Pro Review from Broadjam.

[headcoach2]

So let me ask you a question. I have submitted one of my daughter's songs for review with Broadjam about two months ago. I have finally received the results today. The pro revirews name is: Keith Hannaleck. Here is what he had to say about the song called Deliberate. (www.broadjam.com/mia)"I Loved the hooks in this track. Mia has a great voice, very flexible and expressive. The guitar is nice, rhythmic, the fast strumming acoustic guitar is a perfect match for the vocals, the bongos adds a nice touch and I liked it when the guitar changed to electric and got a little more beefy towards the end of the song. The track is short and sweet, perfect run time, more than obvious to me that it is radio ready and great choice for a single."So here's the question....How can I submit this pro review to Taxi when I submit this song next time to the listing. Every time I submit this song to the listing, it gets rejected. Please advice!Thanks for your help.Headcoachwww.passthepuck.net

[davewalton]

Quote:Michael,However, I was wondering, If one submits it to, lets say one of their songs to a "AAA" listing and It's more of a "Pop" listing, will your review say...."You know, this song would do better in the "Pop" listing than in the "AAA" listing, why don't I just move that song over to the correct list."Or, Does the review say...."Stuoop! That will teach them for submitting to the wrong listing......next!"If they did that, what would be the point of posting the listings? Everyone just send in a dozen songs every month and let Taxi sort things out. I think the reviewers job is to review the song in context of the listing. Nothing more. Think of it as them being temporarly employed by the company that submitted the listing to find songs for that listing. They only "work" for one listing at a time and are "specialists" for that listing. There's way too many other listings for them to know about anyway. They're busy with literally thousands of submissions for their particular listing. Quote:Is there some type of tutorial that you have on your site that talks about this, say..."The Art of submitting songs to Taxi."Interpreting the listings is an art and is not unique to Taxi. But like anything else, it takes patience and practice. I'll spare you the hockey analogy of the importance of knowing the rules, regardless of your skill level. You can't be phased by getting your song returned. Many songs did get forwarded and the reasons are more tangible than "it's not fair". Here is a thread that has a lot of useful information on interpreting the listings:http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?a ... 4&page=1If you don't read the thread, at least take time to read an "interpretation" by Matto, the most insightful reading of a listing that I know of:========"You're right that this listing casts a wide net, stylistically speaking. Your common denominator is to be found in the first 5 words: HOT A/C-ADULT POP ARTISTSHot AC (= Hot Adult Contemporary) is a radio format that plays all the artists mentioned in the listing. It is a more modern, hipper version of AC that wouldn't play artists such as Celine Dion or Phil Collins. Yet, it is a format that's targeting adults (thus ADULT POP) as opposed to kids and teens; they play hardly any hip-hop, contemporary R&B, or very teen oriented stuff such as Hilary Duff, Simple Plan etc.So this listing is looking for artists that would fit into that specific radio station format, artists that would appeal to the same target audience. It's important to realize that radio formats are oftentimes less about musical style than about lifestyle; thus artists with rather dissimilar music can co-exist on the same station as long as they appeal to the same demographic."========Be honest. Do you have this kind of insight? I don't. Yet. So I have to work on it and it's something that doesn't come in a weekend. I stand by my original post that said this. "My suggestion is to try, really try to understand why the song isn't getting forwarded. Study the listing and study the critique. You might not take one return or one critique seriously but if there are several rejections for a single song, do your best understand the common reasons given by all the critiques."Dave

[davewalton]

Quote:It just hard to believe that it's this hard getting into the Music business.It's the getting into the music business as a PROFESSIONAL that makes the difficulty difference. Being able to play at the level of Holiday Inn gigs is one thing, being at the level where you're getting signed to a label is another. Like playing league hockey versus a professional team. Somehow that has to resonate. I'm sure you know a lot of players that think they're ready to play for Boston or Toronto but how many players do you know that really are ready? Even so, it's not a "walk on" situation.Now, having said that, SOMEBODY has to make it and lots of people do. Why not your daughter? It won't come easy and it won't be quick (more than likely), but it's certainly not impossible.I use Taxi for the critiques. I think that overall, they are very helpful. Some of the critiques have really changed my style and I'm much more marketable than I was when I first joined Taxi in 2004. I also use Taxi because when I have gotten forwarded, the forwards have been to some really awesome places. Places where I probably couldn't have gotten my music in on my own.I'm a guy that does soundtrack type stuff, music you hear in the background in films and on television. I'm not a performing artist looking for a record deal.Of the songs that got forwarded, I picked up a deal with a music library. It took almost exactly a year from the time my songs were forwarded to the time they contacted me. That's not typical but it's not unusual. Taxi is about 10% of my total marketing effort. I don't see Taxi as some kind of "exclusive agent". They're a small part of my overall effort and so I expect that a small part of my placements will come from Taxi. The placements, when they do come, are usually pretty good ones.Hope that helps a little, Dave

