Screener 309

[Shalee]

Yo.

All I have to say, is that I just don't understand your ears or what's going on in that brain of yours. Because every time I listen to the forwards of a listing that I know that you reviewed (because I have my return receipt), I cannot comprehend your logic in your choices for about 80% of the forwards. Whether it's sending in folky singer songwriter on an Adult Contemporary listing, or songs with whistles and handclaps when a listing asks for no whistles and handclaps, to songs with swearing in them for commercials for health insurance, I just don't get your choices and it so often makes ZERO sense. I mean, we all witnessed it on Taxi TV, even Michael was confused by half of them.

I dunno bout the rest of the TAXI folk, but I use the forwards blog to see the direction a listing ACTUALLY wanted. It's usually VERY easy to hear once you've listened to a few, what the commonality is and what the listing was actually going for, so, you know, when you get your return and you hear the forwards, it's like "oh, so they wanted males" or "oh, so they really wanted this kinda vibe or that tone of drum, or lyrics that were like x or melodies that were like y. It's pretty consistent and you can learn a lot. Sorry 309, but you seem to be the exception and I just cannot work you out. Every other screener I kind of get- there's one that's OBSESSED with "modern synths", there's one that's really lenient and will put nearly anything through and be really kind about it all, there's some that like big hooks and others who are very picky about what broadcast quality is which can leave you scratching your head. But you... after a year of taxi and a 100% miss record on every review from you whilst being forwarded by pretty much everyone else at one point or another, it just gets a bit weird after a while and a bit like shooting in the dark.

So yeah, whatever your smoking, can I have some please? Because we obviously don't agree on anything, and you do like 80% of my damn critiques, and it's 99% of the reason I only submit to TAXI on occasion now and focus on other opportunities instead because as soon as I see a critique and your number, I know it's a write off.

It's nothing personal, but seriously, some consistency in your forwards so we can actually get what is expected of us would be nice. K cool, thanks.

[sermusicusa]

Ahhh 309. Im surprised this person is still working at TAXI. After the numerous complaints over the past year they are still there. I too have had almost everything returned from this person. Then another listing popped up a month or two later with similar requirements, I submitted, worried this 309 would review, but alas, it was someone else who thought everything was well done and forwarded it. To where, I have no clue, but it was forwarded nonetheless. If I go back, maybe I can find 1 forward from 309... I am unsure... but I agree, there are many issues with that screener. No offense, but that persons record needs to be looked at thoroughly.

Thanks for your post I am glad I am not the only one who noticed this.

[Paulie]

309 has a history. Michael addressed this a year or so ago, had two Taxi veterans meet with him/her to work stuff out. They came to the conclusion that 309 has the best of intentions and therefore 309 remains.

[pveniot]

Hi all, Seems I am not the only one having ''issues'' with 309...
I had a few...
For me it all refers to the musical culture of the screener.
Wish he or she would send a critique that uses musical terms...
Instead of ''contagious'' or '' rhythmically catchier'' that are somehow very subjectives comments.

See you around...

Pierre

[cosmicdolphin]

309 will make or break you

[pveniot]

309 will make or break you

Do we need a 309 to make or break us?

[sermusicusa]

309 has a history. Michael addressed this a year or so ago, had two Taxi veterans meet with him/her to work stuff out. They came to the conclusion that 309 has the best of intentions and therefore 309 remains.

If he has history then they should be history... clearly he/she doesnt have everyone's best interest in mind. Remember, we pay money to submit our tracks to Taxi as well as a membership fee. We are customers just like the "client" In fact I would consider the composers to be the main customer base for this site... without us it would not exist. So we should have some sort of say if lots of people seem be getting strange reviews from someone perhaps that person is not doing their job properly. As a former business owner myself I can say that if one of my employees was inconsistent with their work or if I received complaints from multiple customers I certainly would like to know why... and after speaking with them if I did not see changes I certainly would consider letting them go because they are affecting the business. Sometimes I disagree my reviews/critiques whatever, but I can say the ones from 309 have been the worst I've ever seen. And when the same tracks get sent to another screener for an identical listing several months later and get forwarded you have to wonder. Who is 309 and what are their qualifications and are they truly doing their job properly and do they have everyone's best interest at heart?

I'm not sure how I feel about the new FORM that the screeners fill out for their reviews of the songs... seems like that could get repetitive as well... the jury is still out on that one for me. And another post in the future probably.

[sermusicusa]

309 will make or break you

Do we need a 309 to make or break us?

There are a lot of egos in the music business... perhaps 309's has gotten the better of him or her.

[cosmicdolphin]

309 will make or break you

Do we need a 309 to make or break us?

I don't know I've not heard your music....

[Shalee]

Just for some fun context. I've had 2 recent returns from 2 different screeners. One was for a hip hop track and another for dark pop for advertising. In both circumstances, I was initially surprised with the critique but could understand it because it was clear and consise. After listening to the forwarded tracks, I COMPLETELY understood EXACTLY what they were looking for.

Hip Hop critique was simply: chorus isn't aggressive enough, everything else works. I listened to the forwarded tracks, and sure enough, even though production and lyrically they were different vibes, all of them had choruses that had a level of hit and aggression.

Dark Pop critique was simply: chorus production went in a different direction to the verses, which were more sexy, so you should have stayed with that vibe to get forwarded. Sure enough, every song forwarded stayed on one level of production with no builds or waves of mood or changes in chord progressions. Which to me, indicates that they wanted us to find a vibe and just stick with it throughout the track.

Pretty simple stuff. Good learning material for me. This is what it should be like.