Taxi's A & R

[billg]

Hey Steve, I don't have a problem with the list of screeners. My concern is with the screeners that aren't on the list. Like I said, the list means nothing if you have songs that are screened by someone who isn't on the list. Expert screeners that are "in the biz" & know what they are doing is part of the Taxi package and it's part of what we value. We don't need to know the name /address/phone number etc. of a screener but we should know that they are among the list of experts that we are paying for. The one exception might be if it's a company listing that has a company rep doing the screening, I think we should know the name of the listing company. The reason being two-fold; the company might place listings elswhere and we "double submit" ( I have run into this personally). If they have their company name listed with other places they might as well with Taxi! The other situation is . . . AND I'M NOT SAYIN THAT THIS IS GOING ON AT TAXI SO DON'T JUMP DOWN MY THROAT . . . but there are other services where the listing party gets a "cut" of the listing fee (I know that some of you know of a couple of these) and there are ALWAYS companies that will try to take advantage of us and it seems that one of the new internet models are those that make their living from placing LISTINGS instead of placing SONGS. This is a sad fact of life for us songwriters & it seems like new places pop up on the internet on a daily basis. It would be re-assuring to at least have transparency in the companies who are placing and screening their own listings (and I would hope that these folks don't get paid to place & screen their own listings!). Having a list of screeners (companies if they are screening) that is current and applies to the current submissions only seems logical. quoting Steve " When someone shows me the reasons why KNOWING the credentials or exact person, will help me understand their opinion better, I'll be glad to listen"So there you have it from me, as best as I can -

[squids]

Aw, Tad, thanks so much!! Steve, here's why I'd like to know.....after spending some time producing a tune, I'd be interested in hearing from someone who had a proven track record in the music industry, something tangible I can read that tells me that the person who's actually screening me is someone I can trust to know not only the genre they're screening for but the industry that's asking for the music as well. Not for my ego, for heaven's sake, but to be sure I can trust their advice. I know in the past you and others have said that Taxi significantly altered your life. So it's certainly worth knowing the quality of the screener who's giving me feedback. Screeners are the spine of what Taxi offers, right? As a consumer, I want the opportunity to make sure that whoever's screening me is as qualified or experienced as I am (35 years now wearing many hats and my music does okay). An example would be the Rally......ML is advertising who's going to be on the panels. If they were anonymous for fear of reprisals, would you be interested in seeing them? I wouldn't. I'd have no idea who they were since the bread and butter of Taxi is film/tv (seems like to me from reading the newsletters) and those guys stay under the radar unless they're brand name composers.It doesn't seem a chore to make sure the current list of screeners is up to date with bios, etc, so we can be assured that one of those qualified girls or guys is giving us the juice we can trust.Jes my .02

[aubreyz]

Oct 26, 2008, 9:06pm, bwrenhewmach wrote:Hi Aub Delane So what your telling me I'm very naive and stupid and how could I have the audacity to ask who writes my reviews. Just live with it, don't ask any questions. Because it carries no weight anyway, and because it is way to dangerous to the screeners, and even though we are paying for the service it's none of our business and last but not least name recognition means nothing in the music business. Thanks for straighting me out on this I will take under review. mB And this kind of response is exactly why I hardly bother anymore... uhh... nevermind. Aub

[sgs4u]

