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

[matto]

See doortoanima, *now* you are being ridiculed... I'm not gonna comment anymore on the "conspiracy theories", if you can't see why they are far fetched and ludicrous it's really quite hopeless, and I think anybody with at least half a mind can tell you have completely lost yours.Quote:With this kind of win/lose ratio, you might as well pitch to the labels themselves, and before anyone says that they don't take unsolicited, alot of them do (yes, even the major labels), and they WILL get back to you if they like what they receive even if it ISN'T a record contract, they will usually tell you that they have you registered in their database for future consideration if they are not taking on new artists at the time, that is of course, if they liked your material a great deal.Yeah it's true you can get your material to SOME major labels, but usually you won't make it past the mail room...as far as them telling you "they have registered you in their database" ...would you wake up and smell the coffee please?!That's really just a polite way of saying they have added you to the so called "circular file", if you catch my drift...cause if a label is even REMOTELY interested in you they will ask you to send more material and stay in touch with you.Quote:What about those returns of songs that have a score high and are on target? On target means "right for the listing", high scores means "good"...I guess my problem is that this isn't the reality of my case and some others, as we meet those requirements and are STILL getting returns.Actually that's a fair question. The reason you may not get forwarded despite being on target and having high marks has to do with how picky the screeners have to be. I say "have to be" because this is actually neither up to the screener nor Taxi, it is the listing party who determines where they want the bar set. For certain listings (such as most major record labels) the bar is usually very high. The reason for that is that A&R people are incredibly busy, get to sign only perhaps one act a year, and get turned on to artists by all kinds of sources, including attorneys, colleagues, their record company's research department (soundscan) etc. Taxi is only one of their sources. It's not uncommon for them to ask Taxi only to send stuff that absolutely BLOWS THEM AWAY...or not to send anything at all. 7's and 8's, even 9's, are not gonna cut it for such a tall order. I'm sorry, but that's the reality of the music business, not Taxi's fault. Quote:I also think there are some problems with submitted items being lost and such, as in my case a critique and my presskit booklet has been lost between 2 separate submissions, I've only submitted 4 times...not a great statistic, especially for such a pricey membership fee.If this really happened, that IS horrible and I can tell you it's not typical. I've submitted hundreds of times and I think once or twice a forward note got lost, and that could've been the post office's fault too.Quote:I'm curious though, what have you gotten out of TAXI? Well thanks pretty much entirely to Taxi, I make a full-time living as a songwriter and composer. I've had songs in major studio movies, including the blockbuster "Mr and Mrs Smith", and you can hear my music on broadcast and cable TV on almost a daily basis now, on shows ranging from "Oprah" to "Access Hollywood" to "America's Next Top Model", to "Las Vegas", to name just a few.Quote:it really isn't the relevant issue though, because other people ARE having a problem, and doubting it because of your own experiences are just plain being ignorant. I'm not doubting that "people are having a problem with Taxi"...I'm just doubting it's Taxi's fault...look as I said I've been a Taxi member for many years and I know how it works and that it works...all I know about you is that you're absolutely paranoid and prone to lengthy ranting...can you really blame me for thinking that, in this case, the problem may be yours?Quote:I'm not saying TAXI is all bad, but I think it only caters to a very specific group of musicians, and I think THAT is the information missing in the brochure.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.

[doortoanima]

Quote:Quote: If you can't acknowledge that the judges from songoftheyear ARE professional and AS valid as TAXI, then you are just plain ignorant and deluded. I'm sorry, but which of these pro judges told you that your song had such fabulous potential? And then what did they do with the song?So was this how the scenario went? "Hello, I'm an industry icon with a track record and fabulous connections. You have a great song here, that has potential for much success, but even though it could make us both a lot of money if I help you get it to the right people, I think that I'll just pat you on the back instead."btw- You still have not proven that you have written anything other than long, ranting, self indulgent posts. Well reviewer I.D for my mentioned Olivers Wake and The Exorcism was "R001987K", and yea, they don't mention specific names either, I guess for the same reasons as TAXI. Also, no it didn't go like that^, it went like: I got my critique which was good, and I got an honorable mention on both those separate occasions^. Also, they have a different goal in mind. See their goal is to have a big song contest in which every song competes against each other. After there is a monthly winner from each category for a full year, they have one be-all-end-all winner for the year. So you see, if they gave out record deals to anyone involved with the contest who didn't win the contest, it would probably defeat the whole purpose of what their trying to do...and before you say something like "Well if they really thought they'd make money then they would sign you anyway"...Im pretty sure they probably had to sign a contract that restricts them from personally signing artists that came through the contest.Also, even though proving that I write my own music isn't exactly appealing now, seeing as how the last bunch of posts has been nothing but negative remarks and jokes at my expense and I'm almost positive that there will be bias, at least from those who made those negative remarks, I'll tell you what. Give me a good mp3 converter (An actual good one that will make a great conversion retaining most of the songs original audio quality) that's free, a site to upload my tunes to, and I'll upload them for you

[aubreyz]

Quote: Give me a good mp3 converter (An actual good one that will make a great conversion retaining most of the songs original audio quality) that's free, a site to upload my tunes to, and I'll upload them for you I hope you understand a little tongue in check digging. I can't help myself. Sometimes just have to spin the squeaky wheel.I'll do you one better than the above. You can email me a wave file, I'll convert it using Pro Tools to whatever you want and send it back to you. Anybody can set up a free site at broadjam, soundclick or a dozen other sites.

