Somthing odd? And ranting...Lots of ranting....

[davewalton]

Quote:I guess you honestly don't believe that people can read the forum posts, get offended, and then take it out on critiques right? Right. Because you're not important enough for them to even get offended, let along being important enough to go through the monumental efforts you describe. Quote:Oh and remember earlier when I said how people don't always say what they want to on these forums because of being flamed? Well take a look, you made a whole post just trying to make me look silly. Thanks for proving my point on that BTW.You started looking silly LONG before I posted my little thing. I'm here at 5am because although I got caught up in the passion of the moment, I had second thoughts and hoped I could deleted it before it got read. I have a conscience and truly don't feel good about my post. I apologize for that.Also I have no doubts about your music. 8's and 7's are excellent marks and many Taxi members would die for those marks. I've never received anything better than an 8 that I can recall. I'm fine with that while you choose to go on an endless "wahhh... boo-hoo" tirade. Nobody respects that.Prior to all this consipracy nonsense, I and others had made quite a few posts which tried to address your concerns to maybe help you grasp the possible reasons that any song does or doesn't get forwarded. It seems that no matter what has been said or whatever that you continue to go deeper and deeper into areas that have no basis in reality. Quote:How about how my materials were lost on 2 different occasions? Tell me I'm wrong to be upset about that?Instead of being upset and ranting on a public forum, contact Taxi and ask for a refund for those two occasions. What's the problem? Just do it! They're very friendly and very anxious to make things right - especially when they've made the mistake.Quote:then you also prove my point that your just ignorantly bashing everything and everyone who's not 100% pro-TAXI.All we know is that SongOfTheYear.com gave you one (1) good review and you love them and that Taxi gave you good marks but returned a couple of your songs and so you conclude it's because you're being "blackballed". You come off as a hypersensitive primadonna, not a seasoned professional.Quote:So what now? Let me guess, you are going to jump on another conspiracy theories of mine rather then address the main points I made right? Actually we've been addressing your main points, one-by-one in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Re-read the posts to your original concern and you'll see that quite a few of us took the time to address your issues point-by-point.I was also happy to link you to a post about the Song Writers Market book. That you think Taxi isn't going to work for you doesn't matter to me in the least. Taxi isn't for everyone. Alternatives are out there and I presented an alternative to you. No one, including me, wants to see you fail or rather set yourself up for failure.I'm done with this thread. You get the last word.Peace,Dave

[spariam]

Quote:Well thank you kind sir, the only problem is that I have a yahoo email account that will only let me upload to a maximum of a 10.0MB file size. The file sizes for my songs range from 40-60 MB. That being said, I appreciate it, maybe theres another way? I can't use msn messenger because for some reason it freezes every time I open it, even though I removed it and re-installed..but maybe yahoo messenger? Haven't been on it in years, but if you have it and are willing, why not leave ur addy and I'll try to get on and add you so that I can send it over that? Thanks.You can use a free service like yousendit.com...I believe you can go up to 1G for free.Or you could simply do it yourself and use a free tool like Lame (in conjunction with Audacity if you like) and convert to a 192 kpbs mp3...it's been good enough for me, and I've gotten placed based on mp3s I've created that way...

[spariam]

Quote:I think you are absolutely right. Taxi caters to musicians who work their butts off everyday, have tenacity, perseverance and are willing to learn and to put it all on the line to succeeed at what they love to do. It won't work well for whiners, quitters, people who think they are god's gift to music and believe it is their birthright to have the red carpet rolled out for them from Hollywood all the way to their front door....that IS missing from the brochure. No sacarasm intended, but Matto has an excellent point...One thing I think that separates those who achieve success from those that don't is attitude. There are tons of talented folks out there, more than we'll probably ever know about, but I'd venture to guess that the ones who do achieve some sort of success have a postive attitude and are easy to work with. I can't really speak so much for myself, but I do have friends in the business (and some are very, very successful) and a common thread is their attitude (one friend of mine is a well-known NY studio musician, and he has said in interviews that attitude and preserverance are the two biggest factors to his success). So much about this business, and life in general, is about relationships. Maybe the brochure should add that good attitude will buy you a lot... Yes it is too bad your bio was lost after all the work and money that went into it. Sometimes things just happen...and sometimes you just need to make the best of it. My experience with Taxi has been extremely positive and I've been told time and time again that if something happens they're great folks to work with to get problems resolved.I can't comment on your critiques...I use them as a guide, I don't over analyse them. I can't say that I've ever compared critques of the same songs...I just read them and move on. Anyway, best of luck to you.

