And I forgot to address the original question about whether or not TAXI members have had songs cut by big artists. Here's a post from another thread. I don't respond often, but when I do, they tend to be long.
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