Disappointed in the quality of feedback

[Phuovine]

First of all, I know my track is a return anyways. It was my first ever submission to test how this system works. But based on the feedback they only listened to the first ten seconds of the track and decided it's all "muffled and muted" when the actual beef-part is definitely not muffled. Haven't they heard of a filtered intro? And don't they skip around the track to have a sniff of all the parts?

Again, not complaining about the return but the quality of the feedback is very disappointing.

[telefunkin]

I believe screeners are expected to listen to the whole track every time, but perhaps its worth remembering about the reality beyond the cossetted Taxi environment. If you submit directly to a library, they might never listen to your music, if they do they might only listen to just a few seconds at the start, then you might never hear anything back at all, or you might get a polite cut/paste 'no thank you'. What you will absolutely NOT get is any feedback about why they don't want your music. Only if they see a place for your music in their catalog will they either accept tracks as they are or suggest edits (based on what THEY want rather than any consideration of your own artistic intentions).

What you get back from Taxi is the impression your track gives the screener compared with what they believe the library are looking for. If your track doesn't meet their expectations they'll at least tell you why (although not necessarily all the reasons if there are several issues). That is more than any real-world library would do.

If you are unsure about the screener feedback then you could always post the track, the full listing (including the ref tracks), and the feedback. Members will often tell you what they think and its unusual (although not 100%) that they disagree about returns. Where it gets sticky is in the explanations, but if there are lots of issues then screeners might focus on just one or two of the main ones. If you have serious doubts that your track was screened fairly you can always contact the head screener, but I would advise against that with your very first submission, and especially as you admit that it should have been returned.

A better strategy would be to post your track here (with the listing and refs) BEFORE submitting and seek peer reviews. It really can help improve the chances of a forward. Ultimately though, its is up to us as composers to make our music undeniable AND on target. Don't give the screeners or libraries and reason to turn it down.

P.S. Just a thought about your description of a 'muted intro' - maybe that's fine for commercial releases but if you check out any educational resources on sync music they will all say have very short or no intro because you need to make an impression right away. You could arrange your track so that it hits from the start, but use the same muted part in the middle before or after an edit point. Again, perhaps the issues is not the screener or the feedback, but it is just a thought.

[Phuovine]

Thanks for the thorough reply! Yeah, I'm not complaining about the return and my track has issues as I wasn't yet aware of all the requirements of a cue. I was more disappointed that I got the impression that my track wasn't even listened to. I was still hoping for a more detailed feedback even though I already knew the shortcomings of my submission. I'm taking my very first steps so all feedback would be welcome as I want to learn.

For some reason I feel hesitant to post at the peer to peer. Maybe I will now because I have my sports metal cue at least 90% there.

[telefunkin]

For some reason I feel hesitant to post at the peer to peer.

That's natural, but this is a friendly place and you'll get useful opinions not fluff or flames.
Another suggestion though - check that links to your tracks work (most first posts show a 404 error until tracks are made public), and always copy/paste the listing with links to the ref tracks. That way you're most likely to get some replies. Finally, why not make it a 2-way street and give a little back by offering your thoughts on the tracks of others who post?

[Phuovine]

For some reason I feel hesitant to post at the peer to peer.

Finally, why not make it a 2-way street and give a little back by offering your thoughts on the tracks of others who post?

I definitely will as soon as I feel like I have the competence to do so

[Casey H]

Hi
Taxi screeners are required to listen to the whole track. But keep in mind that when in comes to pitching for sync (and even for artists), most A&R and music sups will know in 10 seconds if they are even interested. That first 10-15 seconds is VERY critical. Busy people won't get past a non-usable intro. And once past the intro, you want the "meat", the best part of your track, to come fairly quickly. With vocal songs, that means a chorus in less than around 45 seconds. With cues, the real usable motif, early on.

If you want to post the track for us to hear, make it public on your Taxi profile. Also, you have to make your profile public as well. When you edit profile, there is a checkbox for "Public" up top. If you do those 2 things, you can share a link to the track.

Best,
Casey

[Phuovine]

I think I'm done with this case but I posted my sports metal cue to the peer to peer section. Onwards and upwards!

[nickhillmakesmusic]

I believe screeners are expected to listen to the whole track every time, but perhaps its worth remembering about the reality beyond the cossetted Taxi environment. If you submit directly to a library, they might never listen to your music, if they do they might only listen to just a few seconds at the start, then you might never hear anything back at all, or you might get a polite cut/paste 'no thank you'. What you will absolutely NOT get is any feedback about why they don't want your music. Only if they see a place for your music in their catalog will they either accept tracks as they are or suggest edits (based on what THEY want rather than any consideration of your own artistic intentions).

