Dispatch #D200416DR - signed composers only?

[AlanHall]

Taxi should find a way to “Certify” it's unsigned members after making sure they understand how these deals work therefore reassuring the clients that they won't have to deal with uneducated Taxi members.

Great idea! Send your thoughts to taxi admin, let ML know. I'm sure there are other members besides you and I who are unsigned, yet have watched enough taxi TV and read enough discussions to have a sense of what's expected.

[cosmicdolphin]

Taxi should find a way to “Certify” it's unsigned members after making sure they understand how these deals work therefore reassuring the clients that they won't have to deal with uneducated Taxi members.

Pretty sure that would be virtually impossible to implement, Taxi has thousands of members with wildly varying degrees of experience and abilities. How would you even gauge it ? Sit an exam ? ...then what..fail and ask Michael Laskow for a refund ? It's just not workable.

I do agree though it's a little unfair , I hope it doesn't become the norm.

[AlanHall]

Taxi should find a way to “Certify” it's unsigned members after making sure they understand how these deals work therefore reassuring the clients that they won't have to deal with uneducated Taxi members.

Pretty sure that would be virtually impossible to implement, Taxi has thousands of members with wildly varying degrees of experience and abilities. How would you even gauge it ? Sit an exam ? ...then what..fail and ask Michael Laskow for a refund ? It's just not workable.

For a person with 'cosmic' in their name, you seem awfully well-grounded.

I do agree though it's a little unfair , I hope it doesn't become the norm.

I hope not, too!

[ChrisEmond]

Let's look at this in detail:

1- They ask for someone who has worked with libraries before.
Who's to say how that relationship went or even if that library owner would want to work with that person again. From what I understand of their work load, I'm not sure they would even have the time to contact that member to tell them they should polish up their musical, technical, and business savvy skills.

2- They ask for someone who knows how a standard deal works. Is it a non-exclusive standard deal or is it an exclusive standard deal?
Correct me if I'm wrong but some standard deals can have clauses that could seriously impact the writer's share especially if the library owner decides to sell his collection under a blanket deal.

p.s I appreciate your input on this subject

[hummingbird]

I think what they are asking for is a level of professionalism. They don't want to deal with someone signing their first agreement. They want to deal with people who have signed agreements, understand the terminology of the business, and will act competently and efficiently.

Sadly, there are far too many songwriters and composers who do not act in such a manner. They are the reason we no longer get to know who we are forwarded to, because they insisted on hassling those who placed listings despite many warnings and advice to the contrary. This provision in a listing is no doubt in response to the same issue.

It seems to me that everyone on this board is fairly level-headed, however, we all have various levels of experience and expertise, and not every member of TAXI is on the forum.

In the past week I think there have been at least two or three posts about the subject of copyright, registration of tracks with a PRO, understanding what exclusive deals are, etc. There's nothing wrong with that and this is the place to learn it, not at the knee of a library who has sent you a contract because they liked your submission. All the listings spell out the potential deal, there should be no surprise when that deal is presented at some time in the future. It's too late then to be asking basic academic questions of a busy library representative, or disputing the offer because of some element of the deal that was clearly presented in the original listing.

There are three aspects to this business. Composing is obviously extremely important. However, understanding how the business works, what types of licencing there are and when they are applicable, what exclusive and non-exclusive mean, PRO registration & when to do it, and how composers get paid (sync, royalties) is also crucial. Our tracks are our babies but there are thousands of babies in every library, be a good parent Third one is networking, which we do here on the Forum, in the TAXI TV chat, at the Rally (hopefully), and presenting ourselves in such a way that we appear to know what we're doing.

Just some Friday thoughts from me. Stay safe out there <3

H

[ChrisEmond]

Hi Vikki and thank you for your input. As Mark said, let's hope this type of request doesn't become the norm...

Chris

[ScreamieBirds]

I’ve been seeing that for every listing (EDM) in my area of “expertise” so that leaves me unable to submit to anything. There haven’t been many listings in this area lately so I get excited when I see one, but at least the last 3 have stated that stipulation.

Kathy

[ChrisEmond]

Bummer

Reminds me when I was a teenager looking for a job. “Sorry kid, can't hire you if you have no experience”
What's frustrating is when you've had forwards in those types of listings before and can't submit. At this stage, I'd go for any kind of deal just to get a track record...

Chris

[ChrisEmond]

You're right Paul, it's not generalized for the moment and I probably wouldn't have brought it up if the listings didn't interest me.

Looking forward to being on the other side of the fence

[ChrisEmond]

I'm not technically a signed composer until a week or two, so I'll stay on this side of the fence for now.

Congrats Paul!!!