[davewalton]

Quote:Rob,In my opinion, your daughter has all the talent, looks and age to have a good chance in the industry.It's a good idea to get a more finished demo and I agree about not using swear words, it's not a marketable image.The main thing I'd recommend is that she gets some original songs recorded (I wouldn't waste time on covers). If she can write or collaborate on some of them it would help.The other thing that really helps is if she is performing and building a local fan base, getting some local press.She is lucky to have your support.NomiHi Rob,Ditto on the above from Nomi. My "outlets" that I pursue outside of Taxi are different because I'm not an artist looking for a record deal and they wouldn't have any meaning for you or your daughter. Hopefully someone who is in that realm can better answer that question.I do have a suggestion that might help and that is to pick up a book called "Songwriters Market 2006" at any bookstore. The author sends info sheets to all kinds of record labels, music publishers, etc, they fill them out and send them back. The result is a book that describes each company, what they do, how to contact them, what kind of music they work with, etc. In addition to all that, the beginning portion of the book is pretty informative and gives a lot of good information about that various entities in the music industry.I don't know the answer to this question, but outside of Taxi, I wonder how important it is to be doing original demo songs as opposed to cover music. American Idol certainly gives no weight to original music. It's just the performance they're interested in. Taxi is focused on original songwriters doing original material. In terms of performing artists looking for a deal and in light of American Idol, is the focus on original songs something that is industry wide or just something more specific to Taxi? I'm just throwing this out as the devils advocate for a little discussion. Quote:However, I feel that sometimes it's the level of commitment. Most people start off with a project, it starts getting a little more than they can handle and the first thing they say is...."it's too hard, I guess it's not meant to be."When in reality sometimes sucess is just around the corner, or giving a second effort in the corner will generate scoring opportunities.Which is exactly why a couple of returns from Taxi shouldn't be a big setback. Just listening to the song you posted, there is no musical reason why she shouldn't get forwarded when the song you're submitting really meets the needs of the listing. So, is that singing talent inherited directly from you? Dave

[Casey H]

Good discussion... 2 things...(1) The entertainment industry is a herd of sheep... A sheep that doesn't follow the herd often gets killed off.... However once in a while a sheep wanders off and survives and even lives well. (2) One must always differentiate between non-performing songwriters and performing artists. An unknown non-performing songwriter has little hope for breaking new ground. A performing artist has a little more chance, esp. if the are an indie selling on their own. Oh, a 3rd thing... Every time you think you know the rules, someone comes out as an exception. Casey

[dagg]

Hookstown, I like your nice personality/attitudehere are some more thoughts. There is no such thing like real artistic uniqueness in music. We all 'borrow' or 'get inspired' from eachother, and alltogether from classics (Bach, Mozart etc), blues masters and new breed (Beatles, BeeGees etc)All chords and melody lines are tried out already. All we can do is to copy someone and add 10-20% of our own uniqueness (main part of which is adding new 'trendy' sounds). That's exactly what all hitwriters do (90% of them even admit it). No real artistical uniqueness.If majority of charts play 130BPM, you cannot pretend to be 'fresh' or 'unique' with 180BPM. You are finished even before you started. Trick is to listen to new (yet un-established) trends and try to combine them with what's hot today. Trends evolve slowly from old ones, do not change completely. So, clever 'modelling after success' could bring you far in this business. That's not imitating, that's cleverness We are all copycats.