[johnnydean1]

All this and still nothing to listen to.That says it all,the music must be crap.

[doortoanima]

Do you know what? I have to apologize. I just received a check from TAXI for my refund. All of the issues I've had really doesn't matter anymore. They lived up to their promise of refunding those unsatisfied and for that, I respect them.hurowitz, I'm not against mp3's, I would just like a good conversion. For ex, there was an mp3 converter I used from soundforge that was great but was limited in how many times you could use it. I've tried some free ones that just sounded terrible when compared to it....so I liked AubreyZ's idea best, that he would convert it using something I've heard of before (Who hasn't heard of pro tools?) so that I should probably get a good conversion.Spariam, that yousendit place actually sounds very convenient. I think I'll give that a look, thanks. Also, you may be right about attitude as well. It's just hard for me not to get upset after the issues I mentioned, especially as the money I invested, which may not be alot to some, was a hell of alot of money for me, and I also can't afford to make lot's of submissions, I've only submitted 4 separate times during my (around) 6 month membership. It's not just the 5 bucks, it's the materials and the shipping too. I'm from a small place in Canada, so it costs me a fair bit to ship. I've been having to put money aside as I'm moving in less then a month and I'm going to do a music course, so this WAS a big investment for me. I guess this helped to make me less forgiving then alot of people on these boards. Also, thanks for not attacking me right away like a few on this board.So no, at the moment I can't convert an mp3, so how about I just show my critiques instead to satisfy the curiosity of weather or not I write music? I just came across a site that let's u upload images, I haven't used it before, so I hope it works....First, a critique that I was HAPPY with. This was the only critique I have "scanned" as I don't have a scanner myself. The rest are pictures of the critiques taken with a camera TODAY for this post.Now, a critique that upset me: Please note the "No bio was included" and the "Hard to classify" which is classified partially on the first critique and fully on the the 3rd.Now another critique from TAXI that I was actually quite happy with.But do you see how the last and the middle critique contrast each other? It also shows my concern with TAXI only catering to those who write the standard verse chorus verse, as with my unconformative songs, that is brought up in all of my TAXI critiques.Anyway, just for your convenience and to satisfy your curiousity, I've also included pictures of the relevant songoftheyear critiques.The Exorcism.Olivers Wake. (Also, this song has been re-recorded since, puttingthe sound quality up a great deal from the version that was critiqued here. The newer version is the one TAXI got. No differentaside from sound quality).As you can see, I did not edit these pictures in any way aside frommaking them a smaller size (because of band width restrictions) and of course, putting a quick blur on my last name due to privacy reasons.No these aren't the songs you can listen to, BUT it should beenough to PROVE where I'm coming from and that I DO infact writemusic that HAS had high scores.Now then. You can see some critiques, you can see that I have been telling the truth as I have been consistent with all that I've said to do with my critiques, and hopefully you can understand whyI have reason to believe that my songs don't deserve 6's and 5's, and ALSO, hopefully see why I feel I should have been forwarded.With all of that said. I no longer have any hard feelings with TAXI, as they have made good on their promise to refund my membership on the basis that I was not satisfied. I guess for those on the fence on weather or not to join, that should at least be comforting. I also admit, I had no trouble getting my refund. So TAXI is what it is. If you write mainstream, join, if not...well, you can join anyway to see first hand, you'll still get your money back if your not satisfied.Anyway, no hard feelings. Thanks to those who have tried to help, sorry if I came off angry...but I was, and I can't say I would act any different if the situation were to happen again.

