(Newbie Here) - First Time Posting - A General Hello

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GeoffreySchumann
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(Newbie Here) - First Time Posting - A General Hello

Post by GeoffreySchumann » Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am

Hello everyone, I wanted to post something on the blogs and introduce myself. I'm Geoffrey Schumann, a seasoned classically and jazz-trained bassist. Before the pandemic struck, I've always fancied myself as an instrumentalist. I started to share my music with others (everyone knows me as "The Bassist"), and from multiple sources, I was told I needed to get my music "out there" as it was good enough for soundtracks, etc., and here I am at Taxi.

I was a bit surprised when I discovered I had to pay $5.00 per track to upload it for the opportunity (which has curbed me from doing so), as on another platform (Beatclub), I don't have to pay to submit. The one time I did decide to submit, it was shot down, but I did receive some interesting feedback (which the other platform does not do upon a submission that was denied)...

So with that said, what should a newbie do here? What is the best practice for song submissions, and is there ever a time when we don't have to pay the $5.00 per track submission fee? All this builds into me "should I renew" question that is floating in the back of my head.

I want to get my music placed, and I'm just looking for advice.

I've added tracks to my profile to give everyone an idea of what I do. I truly appreciate any feedback, and hello to all!

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Telefunkin
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Re: (Newbie Here) - First Time Posting - A General Hello

Post by Telefunkin » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:56 am

Hi, with your music background it sounds like you're in a great position to start making inroads. Just a few suggestions on how you might enjoy progressing a little faster:

- A $5 submission fee helps prevent people submitting everything they've got for every opportunity, regardless of whether it's a good fit. The fact that you need to think about it is a good filter, so if your track doesn't fit then save your money.

- Listings are a pretty strict specification for what's needed. Read them thoroughly and carefully, and listen to the reference tracks. Again, only submit if your track could be on the same playlist as the refs and meets all the rest of the listing criteria.

- Submitting existing music can work perfectly, but writing to listings is a good way of focusing your writing, getting faster at it, and keeping it on target.

- If you know you can't do everything well yourself, then find collaborators with complementary skills, perhaps here on the forums.

- Having paid your membership fee you might as well get the most value from it, so aim to submit as many tracks as makes sense to you. If you've only submitted a handful of tracks by the end of the year then you're not getting much value and are unlikely to make much happen, purely on a numbers basis and regardless of ability.

- Screeners are there to find and forward great music for Taxi's clients (so they're happy and come back again), and I'm sure they'd rather do that than return it. Might as well try and make their day by sending them music that's on target.

- Feedback is a good way of judging your music against industry standards and the listing requirements (2 different things). Its frustrating to get returns but a good way of identifying weaknesses, so take it positively even when its a return.

- Its great when submissions get forwarded, but it can take many forwarded track before even hearing anything back. That's just how it is and it reflects the world beyond Taxi. Keep going, and it'll happen when its time. However, great music that's on target is more likely to get some attention, and some do get a deal on one of their first forwards.

- Make your tracks the best they can be, and use feedback to improve them, even if they're returned. Then when a deal comes along you'll then have additional good tracks you can offer. You might get lucky and sign a whole batch of them based on just one forwarded track.

- There are lots of aspects to sync music and business that we need to know about, so its worth finding out as much as you can about them all, eg, PROs, contracts, collabs, licensing, library expectations, meta data, royalties, payment, music supervisors, genres, production, mixing, mastering, file formats, etc. Watch Taxi TV, read the forums (and use the search function), post tracks for peer feedback. Basically, learn as much as you can so you're ready when the time comes.

Best of luck :).
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: (Newbie Here) - First Time Posting - A General Hello

Post by AlanHall » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:44 am

GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
I've added tracks to my profile to give everyone an idea of what I do. I truly appreciate any feedback, and hello to all!
Provide a link to your profile and we'll be happy to oblige! :)

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Re: (Newbie Here) - First Time Posting - A General Hello

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:01 am

GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
Hello everyone, I wanted to post something on the blogs and introduce myself. I'm Geoffrey Schumann, a seasoned classically and jazz-trained bassist.
Welcome aboard Geoffrey
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
I was told I needed to get my music "out there" as it was good enough for soundtracks, etc.
Joining Taxi can indeed be a first step toward this goal. A word of caution though - It's often the case that the people who tell us these things in the beginning are not industry professionals i.e. they are not Taxi Screeners , Production Music Library Owners, Music Supes or Editors on TV shows. So take what they say with a grain of salt as there's a big difference between making music that folks on the internet think is good enough for Film & TV and what the industry demands and it's probably going to take time for that to sink in and permeate your music.
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
I was a bit surprised when I discovered I had to pay $5.00 per track to upload it for the opportunity (which has curbed me from doing so), as on another platform (Beatclub), I don't have to pay to submit. The one time I did decide to submit, it was shot down, but I did receive some interesting feedback (which the other platform does not do upon a submission that was denied)...
I've not heard of Beatclub so I don't know how it works but Taxi screeners are industry professionals and not only do Taxi pay them for their time but it's a deterrent like Telefunkin mentions. Otherwise everyone would submit many multiples of tracks for every listing even if they weren't suitable and Taxi would soon be out of business.

You can post your track, the listing and the feedback in the Peer to Peer if you want some experienced ears to take a listen and maybe help you understand the rejection / feedback
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
So with that said, what should a newbie do here?
Watch Taxi TV or listen as audio on Spotify - I do this as it helps pass the time on long journeys or doing boring things like the supermarket shop and I can learn at the same time. There is one especially for new members that is fairly recent.

Attend the LA Road Rally if you can, every Taxi member has 2 free tickets

Search the forums as most things have been answered before, and make sure to listen to Telefunkin - he is very wise.

Read the reccomended books you will hear about in the forums and on Taxi TV
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
What is the best practice for song submissions,
3 tips: 1. Write to the Listings 2. Write to the Listings 3.Write to the Listing

This will save you lots of wasted $5's and spare you some rejection.
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
is there ever a time when we don't have to pay the $5.00 per track submission fee?
No....well....Not to submit to a Listing. However, if you get accepted by a Library / Publisher then you will have a direct relationship with them and can supply their needs directly and outside of Taxi.
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
I want to get my music placed, and I'm just looking for advice.
Write to the Listings ! ;)
GeoffreySchumann wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:44 am
I've added tracks to my profile to give everyone an idea of what I do. I truly appreciate any feedback, and hello to all!
There was no link but I found your website / Youtube channel. General impression was it sounds like you shouldn't have too much issue getting your production to what we term " broadcast quality " but from a quick flick round some tracks I don't hear anything that screams TV music - Sync music is it's own thing so there is probably a learning curve you will need to go through before you can interpret a brief and deliver the right type of music.

Hope that helps & Good Luck

Mark

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