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Hookstown, I like your nice personality/attitudehere are some more thoughts. There is no such thing like real artistic uniqueness in music. We all 'borrow' or 'get inspired' from eachother, and alltogether from classics (Bach, Mozart etc), blues masters and new breed (Beatles, BeeGees etc)All chords and melody lines are tried out already. All we can do is to copy someone and add 10-20% of our own uniqueness (main part of which is adding new 'trendy' sounds). That's exactly what all hitwriters do (90% of them even admit it). No real artistical uniqueness.If majority of charts play 130BPM, you cannot pretend to be 'fresh' or 'unique' with 180BPM. You are finished even before you started. Trick is to listen to new (yet un-established) trends and try to combine them with what's hot today. Trends evolve slowly from old ones, do not change completely. So, clever 'modelling after success' could bring you far in this business. That's not imitating, that's cleverness We are all copycats.Dagg,I like your personality/attitude,you have an extraordinary insight in to this cattle market we call the music biz.Keep posting.Johnny.

[stoneman]

Quote:Dave,Thanks again for the info. So what other avenues are out there besides Taxi that I could invest in, to get my daughters music out there?I think you have been given great advise in this thread by all parties involved. However, none really answered the above question clearly with legitimate contact information. I suspect that it was possibly out of fear of retaliation if they mentioned any of Taxi's competitors. So, please feel free to email me ( yeah, I'm scared to do it also ) and I will send you a list of all the various trade listings and musical opportunity sites that I use. To date, I have had seventeen songs signed and two commercial releases through one of my other trade sheets. By the way, they give hard copy contact information rather than a listing that describes the need and an obscure reference to the listee. You have the opportunity to send your material directly to the people that are looking for talent. Also, through another industry trade sheet I was offered a contract but they withdrew it when they saw that I was an old bald guy with one leg out the graveyard. Then, there are several service websites that I use that list literally hundreds of promotional, performance, contest and recording opportunities. Like Taxi, they are not cheap. But some have worked (for me at least). I mean, every 4 months I see a royalty check that is directly related to using these services. I would be more than happy to share this info with you free. Or, if you use the old Google search engine you can find a lot of these websites yourself. I applaud your resolve to invest in your daughters music career like you have. Unfortunately, I was an abandoned child and never had anyone's support until I began to build my own fan base. That has taken me 40 years of non-stop work both on the road and in the studio. What you have done is giving your daughter a great head start compared to the support most other artists get. Taxi has been a proven vehicle for a lot of songwriters and artists yet there are many who never seem to be able to crack the Taxi vault (including me) of success. I would advise that you study the listings thoroughly and try to be as close to the mark they have described. Also, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Try several avenues and one of them may get you there. But don't be discouraged by rejection as it is a part of being in the business. My first years in the business (early 60's) I received rejections from hundreds of recording companies. I keep the letters in a box in my closet and every now and then I pull them out and marvel at how far I have come. But all my plaques and awards adorn my walls and I use them as inspiration and proof that with hard work, faith and persistence, even a Black man with no musical training, parents or support can have some successes in the music industry. Consider the money you have spent to be the wisest investment you will ever make. I heard your daughters singing and I believe that to be true. Be Blessed,Stoneman

[frankmv]

Headcoach, et al:My song, South Beach, recently made the Top 10 at BroadJam (in the Latin and Latin-Jazz categories). OK...that's nice. I submitted the same song for a Latin Jazz listing, and it was returned. Later, I submitted the song for two separate World listings, and they were both forwarded. Different reviewers, different listings, different results. Is it a bad tune? I don't think so (and neither do a lot of BroadJam listeners, btw), but it didn't "fit" the Latin Jazz listing, at least according to the reviewer. I guess the moral is that reviewing music is largely a "subjective" process - i.e. subject to the reviewer's background, opinions, feelings, etc. That's not to say that the review process is a mere crapshoot...on the contrary, as many here have stated, reviewers (at least at TAXI) put their reputations on the line when they forward a tune. I liken it to recommending a competent software engineer for a job(I'm a software engineer, so I can use the analogy). If the recommendee drops the ball badly, it reflects badly on me; and if the client is also MY client, they begin to question MY ability and discernment. Take heart...I submitted my song four times before it was forwarded...I guess that means I finally found my "niche". One hurdle down...now if they'd just call! Good luck...and keep plugging.Frank www.broadjam.com/frankvillafanewww.mysp ... kvillafane