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Do you know what? I have to apologize. I just received a check from TAXI for my refund. All of the issues I've had really doesn't matter anymore. They lived up to their promise of refunding those unsatisfied and for that, I respect them.hurowitz, I'm not against mp3's, I would just like a good conversion. For ex, there was an mp3 converter I used from soundforge that was great but was limited in how many times you could use it. I've tried some free ones that just sounded terrible when compared to it....so I liked AubreyZ's idea best, that he would convert it using something I've heard of before (Who hasn't heard of pro tools?) so that I should probably get a good conversion.Spariam, that yousendit place actually sounds very convenient. I think I'll give that a look, thanks. Also, you may be right about attitude as well. It's just hard for me not to get upset after the issues I mentioned, especially as the money I invested, which may not be alot to some, was a hell of alot of money for me, and I also can't afford to make lot's of submissions, I've only submitted 4 separate times during my (around) 6 month membership. It's not just the 5 bucks, it's the materials and the shipping too. I'm from a small place in Canada, so it costs me a fair bit to ship. I've been having to put money aside as I'm moving in less then a month and I'm going to do a music course, so this WAS a big investment for me. I guess this helped to make me less forgiving then alot of people on these boards. Also, thanks for not attacking me right away like a few on this board.So no, at the moment I can't convert an mp3, so how about I just show my critiques instead to satisfy the curiosity of weather or not I write music? I just came across a site that let's u upload images, I haven't used it before, so I hope it works....First, a critique that I was HAPPY with. This was the only critique I have "scanned" as I don't have a scanner myself. The rest are pictures of the critiques taken with a camera TODAY for this post.Now, a critique that upset me: Please note the "No bio was included" and the "Hard to classify" which is classified partially on the first critique and fully on the the 3rd.Now another critique from TAXI that I was actually quite happy with.But do you see how the last and the middle critique contrast each other? It also shows my concern with TAXI only catering to those who write the standard verse chorus verse, as with my unconformative songs, that is brought up in all of my TAXI critiques.Anyway, just for your convenience and to satisfy your curiousity, I've also included pictures of the relevant songoftheyear critiques.The Exorcism.Olivers Wake. (Also, this song has been re-recorded since, puttingthe sound quality up a great deal from the version that was critiqued here. The newer version is the one TAXI got. No differentaside from sound quality).As you can see, I did not edit these pictures in any way aside frommaking them a smaller size (because of band width restrictions) and of course, putting a quick blur on my last name due to privacy reasons.No these aren't the songs you can listen to, BUT it should beenough to PROVE where I'm coming from and that I DO infact writemusic that HAS had high scores.Now then. You can see some critiques, you can see that I have been telling the truth as I have been consistent with all that I've said to do with my critiques, and hopefully you can understand whyI have reason to believe that my songs don't deserve 6's and 5's, and ALSO, hopefully see why I feel I should have been forwarded.With all of that said. I no longer have any hard feelings with TAXI, as they have made good on their promise to refund my membership on the basis that I was not satisfied. I guess for those on the fence on weather or not to join, that should at least be comforting. I also admit, I had no trouble getting my refund. So TAXI is what it is. If you write mainstream, join, if not...well, you can join anyway to see first hand, you'll still get your money back if your not satisfied.Anyway, no hard feelings. Thanks to those who have tried to help, sorry if I came off angry...but I was, and I can't say I would act any different if the situation were to happen again. The vast majority of people here are musicians who judge with their ears.You are still trying to convince us with visual evidence.It just doesn't work.I wish you all the best with your music but in my opinion the critiques you got from Taxi were designed to "encourage" not an indication of any great talent.J.

