TAXI.com

Hi all,

it is nearly time for me to renew my TAXI membership (or not) and I wanted to get some feedback on the following query. Over the past year I have been submitting to TAXI listings I have submitted predominantly for listings requesting songs for established artists, however I have noticed that all(?) success stories I have seen are for film and television listings.

Has anyone ever had a song picked up for one of the listings I have described, rather than for film and tv?

I am aware, from reading the forum, that the bar is higher for these listings, and I have had 5 forwards from 15 submissions which I know is not a bad rate, but I am questioning whether it is worth belong to TAXI with the aim of pitching to established artists. I am wondering if ANYONE is securing these kinds of deals.

Looking into film and television listings is an option but as I hire a studio and vocalist for my recordings at about 1.5k a song I need to think about the expense of this approach where it seems volume is the way forward.

Thanks heaps for any input,
Tamasyn

I'm curious about this as well. I just joined and have submitted songs for artist listings. Has anyone gotten a placement with an established artist?

I believe in a Taxi promo, I saw a couple of guys who did get a deal with Kenny Rogers for one of their songs. I believe it was a hit for Rogers. That was a few years ago. Scott Free also got a deal with an artist for his song "Bad Ass ". That was very recent. Other than those two, I am not aware of any others, although there might be. Maybe some other Taxi members have more info.

Cheers

Tom

Here is an answer to a somewhat similar post located elsewhere on the Forum. I couldn't locate it, but had it in a Word doc. I hope this helps!
Michael

The number of available slots for songs and instrumentals on TV shows and films is astronomically higher than the number of slots for songs to get cuts on albums or artists to get signed to rosters on major or good indie labels.

Think about how many channels you have on your TV, multiply that by the number of hours in a day, and multiply that by the number of pieces of music in a TV show, and that alone tells you why so many more TAXI members get TV and film placements.

Think about how many “real” record labels are out there, the number of artists on their rosters, and the number of songs per album, and you’ll quickly see that there is no comparison to the number of opportunities for TV and film placements.

It’s also noteworthy that that a VERY small percentage of our members actually post on this Forum (sadly, most people are lurkers), and only a small percentage of our members who come here take the time to tell us about their successes. So, even with all the success stories that DO show up here, there are so many more that they’re uncountable at this point.

It actually depresses the hell out of me that we have so many killer opportunities to GET cuts and record deals, but a MUCH smaller percentage of our members pitch to them. I think most people think it’s easier to get a film or TV placement, which it is, by FAR!

Combine that with records sales being practically non-existent (only one gold record last year, if memory serves correctly), so most people just don’t try! Trust me, if somebody has a REAL hit song, or is a REAL hit artist, and is what labels and radio are looking for, TAXI has no problem getting it into the right hands.

It’s a holiday weekend here in the U.S., and I’m heading out the door, but off the top of my head, here are some song and artist deals I remember:

Jenna Drey got signed to a $100,000 Indie label deal (she had a dance hit, but I can’t remember the name of the song).

The Matches got signed to a Major/Indie deal (their record didn’t do so well).

The band, Fisher got signed to Universal (the record stiffed).

Bobgoblin signed to MCA (the record stiffed).

Adam Watts and Andy Dodd got a cut and had an international hit with Jesse McCartney’s (Beautiful Soul) and they each signed publishing deals with Disney Music Publishing as a result of that, which has led to them having cuts on TONS of records that have resulted in their songs and productions on 45 million records and tons of film and TV cuts.

Crossfade signed to a Columbia Records imprint and went Platinum.

Sixpence None the Richer had a placement on Dawson’s Creek, which led to their having a huge hit with their single, Kiss Me, and a Platinum Album hanging on our wall at TAXI.

Elliott Park had a Number One with “I Loved Her First” which resulted from a publishing deal he got through TAXI.

Erik Hickenlooper and Jim Funk had a Number One with Kenny Rogers’ “Buy Me a Rose” through a publishing deal they got because of TAXI.

Daniel Holter had a song cut on Columbia Records (I Wanna Be) that was released as a first single from actress/singer Emma Roberts.

Jim Funk and Erik Hickenlooper’s “Buy Me a Rose” was cut again by Luther Vandross and went top 10 (pretty sure about that).

Brian Allen got signed to an EMI distributed Indie Label Y2K Record (the record wasn’t released… I think EMI killed its distro deal with the label).

More than a dozen TAXI members have had cuts on compilations with an international label with Universal distribution in foreign countries.

Chuck Henry got signed to a New Age label (Etherian records, if memory serves correctly). The label went out of business, but referred Chuck to another label, and he did really well on that label.

Dean Krippheane has had at least one, if not more songs cut by Swiss artist Stefanie Hienzmann on Universal, and if I remember correctly. The song is “Do Your Thing,” was a hit, and I’m pretty sure the album went Platinum.

Scott Free had his song Badass cut on Janiva Magness’s last record. She’s considered the modern queen of blues.

There are others, but I’m doing this from memory, and now getting yelled at by my family for working on a Sunday/holiday (again

I encourage you to pitch to the label/record/producer opps!!!! Those are very real opportunities, and people tend to ignore them.

Best,
Michael

Kenny Rogers' last #1 hit was sourced via Taxi. Buy Me A Rose, I think it was, so yes, it happens. I certainly wouldn't depend on the vicissitudes of major-label machinations to try and earn a living in this biz, so if I were you, I'd aim some shots in other directions-if you find that something's not working, maybe it's time to pivot; a lot of artist-focused material can work very well as song-score for film and TV uses, even if it doesn't quite make it over the 'artist' bar. As much as I hate lotto metaphors, it helps to have a job that lets you keep buying scratch-off tickets if your goal is to win the lottery. You're never the best judge of your own work, so get your music out there and let yourself be guided by whatever feedback you can get that's verifiable.

Yep, Mojo is right, and I think I missed that Buy Me a Rose by Eric Hickenlooper and Jim Funk was indeed cut by Kenny Rogers, and it went to #1 on all Country charts. That was the result of the song being played on a listening panel at the Road Rally, and a publisher signing it because he heard it there. The song was later cut by Luther Vandross, and was a hit again!

Michael

Great this has been SUPER helpful thanks so much everyone for your input.
Michael! I thought you were a phantom! So pleased to have heard from you