There are no "do-overs" for music submissions

[sgs4u]

Quote:... my strategy is to please the Taxi gatekeepers first... and if they approve, then I feel confident in submitting it outside of Taxi. You only get one chance to make a first impression in 99% of cases.Jeepers Vikki, that rocks. Thanks for putting that thought into words.Casey, nice thread. Baseball is too polite and predictably boring. (Yankees again) but in hockey when someone cries (extremely rarely), we just beat them up and steal their beer...

[miscue]

I sent 8 songs into TAXI for custom critiques and was happy that two of them got a decent scoring. I loved the suggestions and intend to change the highest-scored song and make another demo. It's not that I have a lot of money, but I don't think of the cost...I think of the worth.After reading John Braheny's book, "The Craft and Business of Songwriting", I learned so much that I'm willing to rewrite one of my songs. You guys seem to have a slew of songs you write...I've been doing it only as a hobby. But, I'm ready to get serious about the business, and I really enjoy reading all the comments on this forum.Miscue

[ljweber70]

Quote:[quote author=clonsberry board=general thread=1190376386 post=1190471291]Similarly, if you are looking to do song pitches, there are many newsletters out there in which new artists post asking for songs for their CD's. Again, you may have some success getting placements which build your resume. These are lower "bar", BUT you never know. A contact and a credit is always of value. CaseyCasey, can you give an example of the newsletters you spoke of?ThanksLarry

[annaeadie]

Let me know if my thinking here is right.So, a long time ago, if you were a great singer, that was enough. Nat King Cole with a mic, packed the house. If Nat were just entering the business today they would say "So you can sing. What else ya got? Can you dance? What's your stage show like? any laser lights? Nowadays it's not enough to have talent, talent has to be wrapped in a pretty box with expensive paper, glitter on the bow, and fireworks have to go off when you unwrap it.cool. I'm a very visual person so I understand that.However, I am a lyricist. A writer. A long time ago, if you handed someone a tape that you had recorded (in the bathroom) with a guitar and you singing. That was enough. They would listen and say"Brilliant song" Because that's all your selling. Not the voice, not the arrangement, not the melody, not the music, not the tempo, not the key, .....just the words! Because the producers of the time knew what they were looking for. They knew that if they changed the key, made the tempo a little faster, added some violins, and got their client to sing it - it would be a #1 hit!Nowadays it seems not only do you have to be a lyricist, but also an arranger, a singer, a musician, an audio engineer, a producer, oh, and a psychic. (Some of the posts I have read stated the critique said song was in the wrong key. Could you please post what key you would like the song in when the listing is first posted? or how many beats per minute is considered uptempo)If I had the money to pay for a professional band and studio time for every song I write, I would not need TAXI because I would be rich. I don't mean to sound so disappointed. I just feel a little misled. I'm not nearly as good as most of the TAXI members. So I read the posts and get more disappointed thinking, these guys are awesome, and the reasons they are not getting forwarded are so ridiculous.So, tell me. When a company posts a listing on TAXI do they say things like only send us songs in the key of G, or only send us songs that are __# of BPM, or only send us songs that have a strong brass section and absolutely no wind instruments??? If they do, then they should post those requirements with the listing. If they do not, then the screeners should not use these points as reasons not to forward songs. I think if a listing doesn't specify broadcast quality needed then the "your demo needs to be better quality" shouldn't be the reason for the return. Especially not the only reason on the critique.O.K. I know I'm showing my ignorance, I'm obviously a new member. But I may formally request to TAXI a Demo Quality Scale. Right now, it seemed as if there are only 2 levels. Broadcast Quality (meaning radio ready professional sounding)and demo quality (meaning everything else)perhaps there should be more levels.How about a number scale from Level 1 (meaning rough drafts for companies who are looking for songs and ideas to develop)Level 2 (Meaning pretty complete songs, but just one take recorded in the living room with your dad's old cassette playerneeded.) Level 3 (Beginner Home studios - a step above Dad's casette player pointed at you and your guitar)Level 4 (Excellent home studios - people who can figure out all this crap (I sure can't)Level 5 (Professional sounding finished versions with backup singers, sound effects, could be duplicated and distributed today.(A level I'm sure I'll never get to unless I hire someone to come to my house and show me how to use all this stuff. Or take the audio engineering classes at my local community college.)Or is there no need for this because basically whether it says it or not, broadcast quality is always needed.Sorry. just wondering if a pure lyricist, good (not great) singer, but poor audio engineer has a chance here.If the great members can't cut it, what hope is there for the not-so-great ones.