[doortoanima]

[/quote]The vast majority of people here are musicians who judge with their ears.You are still trying to convince us with visual evidence.It just doesn't work.I wish you all the best with your music but in my opinion the critiques you got from Taxi were designed to "encourage" not an indication of any great talent.J.[/quote]Well thanks for wishing me luck, but if my critiques from TAXI and songoftheyear, both showing good scores isn't enough to convince you that I actually am a good song writer, then I don't think hearing them will change your tune, as it seems as if your mind is already made up. Say what you will, but aside from that second TAXI critique I posted, I have high scoring critiques for 5 different songs posted. If that does not speak for my consistency to write good songs, and support the notion that I do infact know how to write good ORIGINAL songs, then nothing will.

[matto]

Will,thanks for posting your critiques, very interesting. I know several people in this thread "called you out", but I don't think anybody *actually* suspected you'd made up your review scores... The thing I found interesting is that there's a common theme running thru all of these critiques, both Taxi and SOTY...basically they all say "there's LOTS of potential here, but the material isn't quite ready for primetime yet". There's some work left to be done, and that work mostly seems to lie in structure and production. Every critique seems to touch upon one (or usually both) of these 2 issues.I'm not sure whether it was the high scores or that ONE sentence about "huge market potential" that gave you the idea that you were ready for a major record deal and NEEDED to be forwarded...but if you read all the critiques in their entirety, they all seem to say the same thing basically (even the one you consider "contradictory"): "lots of potential...not quite ready yet".I think it's important to realize that in today's record label climate, it's *extremely* rare for anybody to be interested in anything that's "not quite ready yet". The days of true "artist development" by major labels are long gone. This is even more true if your music falls a bit outside of the mainstream. I know that's a harsh truth, but it's the truth nonetheless.Also I have to say I'm surprised you were "upset" by that one Taxi critique...boy if it takes that little to get you "upset", you will have an EXTREMELY hard time succeeding in this tough business.A thick skin is pretty much a prerequisite for success in the music business, and I can guarantee you that this is not even anywhere CLOSE to the worst critique you will get in your career.I'm glad you made your peace with Taxi, and I hope you'll take the fact that all of these critiques are touching upon the same things into consideration. If so many industry pros are telling you the same thing...they might be onto something after all. Good luck to you, and let us know when you finish your album. matto

[doortoanima]