[aubreyz]

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. Touché. Next Topic?

[doortoanima]

"Actually that's a fair question. The reason you may not get forwarded despite being on target and having high marks has to do with how picky the screeners have to be. I say "have to be" because this is actually neither up to the screener nor Taxi, it is the listing party who determines where they want the bar set. For certain listings (such as most major record labels) the bar is usually very high. The reason for that is that A&R people are incredibly busy, get to sign only perhaps one act a year, and get turned on to artists by all kinds of sources, including attorneys, colleagues, their record company's research department (soundscan) etc. Taxi is only one of their sources. It's not uncommon for them to ask Taxi only to send stuff that absolutely BLOWS THEM AWAY...or not to send anything at all. 7's and 8's, even 9's, are not gonna cut it for such a tall order. I'm sorry, but that's the reality of the music business, not Taxi's fault." So the screeners "Have to be" so picky that you have to get all 10's? Wow....if you googled any movie or CD or even video game that has ratings from professional critiques, almost NONE of them will have perfect 10's, infact, not even from most average consumers. If that's really the case, then maybe THAT should have been mentioned in the TAXI brochure, perfect 10's to get forwarded. Honestly, how many people do you think would have joined knowing that? Last time I checked, 8's and 9's are great, and one 7 in a row of solid 8's for 2 songs for a listing thats "on target" should be forwarded in my opinion. TAXI has to be picky, but come on, they shouldn't be MORE picky then the label themselves. 8's and 9's are good, I doubt most members get those scores often if at all, and I think achieving that kind of score should warrant a forward to a label for a CONSIDERATION don't you?"If this really happened, that IS horrible and I can tell you it's not typical. I've submitted hundreds of times and I think once or twice a forward note got lost, and that could've been the post office's fault too." Well then I hope you can understand some of my troubles, as the second time they lost something of mine (My bio booklet) and it said on my critique that I never submitted one, well that was the kicker for me. I mean, I had to buy an ink cartridge and everything JUST to make that booklet."Well thanks pretty much entirely to Taxi, I make a full-time living as a songwriter and composer. I've had songs in major studio movies, including the blockbuster "Mr and Mrs Smith", and you can hear my music on broadcast and cable TV on almost a daily basis now, on shows ranging from "Oprah" to "Access Hollywood" to "America's Next Top Model", to "Las Vegas", to name just a few." Well congratulations to you too. I guess this whole argument just comes down to perspective though. The ones who have problems complain about TAXI, and the ones who have had success defend TAXI. I guess it's just really different experiences that set us on complete opposite sides of this argument. If I had the same success as you with TAXI, I might be as supportive of TAXI as you are, and if you had the same experience as I have had, you might be somewhat ticked off as I am."I'm not doubting that "people are having a problem with Taxi"...I'm just doubting it's Taxi's fault...look as I said I've been a Taxi member for many years and I know how it works and that it works...all I know about you is that you're absolutely paranoid and prone to lengthy ranting...can you really blame me for thinking that, in this case, the problem may be yours?Quote:I'm not saying TAXI is all bad, but I think it only caters to a very specific group of musicians, and I think THAT is the information missing in the brochure.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 succeed 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. [/quote]"Just saying TAXI caters to people who work their butts off everyday is not entirely accurate. I spent my whole life since I was 12 working my ass off at what I do. I don't just write a bit of music, I don't just play guitar, I don't just sing. I never had anyone to do anything for me, so I learned to play guitar on my own, I had to sell everything I had as a kid to even buy a guitar. I learned to sing, I learned to play bass, I learned to drum, all on my own. I learned to write and I learned to record, I learned to use programs like Cubase and Soundforge on my own, I learned to mix, I learned to master. I even got my own camera, and then I learned to use photoshop so that I could make my own artwork to go with my music. I had to work and sell everything just so I could afford to do that, and now? Now I'm going to do a Music Industry and Performance course so that I can learn even more, and all of that^ is just the tip of the iceberg. So yes I worked my ass off, I've proven that I CAN write good music, as I HAVE had some good critiques even FROM TAXI as well as other places, I have been on the radio, and I have also won a grant with the MIA. No I don't have a huge list of achievments..yet, because I've spent mostly all of my time refining my ability at all of these things. Even over the last 3 years I've been writing 1 album...yes thats right, 1 album and it's not even finished yet! It's not finished because I'm trying to make every single song on there GREAT, consistent with the main theme of the album, and I've been experimenting like mad because I want it to be totally original. That's how committed I am.I am just telling you from experience, from what the TAXI critiques are telling me, is that they want a very specific style of music. The main stream now. I have gotten praise for being original on 2 of my critiques from TAXI, but they still want the verse chorus verse. They still want that hook that repeats 3-4 times. I write like a story that rises and falls, no lyric repeats and the music often builds to a final climax as well. So even though I've gotten good scores and was on target, I'm never going to get forwarded with my style of writing...and hence, TAXI is not going to cater to me.I'm sorry if my views offend you, but ya know what? This bit of information might be helpful for those who also want to be different, and are having the same problem.

[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.

[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