Songs for Scenes

[gregorym]

I've got that comment before. It is a strange comment, especially if the scene wasn't described.

[eeoo]

In my experience if a production company is looking to replace a temp track they will have some reference tracks you can use as guides for things like tempo, tone, vibe etc. Or was it a library looking to fill a hole in their catalog? I'd be curious to see the full listing, were there reference tracks included?

[RPaul]

Yeah, I get that "not right for the scene" a whole bunch, including on times where the overall submission is complimented pretty highly. And sometimes it is the other way around, too -- e.g. yesterday I got one that said the "direction musically and melodically have a retro tone and sound that's ideal for this listing," but then rejected it because the reviewer didn't hear "anything lyrically that was memorable or compelling enough to drive the scene." There were no checkmarks in any of the standard feedback bits. I actually wasn't sure about that one fitting the listing because it was a bit more Motown-influenced on the musical side, and the listing was for 1970s stuff, specifically mentioning "70s Classic Rock, Pop, or Singer/Songwriter Songs".

And this was for a pitch that said, "due to the wide range of this request, we didn't include references as we felt they could potentially be more misleading or limiting, than helpful." Well, not really.

In particular, I'd submitted three other songs besides the one I'm alluding to above, all of which were rejected due to the style/genre being off for the target listing. In one case, the review said my song sounded too current and contemporary for this 1970s listing. But the instrumentation was all pretty classic stuff (though I'll admit I wrote it for another listing that was more modern, so maybe I succeeded on that??? -- it got rejected, by the same reviewer, on that listing because it wasn't depressing enough). In another case, the comment was not having enough of a 70's vibe, and I'll admit that one may have been a bit more retro than 70s, though it was a kind of sound that has been around in most every decade in one form or another (and definitely was instrumentation that would have been around in the 70s). But the fourth one, and the main one I was hoping would get through was in a style influenced by Dan Fogelberg's "Leader of the Band" and had previously been forwarded (by another reviewer) for another 70s-style listing that used that as one of the reference songs. Since this listing specifically mentioned 70s singer/songwriter songs, I felt it was a good match, but apparently it was also stylistically off target? (I might add that the only box checked on these three songs was "Style/Genre is off target with the listing request" -- there were also other comments in the what they like and what could be improved parts on all three.) That last one was the one I thought was least risky here.

Bottom line for me is I really don't like when they don't give any examples when there must be something they have in mind if they're rejecting a song that was specifically produced to fit the style/genre but it is rejected for not fitting the style/genre. Something like 70s singer/songwriter is a pretty broad category. Maybe some narrowing it down by means of examples could have helped. Maybe they were looking for Elton John or Billy Joel instead of Dan Fogelberg or James Taylor? Come to think of it, the one they didn't say didn't fit the genre might be something certain Elton songs like "Philadelphia Freedom" or "Mama Can't Buy You Love" could have done.

BTW, I'm not really complaining so much here, but rather just hoping we can get as good of guidance as possible, especially when the case is one where we're writing something specifically for the listing. (That was not the case for me with this listing. I wrote three of the four songs for past listings and produced the fourth specifically for a past listing in a 70s style.)

Rick