Quote:Will,thanks for posting your critiques, very interesting. I know several people in this thread "called you out", but I don't think anybody *actually* suspected you'd made up your review scores... The thing I found interesting is that there's a common theme running thru all of these critiques, both Taxi and SOTY...basically they all say "there's LOTS of potential here, but the material isn't quite ready for primetime yet". There's some work left to be done, and that work mostly seems to lie in structure and production. Every critique seems to touch upon one (or usually both) of these 2 issues.I'm not sure whether it was the high scores or that ONE sentence about "huge market potential" that gave you the idea that you were ready for a major record deal and NEEDED to be forwarded...but if you read all the critiques in their entirety, they all seem to say the same thing basically (even the one you consider "contradictory"): "lots of potential...not quite ready yet".I think it's important to realize that in today's record label climate, it's *extremely* rare for anybody to be interested in anything that's "not quite ready yet". The days of true "artist development" by major labels are long gone. This is even more true if your music falls a bit outside of the mainstream. I know that's a harsh truth, but it's the truth nonetheless.Also I have to say I'm surprised you were "upset" by that one Taxi critique...boy if it takes that little to get you "upset", you will have an EXTREMELY hard time succeeding in this tough business.A thick skin is pretty much a prerequisite for success in the music business, and I can guarantee you that this is not even anywhere CLOSE to the worst critique you will get in your career.I'm glad you made your peace with Taxi, and I hope you'll take the fact that all of these critiques are touching upon the same things into consideration. If so many industry pros are telling you the same thing...they might be onto something after all. Good luck to you, and let us know when you finish your album. mattoI'm glad to see our heated argument die down, and I appreciate your response. I'm not arguing with you now, and I agree with what you say to a point....so may I just explain one of my small problems? I swear this is not a problem exclusive to TAXI or anything of that nature, but more, the music industry in general. The biggest part of my problem IS the structure...but hear me out...I could EASILY write verse chorus verse.....I won a grant with a song that I wrote about 3 years ago that was in verse chorus verse called "Ethereal Part 2", I also had a song on the radio that was verse chorus verse called "Paradise In Perseverance", and I also got another high scoring critique with songoftheyear called "Malice Alice"....the reason my new songs are different is that I want them to be different. I really want to introduce something "new", and a big part of that IS the structure...Picture this. Most songs have a big hook (chorus) that plays about 3 times...2 verses, and a bridge...An average song is like, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus...They also like the chorus to kick in within the first minute of the song....so if you listen to the first minute of a song, you pretty much know the WHOLE lay out, whats to look forward to? Now let me explain my approach..I don't have a specific structure, it varies between songs, but the easiest way to explain it is this...Take my song "Olivers Wake" as an example. It starts off staticky like an old record player with a thin emotional vocal line, as the lyrics and music build it kicks into a full quality high fidelity portion of music. The lyrics start off telling the first half of the end of the story...when the full quality music kicks in, it starts the story from the beginning, and it then builds into a very heavy emotional climatic moment, very busy sounding...then it rings out slightly and we arrive at the same riff as the beginning of the song with the static and radio like quality, the lyrics then tell the end of the actual song as if it had been cut off from the beginning, concluding the song. The lyrics create a story that goes full circle.The title does not even make sense until the very last line of the song, because it then all comes together! And other songs are written completely different! One of the great things about my songs are the unpredictability that it brings, and it emotionally flows like an actual story would. I think this is a hard area for reviewers, because while some are intrigued, they still seem to be on the fence on weather or not it could catch on...and other people are just dead against it as they believe it HAS to be verse chorus verse. So really, I guess my issue is no different then ANYONE trying to bring something new to the table. Verse chorus verse is already proven, while my method is not. So theres alot of risk involved I think. It's just frustrating I guess because It's hard enough to break into the music industry doing the tried and true when your an unknown entity, let alone something as obscure as this.Audio quality is an area that is always improving with me, and yes it is important, but I believe "The Calm (4 Part 1)" is great quality and comparable to ALL of the CD's of established artists that I own. It's not the best in the world, but it's off the shelf quality, and I think the "8" I got for production and engineering for it solidify that notion. Also, that was my latest recording out of all of those critiques, so when all of those other songs are tweaked up to speed (which I'm holding off on until the album is finished, incase I learn some more tricks), the whole album should have that as a consistent quality, no lower then an 8.Anyway, I was pleased to come back and see a nice response after all thats happened. Thanks again, and when my album is finished, maybe I will come back and let you know...I definitely will be celebrating as it's taken for ever, and I'm getting very close to the end...depending on how things go, I'm aiming for around Xmas.Thanks.