I looked at your reasoning Bill. Although I agree that seeing the same listing on another site, SUCKS, I don't how Taxi can do anything about it. And I'm certainly not a guy to speak for how they might be able to change anything. The thought of a reviewer getting paid to review under false pretenses turns my stomach. I can't even remotely imagine that would happen at Taxi, but I think it does lots of other places. There are lots of other libraries that charge just to evaluate, and I think that sucks too. I don't have answers, but I can easily imagine that Taxi won't be publishing a list of current screeners on any particular genre, or companies running listings. I think it could help us, but it might not help Taxi, those screeners or companies. Don't know what to suggest. Oct 27, 2008, 4:20am, billg wrote:Hey Steve, I don't have a problem with the list of screeners. My concern is with the screeners that aren't on the list. Like I said, the list means nothing if you have songs that are screened by someone who isn't on the list. Expert screeners that are "in the biz" & know what they are doing is part of the Taxi package and it's part of what we value. We don't need to know the name /address/phone number etc. of a screener but we should know that they are among the list of experts that we are paying for. The one exception might be if it's a company listing that has a company rep doing the screening, I think we should know the name of the listing company. The reason being two-fold; the company might place listings elswhere and we "double submit" ( I have run into this personally). If they have their company name listed with other places they might as well with Taxi! The other situation is . . . AND I'M NOT SAYIN THAT THIS IS GOING ON AT TAXI SO DON'T JUMP DOWN MY THROAT . . . but there are other services where the listing party gets a "cut" of the listing fee (I know that some of you know of a couple of these) and there are ALWAYS companies that will try to take advantage of us and it seems that one of the new internet models are those that make their living from placing LISTINGS instead of placing SONGS. This is a sad fact of life for us songwriters & it seems like new places pop up on the internet on a daily basis. It would be re-assuring to at least have transparency in the companies who are placing and screening their own listings (and I would hope that these folks don't get paid to place & screen their own listings!). Having a list of screeners (companies if they are screening) that is current and applies to the current submissions only seems logical. quoting Steve " When someone shows me the reasons why KNOWING the credentials or exact person, will help me understand their opinion better, I'll be glad to listen"So there you have it from me, as best as I can -

[sgs4u]

Squids, your reasoning is pretty convincing. And I have had enough reviews I didn't "get," that I have often wondered about how I could trust some of those opinions. But after I get 5 similar opinions, I usually relax about my OWN defensiveness. However, knowing the names and credentials of the reviewer isn't something I need to feel extra trust about. My trust is given to Taxi when I plunk down that moola. I expect them to have hired quality staff, that is actually looking for perfect song matches to listings, and perfect review information I can use. Personally, I'm quite positive your opinion on any music I've been part of, would be just as revealing as a screener's. That's partly because we're able to disagree without worrying about friendship being bruised. Obviously your experience matters to me, but not as much as your willingness to tell the truth. The fact that we've had a few disagreements, actually helps maintain a level of objectivity. Sometimes when I review people's songs, I can tell they are more interested in discounting the opinions because my credentials don't measure up to their standards. That's the most basic problem I see. People evaluate credentials, as if those are more important than the information that might get shared. Your point about Taxi using screener credentials as advertising fodder is astute, but it's a bit sideways from the issue of providing the names of the screener working on a particular tune. That's the best I can do. Babysitter's sick, I gotta take over. Oct 27, 2008, 4:25am, squids wrote:Aw, Tad, thanks so much!! Steve, here's why I'd like to know.....after spending some time producing a tune, I'd be interested in hearing from someone who had a proven track record in the music industry, something tangible I can read that tells me that the person who's actually screening me is someone I can trust to know not only the genre they're screening for but the industry that's asking for the music as well. Not for my ego, for heaven's sake, but to be sure I can trust their advice. I know in the past you and others have said that Taxi significantly altered your life. So it's certainly worth knowing the quality of the screener who's giving me feedback. Screeners are the spine of what Taxi offers, right? As a consumer, I want the opportunity to make sure that whoever's screening me is as qualified or experienced as I am (35 years now wearing many hats and my music does okay). An example would be the Rally......ML is advertising who's going to be on the panels. If they were anonymous for fear of reprisals, would you be interested in seeing them? I wouldn't. I'd have no idea who they were since the bread and butter of Taxi is film/tv (seems like to me from reading the newsletters) and those guys stay under the radar unless they're brand name composers.It doesn't seem a chore to make sure the current list of screeners is up to date with bios, etc, so we can be assured that one of those qualified girls or guys is giving us the juice we can trust.Jes my .02

[feaker]

wowI'm all stressed out reading all of this. I need to take a nap.A slight sidebar thought:When you post a song in "peer to peer", you eagerly await comments on your new creation.The trouble is that critiques will come from friends you have made on the forums. One tries to be professional, but you still don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.If you send your song to taxi, and you don't get forwarded, you always have in the back of your mind the screener might have errored in some way.I would like to see a thread called "anonymous evaluation" be created. That way you would have one more tool to identify your song's value. Just a simple form ( less detail than taxi's)This way you could get an "honest" opinion of your project. Only negative problem, if you only received a 6.6 average, you might not decide to submit a song? You would be however getting a multifaceted unbiased evaluation rather than from just one screener.Jumped the thread, I know, Just trying to figure out a better way?I love all you guysPaul

