Screening a little confusing

[PeterGreggMusic]

I admit I am new to submitting music here, so green is a good place to admit I am at. So far all my submissions are rejections. What is confusing to me is this: The difference between a submitted song that may fit another listing, verses a song that is below the mark of probably ever getting forwarded.

I'm thinking a screener hears a song and besides screening for that listing gets the underlying thought "this song will never get a listing EVER". Before I spend a year submitting the song it would be nice to have a box they can check that effectively says a song will never have a chance - EVER lol.

I think a lot of people here can sit and re-record a song because of home equipment. I don't play anything so I have to send a song to a demo company so making little refinements can be beyond what I can pay. Basically I have an inventory that I will be submittng over and over. If a song is likely below par, a box that says that would be nice I think. Maybe not, what do you think?

The other thing, it is odd that there is no "Ballad" category. The screeners refer to that word often in what they write about a listing, but there isn't a "Ballad" category itself.

Peter

[TerrellBurt]

Hey and welcome to the boards! Try using the Peer To Peer forum at http://forums.taxi.com/peer-to-peer-f20.html to get critique on your songs before you submit them to listings.

And also utilize the Collaboration Corner forum. There are talented people that play instruments here so you don't necessarily have to use a demo company.

[hummingbird]

I'd say, too, if you are uncertain, try using the Custom Critique service, I found it to be very helpful in terms of knowing what genre the piece fits, and if it is 'over the bar' in production quality.

[Casey H]

Peter
Welcome!

A few thoughts...

As a non-performer like you who depends on others to demo my songs, I've learned a few things. First, always get peer to peer and a professional critique before investing in a demo service. You can make a rough recording (the same one you send the demo service) and send that with a lyric sheet to a pro-critique service. There are a number of good ones including Jason Blume and Taxi's own custom critique service which is a great value at $20.

You don't want to invest all that money in a demo just to find out later that the lyrics need work, the hook isn't strong enough, etc.

Question: What is your goal? Are you looking to write songs to be cut by artists? Looking for film/TV placements? Placing with artists almost always applies to the country genre and it is EXTREMELY competitive. So you really need to make those songs be bullet proof.

Also, I suggest you build collaborative relationships with other members. By collaborating with someone who has the production skills, you can save a lot on demo service fees and have the ability to edit and adapt tracks as needed. This forum and the annual Taxi road rally are great ways to build those relationships.

If you want to send me a link to one of your returned songs, along with the listing text and lyrics, just drop me a PM. I'm not the ultimate expert but I'll tell you what *I* think.

Best,
Casey

[PeterGreggMusic]

Thanks for all the replies - really cool Thank you again.

Some really great suggestions, I'm on it (as they say lol). The songs I submitted were all returned so far, but I have to say the reviewers were a lot lot nicer than I expected them to be. Really surprisingly nice, caught me off guard. I belonged to Taxi 15 years ago and the returns were quite brutal then, like Simon Cowell worked here then lol.

Hummingbird and Commissary: I sent in my songs today to the Taxi Critique. Thank you guys!

Casey, good questions. I am wanting to write and have the songs taken up by other artists. Did I understand you correctly, the country genre is the only one taking songs by song writers (generally)?

I thought the songs I uploaded to Taxi could be heard by anyone here, I will look into that.

I am not a pro level singer, but you asked to hear one and here is one of my songs that is a ballad style being sung
by me on Youtube. The song has been sent to a demo company and I am singing to an mp3 track of it (please remember, I am not a singer other than for personal use)
https://youtu.be/Y640lYnw-lk

Thanks . . .
Peter

[Casey H]

Thanks for all the replies - really cool Thank you again.

Some really great suggestions, I'm on it (as they say lol). The songs I submitted were all returned so far, but I have to say the reviewers were a lot lot nicer than I expected them to be. Really surprisingly nice, caught me off guard. I belonged to Taxi 15 years ago and the returns were quite brutal then, like Simon Cowell worked here then lol.

Hummingbird and Commissary: I sent in my songs today to the Taxi Critique. Thank you guys!

Casey, good questions. I am wanting to write and have the songs taken up by other artists. Did I understand you correctly, the country genre is the only one taking songs by song writers (generally)?

I thought the songs I uploaded to Taxi could be heard by anyone here, I will look into that.

I am not a pro level singer, but you asked to hear one and here is one of my songs that is a ballad style being sung
by me on Youtube. The song has been sent to a demo company and I am singing to an mp3 track of it (please remember, I am not a singer other than for personal use)
https://youtu.be/Y640lYnw-lk

Thanks . . .
Peter

Hey Peter
The songs you upload to Taxi can be heard by anyone if you select "Public" for them **AND** you provide us a link to your Taxi music page. It would be www.taxi.com/[YOUR TAXI MUSIC PAGE LOGIN NAME]... Your login name for that may not be the same as the one you use for the forum log in. They are separate entities.

As far as getting your songs cut by artists, although it DOES happen in all genres, it's probably more common in country and pop then let's say, rock, for which most artists write their own. And even with "more common" it's incredibly competitive and difficult. Nothing's impossible, of course and if it's your dream then go for it! You have to work very hard at honing your craft over many years. I remember Jason Blume talking about how he moved to Nashville and lived on spaghetti for over 10 years before he got his first cut.

One thing to consider is writing and pitching music for film/TV. There is a wide range of opportunities for all genres.

I listened to your ballad. It's a very pretty song and with some tweaks and a good recording I could see potential for film/TV. The first thing that jumped out to me as needing work were the lyrics. They are a bit too full of clichés and overused phrases to get a music publisher excited. One of the tricks in songwriting is to find a way to say something commonplace in a unique and special way. There are a lot of good books on lyric writing out there. Others can chime in and list their favorites. Also, Robin Fredericks' books on songwriting are terrific.

Consider collaborating on that ballad with another member who is good at lyrics and maybe also does production work.

Anyway, HTH
Casey

[Russell Landwehr]

The other thing, it is odd that there is no "Ballad" category. The screeners refer to that word often in what they write about a listing, but there isn't a "Ballad" category itself.

Peter

Heya Peter, Welcome to the Forums.

"Ballad" listings would fall under the Genre of music that the Listing folks are looking for the ballad in.
There are many kinds of "ballads" R&B, Adult Contemporary, Country, Rock, etc. It's better to group listings by Genre rather than categories like Ballad, otherwise, Genres would get all crammed up against each other.

Regards
Russell Landwehr