Taxi's A & R

[bwrenhewmach]

Don't get him all fired up again this is now a chilled out thread thanks to you. Would you like some tea Bill? mB

[djdale]

WOW I certainley didn't mean to stir up the pot with this thread... I just wondered if the list was the same as the screeners. . Sometimes when I look at the cam, I don't see any female screeners (even though I can't see all the room).I think it would be GREAT if we were screened by TWO screeners separately, male and female, then the two averaged out or the lowest scores thrown out, and it would give our songs two different emotional spectrums for our scores as well.Could this get more forwards? I haven't even been screened for my tunes yet, so I can't judge for sure. Just a suggestion.I'm by no means telling Taxi how to conduct their business. They have developed a pretty good system, and if it ain't broke...well you know the rest.Dale Ray (BMI)www.taxi.com/djdale

[kg]

Just pointing out, as Jimi said...Oct 25, 2008, 10:42am, TAXI wrote:I can tell you from working at TAXI that every single screener is highly credentialed. Yep, the people you see listed in A&R are the people screening your songs.Here's the link to the examples: http://www.taxi.com/aandr.htmlI get that some people want a whole list, but it looks like TAXI already did this mini-list of examples for you to see without putting everyone's names out there.

[hummingbird]

Oct 26, 2008, 12:44pm, djdale wrote:WOW I certainley didn't mean to stir up the pot with this thread... I just wondered if the list was the same as the screeners. . Sometimes when I look at the cam, I don't see any female screeners (even though I can't see all the room).I think it would be GREAT if we were screened by TWO screeners separately, male and female, then the two averaged out or the lowest scores thrown out, and it would give our songs two different emotional spectrums for our scores as well.Could this get more forwards? I haven't even been screened for my tunes yet, so I can't judge for sure. Just a suggestion.I'm by no means telling Taxi how to conduct their business. They have developed a pretty good system, and if it ain't broke...well you know the rest.Dale Ray (BMI)www.taxi.com/djdaleand what if the 2 screeners disagree (and frankly, I don't see what gender has to do with it). it would have to be 3 screeners for a tiebreaker. And then everything would cost 3 times as much. Triple the cost of submissions & increase the membership fees to pay for the extra service.there's nothing wrong with floating suggestions like these but the practicalities of doing such a thing make them impossible, IMHO. and what if all the people who would have been returned by one screener are now returned by 3 screeners? isn't that a waste of resources. not to say there aren't some submissions that might be considered borderline... but I can tell you quite honestly that 99% of my returns to date were very well deserved, especially in my first 3 years of membership. however, I will agree with one complaint that I've seen. That is, why are there not more listings with critiques. Many of us are Taxi members to grow our music to an acceptable level, and without critiques (or those minimal check lists we've been promised), we can't do that.And - I suggest the list of A&R people should be updated monthly or quarterly... the top could read... "Taxi screeners as of ...date"

[bwrenhewmach]

Hi djdale welcome to the forum. You didn't stir the pot at all. I have to admit it was me. Just sometimes this is how we hash things out. We really like and respect each other here. We don't aways agree with each other thank God. We wouldn't have near the fun. You can get great advise most of the time From Casey , Hummingbird and Jimi our Taxi administrator. They will help keep you out of trouble. Take care mild Bill

[squids]

I don't really know if I'd really want two screeners, myself. Easier simply submitting to another listing to get a critique from another screener. It's hard enough sometimes tryin' to understand one of them. Two disagreein' would only muddy the waters even more. That's jes me though.

[hummingbird]

Oct 26, 2008, 2:34pm, squids wrote:I don't really know if I'd really want two screeners, myself. Easier simply submitting to another listing to get a critique from another screener. It's hard enough sometimes tryin' to understand one of them. Two disagreein' would only muddy the waters even more. That's jes me though.I agree Squid. If someone wants more than one critique, then, instead of suggesting that Taxi hire extra screeners and screen everything twice for the same listing... simply send in the same piece for a similar listing. Costs you an extra $5. Or send it in for a custom critique. That way you aren't asking other Taxi members to spend more money so you can get extra feedback.But I think the real reason folks are suggesting two or three screeners for one submission for a particular listing is not about getting extra feedback... it's because they think they would have more chance of a forward if they got a second or third opinion. They think a system like that would increase their odds.It might actually end up more confusing. Like Matto said in a post earlier this week... if one screeners says the lyrics are weak, and another says the hook isn't big enough, and another says the production needs work... instead of thinking that the constrasting opinions mean they don't know what they're talking about... consider that they might all be right.Nobody said this was going to be easy. I knew going in that Taxi had a 6% forward ratio. So if 800 songs are submitted for a listing, an average of 40 songs might get forwarded. That means 760 tracks get returned for falling short in some way. (760 angry members, lol) And although I do think that there is a grey area (borderline, one way or the other) and I do think that screeners are human and make a mistake once in a blue moon... overall I would strongly suggest that the grey area we'd like to think we fall into is extremely small & that the vast majority of our submissions just aren't that ambiguous in the context of the listing. In other words, the return absolutely means either we're off target, or the track needs work.This is just me (in other words, I don't expect you to agree with me & we don't need to debate our Points of View)... but, rather than complain about the critiquing, or the screeners, or the methodology of screening... I prefer to put my energy into being one of the 6%. I always have. And any one who knows me and has watched my journey knows that (after years of returns) I am now getting into that 6% on a regular basis. Not because they changed the screening methods, but because I strive to submit tracks Taxi can't return because they exactly fit the needs of the listing. My goal is to make it easy for the screeners forward my tracks by hitting the target in every way I know how. If I do my job, they'll do their job, and give me the "F" I desire.H

[Casey H]

Yea, there was a lot of talk about multiple screeners on another thread. As many of you noted, it would add a lot of cost-- and that's not something I think we want.I think the answer is: The more tracks you write that are submission-worthy, the better your odds and one rejection won't mean as much. One difficulty is (and I have the same problem!) we all are very attached to our "babies", especially when (like me) there aren't a lot of them. Casey

[heinsite]

thanks all--hell why am I thanking you--LOL--i didn't start this thing...but there seems to be some real common ground here on some of the points on the bio thing maybe working, and i actually suggested something like 2 screener critiques about 3 years ago, and yep, they explained it would take too much time, $$, etc. just get a "custom"--which for me has actually worked once VERY well, and once NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET man, which led to a can of warrens--i mean worms...still sour on that episode... and i'll leave it there-- and a couple times somewhere in the middle....but my last c/w one was quite good on a pre-demo tune...now all i have to do is rewrite most of the tune! LOL,,, then i'm sure i'll reach that highest of bars!actually the vitamin C is working (i think). and billy (both of you!) one of you is right about the tea. but thanks mild man and vicky anyway!--wh

[billg]

"I get that some people want a whole list, but it looks like TAXI already did this mini-list of examples for you to see without putting everyone's names out there"KG you missed my point. That list doesn't mean doodle squat to me if MY songs are being screened by people who aren't on that list. I don't know if any of the people listed have ever screened one of my songs, BUT I do know that there have been a few songs screened by folks who aren't listed there. I was once in a band and Brian Setzer came in and played our second and third set with us but I can't gig tomorrow night & have a club feature him on the Marquee. That's all I'm saying. It would be cool, honest and (I hate this word) but fair to have a list of current screeners that will be involved with the current listings.