[billg]

Well, I still think my suggestion is pretty good. I really think the credentials of the folks screening our songs and deciding whether or not to forward them is important. Evidently Taxi does also or it wouldn't even have a screener page with their creds. I just know that a good portion of my submissions were screened by other folks, at the very least the list should be updated.And there IS a sorta big to do about the way things work at another site (that shall remain unmentioned) because the listing parties get a portion of the listing fee. As I stated, it seems as if there are some companies that have figured ways to make a living just by placing opps and not by actually doing anything with the music. They get a few placements here and there just because of the numbers I guess but it's not what pays their rent. WIRED magazine had an article in which somebody actually called this "the new model for payola." My statement about this had nothing to do with Taxi in particular but was just a general statement about how transparency wipes out those kinds of problems. When people don't have to guess about how things work then these things don't pop up. And some people just don't give a s*&t & I guess that's cool too.

[sgs4u]

Perfect idea Paul, Oct 27, 2008, 11:33am, feaker wrote:The trouble is that critiques will come from friends you have made on the forums. One tries to be professional, but you still don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.If you send your song to taxi, and you don't get forwarded, you always have in the back of your mind the screener might have errored in some way.I would like to see a thread called "anonymous evaluation" be created. That way you would have one more tool to identify your song's value. Just a simple form ( less detail than taxi's)This way you could get an "honest" opinion of your project. Only negative problem, if you only received a 6.6 average, you might not decide to submit a song? You would be however getting a multifaceted unbiased evaluation rather than from just one screener.Paul

[davekershaw]

Quote:I would like to see a thread called "anonymous evaluation" be created. That way you would have one more tool to identify your song's value. Just a simple form ( less detail than taxi's)Seems a good suggestion to me.

[anne]

Just a reminder:Just because your songs don't get forwarded, it doesn't mean they are bad. It only means it isn't what the client specified that he wants to hear. PERIOD. Taxi screens our music to be sure the song is of the type and quality that that particular listing party wants and sometimes they tell us what they think of it. PERIOD.Getting forwarded is not the easiest task. And for those of you trying to pitch to country artists etc, I believe it may be even harder. But what the heck would you expect? If it were that easy, taxi would not be doing their job. What you seem to want from the tone of your posts is for someone to hold your hand. You can get that from many many music services. That isn't what Taxi does. PERIOD.Not all songs give us critiques. Taxi states this info in the listing, if it is the case.Not all songs are screened by Taxi. Taxi states that it is the client screening, if it is the case. Knowing who is screening will not help you get more forwards. Knowing who the screener is will not help your bio, your web page, your chances of landing a deal. Knowing who the screener is won't make one frikkin' bit of difference ever because one song is a drop in the bucket to your overall body of work, and the quality of your overall body of work is what is going to make your career (at least that is the case if your working on tv/film). No problems arise from people expressing their opinions. But express them to the people who are responsible for the situation your unhappy with instead of whining about it. Whining is terribly unseemly, unprofessional, and a great way to turn off those that could help. What I read in the words in many of these posts is "I'M NOT SATISFIED". Well, someone else is always willing to take your money if you don't like what your getting for your membership fees. You could have gotten a full refund after using taxi for a year. You can BUY pro reviews elsewhere. You can pay people to say nice things about your music for you if you want. That isn't what taxi says it does, and it isn't what they will do just because your whining so darn much.Do I mean everyone should be complacent and not voice an opinion if service is lacking? Not at all. But it gets really annoying when post after post after post is a rant about how much better things would be if the service you voluntarily joined would do things differently. It discourages constructive conversation about the music, the business, the listings etc which is where the inherent value of participating in this board lies. You know what? They aren't going to listen to your ideas. Not because your ideas may or may not be good ones, but because they are not advertising the service you are looking for; it isn't what they do. They offer a money back guarantee - if you give it a year and don't like it you haven't lost a dime. I rarely loose my patience, but this thread has done it. I'm tired of seeing all this energy and time being spent whining and arguing when your all good songwriters and should be writing music or helping your fellow musicians write instead of crying foul and yelling or insulting each other. PERIOD.Nobody here is stupid, nobody's music is unworthy etc etc etc. Your music just might not be what the client needs and you won't sell them something they don't want. PERIOD.What is so hard to understand about any of this?