Should I join?

[papa]

Hi Casey, thanks for the welcome, much appreciated.I look forward to chatting to more of you in the near future.papa

[hummingbird]

papa, I'll tell you what happened, why your intro post got lost.... I think, like me, most people pop down to the bottom of the screen and look at the 10 most recent posts. If there's a lot of posting going on, we may not see an intro post or a request for review.Taxi is a little pricey, and the submission fees do eat up a chunck of change. The secret to success in submitting to Taxi is to read the listing carefully, listen to the examples provided, and target your song submissions perfectly. And then, listen to & evaluate the critiques, learn from them, apply that knowledge as you move forward in your writing.welcome aboard!cheersMs 'Bird

[53mph]

Hey Papa,I'm from London, but I've been living in Italy for the last 3 years.I too invested my redundancy money in Taxi. I decided to set aside a chunk of cash to throw at the listings and see what sticks. I dread to think how much money I spent but I view this whole experience as a learning curve as to how to get my music placed differently now that I'm not well connected in London.It really depends what you want to happen for you. If you're looking to become a music star then you're plobably better off gigging like a mad man in the capital and sending demos off to labels. London is really the best place in Europe to get discovered.Taxi is really aimed at the American market (though there have recently been alot of UK listings) so it may just be an extra expense you don't need.If you're looking to place music in Libraries, TV, films then Taxi may be a good bet.What's your plan?

[papa]

Hey its nice to be wiggling into the forum a little more,thanks to H'bird and 53mph...Hope to meet more of you soon.Ahh Mr.53mph, you have an element of Lou Reed in your voice, I had a look on Broadjam.I am looking for TV/ads placement, so I'm guessing by the listings it would suit me, I've been contemplating joining for about three years now, so I'm eager to get going, its the ONLY thing I want to do.Have you had any luck yet?Also can anyone tell me, if you want to upload your submissions do you have to join the broadjam service and doesn't that cost?I'm a mini-mob memberCheers...speak soon, papa

[onoffon]

Quote:Thank you all for responding. As I suspected (and as is often the case in life), it's mostly cynics who aren't willing to address their own shortcomings that are looking to blame others for their inability to succeed.Hello Andreh - I'm Von from ONOFFON. I have been a member of TAXI for two years but have just declined to renew for a third because of a variety of reasons I won't go into here.As with any good discussion - you really need to consider a dissenting voice to adequately balance out making any decision, so I guess I'll play a little devil's advocate.The problem I have with this system isn't really TAXI's fault - it's shortcomings with the industry. Our music was always well received by TAXI screeners and we had a good percentage of forwards on our submissions. Getting actual placements was the hardest part. Unfortunately, the industry wants to perpetually dictate what's acceptable in your music. They provide formulae that they feel your music MUST follow or it's not right. You have a certain number of bars of intro allowable - you need a concise verse - a logical bridge - and the killer hook of a chorus or your art isn't correct.You see, I believe that art shouldn't follow any particular formula. To me, when you start writing music to fit a mold, you kill artistry, innovation, and creativity - the lifeblood of any art. I've always felt that if you have any hope of creating something that will display any amount of longevity, it must be visionary and ground-breaking and trend-setting and completely your own. These are not things that are being sought after by the industry. Every listing asks for music that is like 'this band' or 'that band' - in fact, asking specifically for music that doesn't go where no one has gone before. That's simply not ONOFFON.As for being cynical or not addressing shortcomings, just take a look over at the ONOFFON thread on the Shameless Self Promotion board to see what we've done and continue to do throughout the internet independent music movement. Don't get me wrong - for those that this system works for, it can work quite well. It just didn't work for us... I know some will say that I didn't give it enough time. Well, without TAXI I placed our music in a couple of cable shows, one with FOX Sports, and I've put our music into a dozen indie and art films, so I'll just start pounding the pavement on my own once again and see what happens.Good luck with your music!Von from ONOFFON

[hummingbird]

You see, I believe that art shouldn't follow any particular formula. To me, when you start writing music to fit a mold, you kill artistry, innovation, and creativity - the lifeblood of any art. I've always felt that if you have any hope of creating something that will display any amount of longevity, it must be visionary and ground-breaking and trend-setting and completely your own. These are not things that are being sought after by the industry. Every listing asks for music that is like 'this band' or 'that band' - in fact, asking specifically for music that doesn't go where no one has gone before. That's simply not ONOFFON.Amen to that. I decided a while back to forget about trying to make copycat commercial music (not least because I just don't have the smarts) and explore my own musical creativity. Through that exploration, and my many collaborations, my skill level in writing/composing & producing has grown and my successes, though small, are meaningful to me. I strongly believe that following my own path is essential.I still renewed my Taxi membership, though. By and large, I submit to the film/tv listings, and I'll be attending the Road Rally again this year. In 'defence' of Taxi, I'd like to say, IMO they just reflect the reality of an industry that is morphing from the old model. There are only 4 major labels left. Making a hit record or releasing a hit single involves a huge investment. Their interest is solely in making money - artistry & originality takes a back seat to the hit machine. Competition is fierce, and they want what they want. Taxi's job is to screen out everything that isn't what the listee has specified - and that's about 95% of submissions. Ms 'Bird