What you get back from Taxi is the impression your track gives the screener compared with what they believe the library are looking for. If your track doesn't meet their expectations they'll at least tell you why (although not necessarily all the reasons if there are several issues). That is more than any real-world library would do.

If you are unsure about the screener feedback then you could always post the track, the full listing (including the ref tracks), and the feedback. Members will often tell you what they think and its unusual (although not 100%) that they disagree about returns. Where it gets sticky is in the explanations, but if there are lots of issues then screeners might focus on just one or two of the main ones. If you have serious doubts that your track was screened fairly you can always contact the head screener, but I would advise against that with your very first submission, and especially as you admit that it should have been returned.

A better strategy would be to post your track here (with the listing and refs) BEFORE submitting and seek peer reviews. It really can help improve the chances of a forward. Ultimately though, its is up to us as composers to make our music undeniable AND on target. Don't give the screeners or libraries and reason to turn it down.

P.S. Just a thought about your description of a 'muted intro' - maybe that's fine for commercial releases but if you check out any educational resources on sync music they will all say have very short or no intro because you need to make an impression right away. You could arrange your track so that it hits from the start, but use the same muted part in the middle before or after an edit point. Again, perhaps the issues is not the screener or the feedback, but it is just a thought.

Hey everyone, I'm new to taxi and this whole process but this particular response really resonated with me and I'll try and be brief which for me is difficult.

I am coming from the Video and Film Production world. I've helped produce, shoot, EDIT (have I edited!) and of course as part of that editing process... SELECTED MUSIC TRACKS. Often We'd use one of our corporate music library subscriptions, or client provided access to THEIR own libraries of music we could select from.

As I type this, it hurts me to say it because this reflection is new (I've only within the last several months, LOST my job in this field and am now pivoting in a major way to doing THIS, with you all \m/)...

The process went as such:

I often searched by "feel" or "vibe" or "mood" or "instrument" and then maybe "genre" (based on provided library search parameters). I would then reference the WAVEFORM for dynamics while i listened to the track to get a feel for, well.. how does it make ME feel vs what I am editing? This is maybe in the first 5-10 seconds and OFTEN if the first note or sound irked me in any random way... I'd move past. --- What does that mean? --- If it reminded me TOO much of a song or genre or annoying trope, I moved on... No matter the quality of the track. Again, that's within the first 10 seconds or so... then if I dig it and vibe with it, I'm looking for PARTS... variations on that initial mood (think instruments dropping out or the inverse, drum feel changing, nothing poking out TOO much because sometimes that's a pain in the ass for ME the editor to then put on music engineer hat and have to "D.r" it to get it to fit in better). Personally, unless of course the lovely (cough) client asks specifically, I try to avoid things sounding too cliche of the time, if that makes sense. I mean I'm hoping to not hear that track everywhere. I want it different enough to be interesting but not in all the F'n Bath and Body Works commercials. Ya know?

Ok, so all that happens in SECONDS... and that sucks for:

1. Me - The editor on a time crunch
2. You - because for the reasons stated above, I had to pass up on your track, that is probably a high quality track that deserved more of a listen but due to time crunches and workloads, weren't afforded that.

There is good news though. Some OTHER editor will in fact think it works for their video, or movie, or short film, or whatever.

The point is, that fact you got any feedback at all is a blessing man, and that's just the actual reality of it. Because the clients on the other side just don't have the time to really give a shit and it's not personal at all. It's ultimately just money... time is money.

So, for all that... I resonated with humans forum post. I hope my perspective can yield the following:

Keep working. Continue to put in the repetition and hone your skills in production, song composition, and perhaps, like the great Matt Vander Boegh framed it, "your track needs to solve a problem." For me, as that former editor, that's what I needed your track to do.

These screeners, I'd assume... and this is admittedly a moment of FULL ASSUMPTION FOLKS.... I assume these screeners get to know the folks on "the other side," the library managers and perhaps relationships and undersandings are formed with some of the clients who utilize those libraries... any library.

I think ultimatly, this has been my very verbose way of saying, garner whatever piece or chunk or morsal of tangible feedback and file it away, be thankful, and move on to the next. Because I think it's gonna be a long ride... But you're up for it.

Thanks for entertaining my ramblings Gang. Have a great day!