[edteja]

I can't say anything about the key, but the truth is that what is changing things is the large number of dedicated and talented people that are trying to break in--unfortunately through the same door that we are, and at the same time. In short, the competition is fierce. Taxi reflects that reality (they don't set the standard, but they do and must, reflect the standards). I guess the first question is who misled you? But the more important question is, are you willing to upgrade your skills, or work with other people who can complement yours (don't go for the folks who just compliment your skills--you don't need that). Hemingway said that all you need is a lot of hard work and some luck. Another part of the answer is that to pitch songs to artists, in some genres, you don't need a great demo. However, you will be competing against folks with great demos, and that can hurt your odds. Take a long view. Maybe you need to partner with someone. Maybe you need to take an engineering class. It depends on where you want to go with this. But hang in there and work hard and your lyrics will get heard. Good luck with it.

[sgs4u]

Well, I'll tell you what I think. You might not like this either. The ONLY entities looking for songs, are asking for songs/recording almost exclusively, from your categories 4 & 5. I don't think that's Taxi's fault whatsoever. That's simply what the market is looking for. So if you don't have money to spend on demos or musicians or producers, or if you don't have enough time or patience to learn this craft of making broadcast quality recordings (which is actually not quite the same high level as Artist CD's), you will be forced to become pretty awesome at writing lyrics & melodies. If you write a truly amazing lyric and melody(by Taxi's standards), your song will get forwarded. There's no doubt in my mind that your song will get forwarded if the screeners think it's FABULOUS. Taxi really wants to forward a BIG TICKET song. Everyone wins. But if you can't create them to meet the standards they need, then what can anyone do for you? If you want to play this game, it's not a good choice for the easily disheartened, quitters, or people that don't think 10 years down the road. I've been making music for 35 years. I'm just getting started gathering all my tunes, styles, tools and connections. It's gonna take me at least another 5 years, I figure. Daunting? So what! I get to live and breathe music, and I'm getting better quickly.And I have to point out that most of us are wacked, manic and struggle to keep a brave face. (wait a minute, maybe that's just me)OK, Matto & Dave seem unflappable.

[hummingbird]

this thread is related to the "can you make money at this" threadno question, the bar is a lot higher than I thought at the beginning of this songwriting journey. Or... perhaps it was just I didn't even know about the bar - I thought that someplace you went to have a beer or play a few tunes for the crowd. And when I finally noticed it, it was so far up there I could hardly see it. I've only been able to jump it a few times.If you are getting forwards from Taxi, that means your stuff is good, but if you are pitching to artists your mountain is K9, ya know? Like, Faith Hill getting 5,300 prescreened considered-hit-songs together to make a short list of 14 for the album? Ouch.I don't know the answer, but I wish I could reach out and hug ya'll

[annaeadie]

Thanks.I sent myself to my room to think about what I've done.I'm finished pouting now.Anna

[Casey H]

Anna This reply on another thread might not say what you want but it sheds light on what you are asking about:http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?b ... 1190721446 Casey

[matto]

Quote:However, I am a lyricist. A writer...Nowadays it seems not only do you have to be a lyricist, but also an arranger, a singer, a musician, an audio engineer, a producer, oh, and a psychic.This gonna sound really flippant (but it's really not meant that way), but if you are a brilliant lyricist you could have musicians/composers waiting in line to work with you and do the arranging, singing, engineering and producing for you ...but sorry, you're on your own as far as the psychic .Seriously, there are a lot more great composers on this board (and pretty much everywhere else in the biz) than lyricists...so if you have the goods, there is a way to get better demos for very little or no money...Quote:I'm not nearly as good as most of the TAXI members. Hmm, well you have be better than most Taxi members to get forwarded, let alone get deals and do this for a living, but that's kind of obvious, isn't it?Or am I misunderstanding you?matto