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Quote:Will,thanks for posting your critiques, very interesting. I know several people in this thread "called you out", but I don't think anybody *actually* suspected you'd made up your review scores... The thing I found interesting is that there's a common theme running thru all of these critiques, both Taxi and SOTY...basically they all say "there's LOTS of potential here, but the material isn't quite ready for primetime yet". There's some work left to be done, and that work mostly seems to lie in structure and production. Every critique seems to touch upon one (or usually both) of these 2 issues.I'm not sure whether it was the high scores or that ONE sentence about "huge market potential" that gave you the idea that you were ready for a major record deal and NEEDED to be forwarded...but if you read all the critiques in their entirety, they all seem to say the same thing basically (even the one you consider "contradictory"): "lots of potential...not quite ready yet".I think it's important to realize that in today's record label climate, it's *extremely* rare for anybody to be interested in anything that's "not quite ready yet". The days of true "artist development" by major labels are long gone. This is even more true if your music falls a bit outside of the mainstream. I know that's a harsh truth, but it's the truth nonetheless.Also I have to say I'm surprised you were "upset" by that one Taxi critique...boy if it takes that little to get you "upset", you will have an EXTREMELY hard time succeeding in this tough business.A thick skin is pretty much a prerequisite for success in the music business, and I can guarantee you that this is not even anywhere CLOSE to the worst critique you will get in your career.I'm glad you made your peace with Taxi, and I hope you'll take the fact that all of these critiques are touching upon the same things into consideration. If so many industry pros are telling you the same thing...they might be onto something after all. Good luck to you, and let us know when you finish your album. mattoI'm glad to see our heated argument die down, and I appreciate your response. I'm not arguing with you now, and I agree with what you say to a point....so may I just explain one of my small problems? I swear this is not a problem exclusive to TAXI or anything of that nature, but more, the music industry in general. The biggest part of my problem IS the structure...but hear me out...I could EASILY write verse chorus verse.....I won a grant with a song that I wrote about 3 years ago that was in verse chorus verse called "Ethereal Part 2", I also had a song on the radio that was verse chorus verse called "Paradise In Perseverance", and I also got another high scoring critique with songoftheyear called "Malice Alice"....the reason my new songs are different is that I want them to be different. I really want to introduce something "new", and a big part of that IS the structure...Picture this. Most songs have a big hook (chorus) that plays about 3 times...2 verses, and a bridge...An average song is like, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus...They also like the chorus to kick in within the first minute of the song....so if you listen to the first minute of a song, you pretty much know the WHOLE lay out, whats to look forward to? Now let me explain my approach..I don't have a specific structure, it varies between songs, but the easiest way to explain it is this...Take my song "Olivers Wake" as an example. It starts off staticky like an old record player with a thin emotional vocal line, as the lyrics and music build it kicks into a full quality high fidelity portion of music. The lyrics start off telling the first half of the end of the story...when the full quality music kicks in, it starts the story from the beginning, and it then builds into a very heavy emotional climatic moment, very busy sounding...then it rings out slightly and we arrive at the same riff as the beginning of the song with the static and radio like quality, the lyrics then tell the end of the actual song as if it had been cut off from the beginning, concluding the song. The lyrics create a story that goes full circle.The title does not even make sense until the very last line of the song, because it then all comes together! And other songs are written completely different! One of the great things about my songs are the unpredictability that it brings, and it emotionally flows like an actual story would. I think this is a hard area for reviewers, because while some are intrigued, they still seem to be on the fence on weather or not it could catch on...and other people are just dead against it as they believe it HAS to be verse chorus verse. So really, I guess my issue is no different then ANYONE trying to bring something new to the table. Verse chorus verse is already proven, while my method is not. So theres alot of risk involved I think. It's just frustrating I guess because It's hard enough to break into the music industry doing the tried and true when your an unknown entity, let alone something as obscure as this.Audio quality is an area that is always improving with me, and yes it is important, but I believe "The Calm (4 Part 1)" is great quality and comparable to ALL of the CD's of established artists that I own. It's not the best in the world, but it's off the shelf quality, and I think the "8" I got for production and engineering for it solidify that notion. Also, that was my latest recording out of all of those critiques, so when all of those other songs are tweaked up to speed (which I'm holding off on until the album is finished, incase I learn some more tricks), the whole album should have that as a consistent quality, no lower then an 8.Anyway, I was pleased to come back and see a nice response after all thats happened. Thanks again, and when my album is finished, maybe I will come back and let you know...I definitely will be celebrating as it's taken for ever, and I'm getting very close to the end...depending on how things go, I'm aiming for around Xmas.Thanks.I can't wait for xmas to come around so I can "read" about your new album!J