[macomposer]

I believe screeners are expected to listen to the whole track every time, but perhaps its worth remembering about the reality beyond the cossetted Taxi environment. If you submit directly to a library, they might never listen to your music, if they do they might only listen to just a few seconds at the start, then you might never hear anything back at all, or you might get a polite cut/paste 'no thank you'. What you will absolutely NOT get is any feedback about why they don't want your music. Only if they see a place for your music in their catalog will they either accept tracks as they are or suggest edits (based on what THEY want rather than any consideration of your own artistic intentions).

What you get back from Taxi is the impression your track gives the screener compared with what they believe the library are looking for. If your track doesn't meet their expectations they'll at least tell you why (although not necessarily all the reasons if there are several issues). That is more than any real-world library would do.

If you are unsure about the screener feedback then you could always post the track, the full listing (including the ref tracks), and the feedback. Members will often tell you what they think and its unusual (although not 100%) that they disagree about returns. Where it gets sticky is in the explanations, but if there are lots of issues then screeners might focus on just one or two of the main ones. If you have serious doubts that your track was screened fairly you can always contact the head screener, but I would advise against that with your very first submission, and especially as you admit that it should have been returned.

A better strategy would be to post your track here (with the listing and refs) BEFORE submitting and seek peer reviews. It really can help improve the chances of a forward. Ultimately though, its is up to us as composers to make our music undeniable AND on target. Don't give the screeners or libraries and reason to turn it down.

P.S. Just a thought about your description of a 'muted intro' - maybe that's fine for commercial releases but if you check out any educational resources on sync music they will all say have very short or no intro because you need to make an impression right away. You could arrange your track so that it hits from the start, but use the same muted part in the middle before or after an edit point. Again, perhaps the issues is not the screener or the feedback, but it is just a thought.

Hey everyone, I'm new to taxi and this whole process but this particular response really resonated with me and I'll try and be brief which for me is difficult.

I am coming from the Video and Film Production world. I've helped produce, shoot, EDIT (have I edited!) and of course as part of that editing process... SELECTED MUSIC TRACKS. Often We'd use one of our corporate music library subscriptions, or client provided access to THEIR own libraries of music we could select from.

As I type this, it hurts me to say it because this reflection is new (I've only within the last several months, LOST my job in this field and am now pivoting in a major way to doing THIS, with you all \m/)...

The process went as such:

I often searched by "feel" or "vibe" or "mood" or "instrument" and then maybe "genre" (based on provided library search parameters). I would then reference the WAVEFORM for dynamics while i listened to the track to get a feel for, well.. how does it make ME feel vs what I am editing? This is maybe in the first 5-10 seconds and OFTEN if the first note or sound irked me in any random way... I'd move past. --- What does that mean? --- If it reminded me TOO much of a song or genre or annoying trope, I moved on... No matter the quality of the track. Again, that's within the first 10 seconds or so... then if I dig it and vibe with it, I'm looking for PARTS... variations on that initial mood (think instruments dropping out or the inverse, drum feel changing, nothing poking out TOO much because sometimes that's a pain in the ass for ME the editor to then put on music engineer hat and have to "D.r" it to get it to fit in better). Personally, unless of course the lovely (cough) client asks specifically, I try to avoid things sounding too cliche of the time, if that makes sense. I mean I'm hoping to not hear that track everywhere. I want it different enough to be interesting but not in all the F'n Bath and Body Works commercials. Ya know?

Ok, so all that happens in SECONDS... and that sucks for:

1. Me - The editor on a time crunch
2. You - because for the reasons stated above, I had to pass up on your track, that is probably a high quality track that deserved more of a listen but due to time crunches and workloads, weren't afforded that.

There is good news though. Some OTHER editor will in fact think it works for their video, or movie, or short film, or whatever.

The point is, that fact you got any feedback at all is a blessing man, and that's just the actual reality of it. Because the clients on the other side just don't have the time to really give a shit and it's not personal at all. It's ultimately just money... time is money.

So, for all that... I resonated with humans forum post. I hope my perspective can yield the following:

Keep working. Continue to put in the repetition and hone your skills in production, song composition, and perhaps, like the great Matt Vander Boegh framed it, "your track needs to solve a problem." For me, as that former editor, that's what I needed your track to do.

These screeners, I'd assume... and this is admittedly a moment of FULL ASSUMPTION FOLKS.... I assume these screeners get to know the folks on "the other side," the library managers and perhaps relationships and undersandings are formed with some of the clients who utilize those libraries... any library.

I think ultimatly, this has been my very verbose way of saying, garner whatever piece or chunk or morsal of tangible feedback and file it away, be thankful, and move on to the next. Because I think it's gonna be a long ride... But you're up for it.

Thanks for entertaining my ramblings Gang. Have a great day!

Cool Prospective! Thanks Nick!