[hummingbird]

Also can anyone tell me, if you want to upload your submissions do you have to join the broadjam service and doesn't that cost?I'm a mini-mob memberPapa, if you want to submit on=line then you need to join Broadjam, there's a special price for Taxi members ($39.95 per year). Then you need a credit card to do your submissions ($5 per song).I started out submitting by snail mail, but with the cost of postage & envelopes & CDs & labels, etc.... it was just cheaper & easier to use Broadjam.cheersHummin'bird

[53mph]

Hi Papa,In response to your questions. I'm in my second year of subscription and I've had alot of nibbles but no bites yet. I understand from other people on this forum that sometimes you don't hear back from some forwards for over 1 year....so there's still time I guess.For me, the whole experience of joining Taxi has been something of a quality control centre.I've belonged to other "artist feedback" systems before such as Garageband, which was useless, and the White Label, with which you pay to put one of your songs into an industry community and they supply you with a feedback sheet at the end of the screening period from all the industry folk who took part in the screening...I made alot of friends via this system but it wasn't geared towards placing the music, just feedback, and that cost around £70 per song...:(When I was in London I had a band that supported me for free at all my gigs. but as every showcase was for me and my music I had to cover the costs of rehersals. So everytime I had a showcase gig it could set me back £200. Even if I sold out a venue I wouldn't get that money back in London (they have a very unfair payment system in London folks) so although I got lots of exposure I was paying through the nose each time.When I consider the traditional costs of getting my music heard by people in the know, Taxi is a small price to pay to have industry people crit and even forward your music for deals. It's a way of getting directly to the people making the decisions without having to go through all the ritualistic ego rubbing that traditional A&R people require before they offer you a deal.Taxi gives you the opportunity to get both feedback and a maybe a deal.That's the way I see it.I agree with Von and Hbird that the music should come from yourself. Taxi will not help you create music, but through the crits I've learned alot about how to look at my own music with a critical ear and how to improve my music as a result. Songs that in the past I would have left as is, thinking that all the imperfections added to the character or "artistic license", now don't cut it for me. I feel my music has improved drastically as a result. The weakest part of my music had always been my vocals but now I'm getting crits back saying "you have a great voice"...so I feel that I must have made some improvement in that direction by taking in all the advice offered to me by both Taxi (whose quality of feedback is much more indepth than others I've tried) and the folk on this board. (thanks for the Lou Reed comparison by the way...he's one of my heroes).I still pursue things outside of Taxi because there are various levels to this industry that Taxi doesn't take in, for example indie labels. There are ways to make money from your music without thinking of major label deals or Library placements. For example if you release a single in the UK on an indie label and then get tons of radio play you can make some serious money. I joined the PRS after releasing my first single on an indie label and got paid over £100 per play on Radio 1....that's some serious money if you get A-listed. I also got music placed on Sky TV and got paid £150 per play.....All this because a DJ liked my indie release and A-listed it....I suggest thinking about other ways you could get your stuff heard whilst using Taxi as a quality control centre as well as a listings company. If you want to put out a single I can send you the details of a cheap record pressing plant in the Czech Republic that can press your vinyl and then all you have to do is distribute it, and mail it out to DJ's. If your music is strong and radio friendly you may find yourself with a radio hit on your hands without having to sell any singles...and make a packet from airplay alone......it's a thought!I'm outside the industry so my opininon should be taken as a personal point of view only. There are other people on here who are making money from their music through Taxi and other places and their points of view carry more weight than mine. Listen to the people who are doing it and try to understand how they got there...because listening to the ways people failed at something doesn't help you succeed, does it?On a side note; if you can, get a book in the UK called "They F**k You Up" by Oliver James. It's a psychology book that looks into reasons why you may always fail at things and ways to turn that trend around. It's opening my eyes to reasons why I've failed to reach my suppossed music goals in the past.Ciao!

[papa]

Wow 53mph,airplay on radio1, can't believe the exposure from that didn't get you a full time job at it. (what was the tune)thanks for your advice I appreciate it.I do think i joined Taxi for the right reasons, I've been working really hard on the music for the last 4 years, but have been writing since I was about 13yrs old.Ive been accepted by a Music Production Library as a composer a couple of months ago so you never know.... M's H'bird,thanks on the broadjam answer, I agree its a lot easier and hassle free to upload. (is that at 192kbs)How long did it take non US citizens to get their membership packs through the post?See you all P

[papa]

P.S does anyone else here write for music libraries???papa