Screeners paid NOT to forward music?

[hummingbird]

There are links on this thread... to specific posts by Dave & another Taxi member who spent a couple of days at Taxi, saw how screeners were trained, etc etc. Recommended reading.http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?a ... 141&page=1

[wta]

Vikki, I've been looking for that very link! Are you a mind reader? Again a big thanks... wta

[tedsingingfox]

sorry to disagree, WTA...the vague, pointless lyrics of "Fly With Me" do NOT make any better sense, just because they are supposed to be CCM lyrics. that's totally naive of you to believe that. (I was raised in an extremely fundamental "Christian" family and can still probably quote nearly as many Bible verses as you...) Just because "Christians" might think it's about angels or floating up to heaven doesn't mean they make any clear sense. Even CCM music has more focus to it than that.

[hummingbird]

Wow. Okay, I'm not the moderator here, but I think we could be gentler with someone who is trying to figure out the path. We all (at least I did) started with Taxi thinking we had something to offer, and had to go through the struggle of understanding how the Taxi model works and how we were going to fit in it. That took me a few years. I think it's absolutely okay to be honest and tell a songwriter that their lyrics need work, and explain with as many specifics as possible how those lyrics could be improved, while still refraining from making it personal, and while still remaining positive and encouraging. We all need to learn from each other, and that means we must act as mentors to each other as best we can. In other words, I feel that feedback should should be framed in a positive light... no matter how much or how little needs to be learned. We all have to start somewhere. I am endlessly grateful to those who, 4 or 5 years ago, read & listened to my unformed, vaque lyrics and my meandering have-no-hook melodies... often more than 6 minutes long... and patiently explained over and over what I needed to work on, and suggested things I could read and exercises I could do that would help me move forward. Thus, I'm saying, I think WTA has learned a lot from both of the threads he posted... and by staying open and continuing to dialoque with him & every other newer member, and posting samples of what works and doesn't work, I hope those of us a little further down the path can assist them in their understanding.Recommended reading: "Writing Better Lyrics" - Pat Pattison"6 Steps to Songwriting Success" - Jason Blume"The Craft & the Business of Songwriting" - John Braheny (WTA, you should note that John's book is considered the bible of songwriting by many... including staff at Taxi)luvHummin'bird

[geo]

Oct 3, 2008, 3:07pm, hurowitz wrote:BTW, there is NOTHING wrong with writing music for the sheer joy of it. Whew!!! Was beginning to worry!!! Peace, Geo

[wta]

Oct 4, 2008, 2:58pm, tedsingingfox wrote:sorry to disagree, WTA...the vague, pointless lyrics of "Fly With Me" do NOT make any better sense, just because they are supposed to be CCM lyrics. that's totally naive of you to believe that. (I was raised in an extremely fundamental "Christian" family and can still probably quote nearly as many Bible verses as you...) Just because "Christians" might think it's about angels or floating up to heaven doesn't mean they make any clear sense. Even CCM music has more focus to it than that. Fly With Me was written by a Christian with Christian listeners in a time of improvisational music. You will note I didn't say it was a CCM song, I said it was "more of a CCM song than maidstream". If you read my early post you'd see that I didn't write it for commercial purposes, I didn't write it to be anything, it just came out and I labeled that moment of creativity "Fly With Me". I didn't say the lyrics where clear or vague I just said that it would be easier to understand if you where a Christian listener, maybe I should have clearified deeper and I'm sorry to cause your outburst. Thats the things with posting, I would always say more if I were talking than if I'm typing because it takes SO long for me to type. Like right now I'm just to tired to type anymore so I'll have to just leave it at that. Are the lyrics vague? They'd be clearer in a Chrstian setting, thats all I was saying. I'm very grateful for all the posts and the help I've received to better understanding the screening process and the income senerio and I'm off to burry myself in studio time put my new infromation to work and so we'll see you all again sometime... wta

[Casey H]

It seems that a lot has been said on this thread.... I certainly did my share of commenting...Points have been made and made and made and made... I'm not sure there is much more to say without things just degrading.I think it's time to just let it rest (JMHO). Tons of information has been provided as what to do and not to do when submitting music. If William wants his songs critiqued, he can post them on peer-to-peer for feedback. Just my Sunday morning thoughts... Casey

[anne]

William - I hope to hear your music after you come back out of the studio ! I know I'm getting ready to dig myself in mine for the week, and hopeful that I'll have some good songs to post by next weekend.

[ckbarlow]

Hey, WTA: I was thinking about addressing the "lyrics the same in the verse and chorus" issue, and it got me thinking of a larger, perhaps more interesting thread for you... but first things first.An earlier post mentioned "big hooks." Part of "bigness" in the chorus is that is completely new, breathtakingly different (though of course related) -- in lots of ways: the range is new (typically higher notes), the rhythm and pace are different (longer notes vs. shorter in the verse, or vice versa), and most definitely the lyrics hit the listener like the revelatory line in a great novel, or the punch line of the best, most profound joke or story you've ever heard, etc. etc. To create this effect, by definition you have to save that tidbit for the chorus. Now, there are song forms that don't have a discrete chorus but instead have the chorus line/hook as the last line of every verse. That's another post.OK... now here's the higher-level thinking I mentioned. A weird thing happened to me when I joined TAXI. I joined with a backlog of music in Genre X. And then because of a very significant life experience, I wrote, for the first time, a song in Genre Y. But I didn't do it in a vacuum. Probably *because* I'd never written in Genre Y before, I had the humility required to read books like the ones mentioned here ("Writing Better Lyrics" is in my opinion indispensable) and doing a bunch of listening to current Genre Y tunes, and so on. I played it for a local music club devoted to Genre Y and took their suggestions. I sent it to TAXI for custom critique and implemented every suggestion. And, incredibly, after a dozen or more Genre X rejections that had me pretty pissy (because I thought I knew what I was doing in Genre X), I got my first-ever forward - for that first-ever song in Genre Y. OK, great - but what's the big concept? Well, it is occurring to me just in this very moment that this experience taught me a huge lesson: I've started looking much, much differently (as in, more critically, with more detachment) at my work in Genre X. And I've just, earlier this year, signed my first tracks, in that genre. So I'm almost wondering if it's a great exercise that anybody could do -- switch genres for 3 months. Work your a** off; be a student again. Then switch back and see if your perspective on your primary genre has changed. Interesting!best of luck,CK

[hummingbird]

Excellent post, CK!!!And I will second that motion. I joined Taxi thinking I was going to pitch my "wonderful" folk-like country tunes to contemporary artists. And now I'm sitting here with deals for instrumentals in electronica, world, comedy, action. Big learning curve... but interestingly enough, I'm starting to pitch songs again, now that I know more about what the biz is looking for and how to meet that need.