the ship changing course, then you may be better off investing your money in other places and opportunities.

Regardless of your future course of action, I truly with you the best of luck.

~~Matt

[billhewett]

Hi Colten,

One thing I have learned at the Road Rally that isn't necessarily obvious, and that you might have no way of knowing if you don't attend the rally or frequent the forums is that it is essential to include certain information in the metadata of songs you submit. At the very least you should have your contact info, the PRO numbers and splits for all authors, whether or not you have power to sign-off, in addition to title, tempo, genre, key, etc.

Since you have had some success in the industry you probably already know this, but I figured it was worth mentioning just in case :)

-Bill

[ChazAldi]

Hi Colten,

One thing I have learned at the Road Rally that isn't necessarily obvious, and that you might have no way of knowing if you don't attend the rally or frequent the forums is that it is essential to include certain information in the metadata of songs you submit. At the very least you should have your contact info, the PRO numbers and splits for all authors, whether or not you have power to sign-off, in addition to title, tempo, genre, key, etc.

Since you have had some success in the industry you probably already know this, but I figured it was worth mentioning just in case

-Bill

At risk of sounding like a total newb, where exactly do I include this information when I submit a song?

[hummingbird]

Hi Colten,

One thing I have learned at the Road Rally that isn't necessarily obvious, and that you might have no way of knowing if you don't attend the rally or frequent the forums is that it is essential to include certain information in the metadata of songs you submit. At the very least you should have your contact info, the PRO numbers and splits for all authors, whether or not you have power to sign-off, in addition to title, tempo, genre, key, etc.

Since you have had some success in the industry you probably already know this, but I figured it was worth mentioning just in case

-Bill

At risk of sounding like a total newb, where exactly do I include this information when I submit a song?

In the metadata of the mp3

[Paulie]

GREAT question!

For the first few months of submitting I was not adding any meta data to my mp3 uploads. I figured Taxi would provide our contact info when they forwarded our music. They do, but that doesn't mean that the library or supervisor is organized and remembers where they got their files. Often they receive a batch of files and then dump them into a folder for reviewing when they have some time. If you don't have your contact info in the file, they might not have a way to contact you immediately when they hear you music. Instead of stopping their search to find an old email with contact info, they might say "screw it, on to the next track I like."

I use iTunes to add meta data to mp3 files I submit to Taxi. Within iTunes click on your track and then right-click or command-I to "Get Info" on the track. Enter your name in the artist and composer field. You can enter your email address in the album field (that's what I do). Then in the comments box at the bottom enter some keywords plus your email, phone and PRO info. For example:

Comment Field: "An ominous, suspenseful instrumental tension underscore built on a pulsing bass drone with sequenced synth elements and layers of percussive ear candy. Starts quietly then builds in energy to a stinger ending. Edgy, suspenseful, foreboding, scary, dramatic. In the style of Trent Reznor or Atticus Ross. Your Name, your email, your PRO and number."

[lesmac]

Good points about the metadata [have bookmarked] but any discussions not related to the OP should go in the appropriate section of the forum ex :biz,general hangout etc.

Posting helpful material on other subjects in this thread only gives it more oxygen which by now we all should realise it really doesn't deserve.

[Casey H]

It's definitely very good advice to include metadata in your mp3s. At a minimum, your name, phone number, and email address. I've been putting my email address in the "Album" field since most players display that field by default.

It can happen whereby a Taxi client gets an mp3 file or audio CD from Taxi but misplaces the info as to who the owner is and cannot contact them. They usually contact Taxi in those cases, but it's also very easy for them to just move on to another track. There is no shortage of great music out there.

All this being said, I wouldn't assume lack of metadata accounts for any significant percentage of the times a Taxi member doesn't hear back on a forward. It's probably a tiny percentage at best. So yes by all means, include metadata! But I don't think the discussion of metadata relates that much to not getting contacted after forwards. That's more the extreme competitiveness of the world we work in with gobs of music being delivered from many good sources.

Casey

[songmaster]

I hear you! I too have had maybe a couple of dozen forwards and have never heard back in 7 years...but...I have had several library deals and collaborations which led to all of them through Taxi. Think of frustration as just a road to making your songs better. You will eventually get that email or call.

Tom

[collothen]

Hello,

I never said that it was a scam. I just said it was starting to feel like one after all these years. I just came here to be honest and real about my experience. People who thoughtfully read what I truly said messaged me and we have had productive conversations and have had very similar experiences here. Only to realize that just like a business you have to weigh your successful to failed investments and cut the failed ones that have continued to not deliver.

All the best to you.