TAXI.com

Okay, here's my beef with the listings and subsequent reviews:Each listing contains 'example' artists that submissions should use as a guide...however, I do not think that artists info alone is suffiecient to help members target thier music correctly.Fact is, Most artists can have MANY styles for various songs and albums. I think oftentimes a listing that mentions a certain artist may be often be implying a certain 'hit' song (or songs)...yet no song names are ever mentioned. This leads members (like me) who are unfamiliar with a given artist to review their material and submit a song that we think is similar to the artist only to get it shot down due to it being 'unlike the artists is the listing'...When a given listing has 5 or more artists/groups and no specific songs, it really is not very helpful in helping members like me figure out exactly what kind of sound a listing is looking for, except for the basic genre. Granted, I am not very familiar with alot of today's artists simply because I am not an avid radio listener...partly because I get one radio station clearly (classsic rock), but also because I simply do not like listening to the radio commercials. If I had the cash, I might do satellite radio, but I digress.The point is, I do make an effort to listen to songs from the artists in the listing prior to submitting a song...however, most popular artists have MANY albums with a HUGE variety of styles... That multiplied by 5 or more artists in a listing only really gives a me a basic genre for submission, not a few specific sounds/styles that the listing is REALLY looking for...I think that taxi could make it's members (and screeners) lives ALOT easier by mentioning not only artists, but the SPECIFIC song(s) by the artists that really exemplify the style the listing is interested in. Thereby allowing members like me to understand exactly which types of styles by the artists the screener is most likely to forward. I think it would save everyone alot of time, effort and frustration, becuase specific song titles would allow members to zero in on not only the basic genre, but the specific types of sounds/styles the listing is really looking for...therfore increasing the appropriateness of the submissions and providing screeners with exactly what they are looking for.I have heard that one key to success at taxi is to listen to the radio all the time and familiarize yourself with what is popular in mainstream listening. While I do agree with thatin general, I think that it is far more cost effective (and a more efficient use of time) for the song listings to be more specific (by specifying song titles) than for every member to have to be immersed in radio.In summary, I think that expanding the listings to include more detailed info about specific songs would immeasurably increase the success of the members and of TAXI itself. PS: (Thanks for listening to my rant. Please bear in mind that this is just ONE person's opinion regarding how I feel the TAXI service could be improved.)

Hi QuestorI don't think your post was a rant-- just some questions and comments... What I've been told is when you listen to samples of the "a la" artists you should try to listen to what were their most popular songs. That's not always easy I know when you don't listen to current radio. Sometimes with some research on Google you can get more info... Also if you sample 10 tracks from their most recent CD (amazon or iTunes), you often can find a pattern of similarity among at least 6-8 of them. So if there are 8 driving rock tunes and 2 slower ballads, chances are the ballads aren't the way to go.Bear in mind that all of us (me included) who don't listen to very current music on a regular basis are at a disadvantage to some degree as far as submitting to these listings. It's harder to write what you don't have a good 'feel' for (not impossible at all, though)... I haven't listened to your music if you tend to write more classic rock, you may be better off looking for film/TV listings looking for that. There will not be anywhere near as many listings but you will have a good shot with the few you target. Otherwise you may be throwing away a lot of submission fees."A la" is tough some times... Your track can't just be influenced by an act, it has to mimic that act in almost every way- music, production, arrangement, lyrics, etc.My decision for '09 is to go with what I write best and wait for the right listings. I don't think I can do Arctic Monkeys... Not sure, though, )Oh and getting specific tracks for your a la would be nice but unfortunately the listing parties themselves often can't narrow it down that well. You'll find that true both inside and outside of taxi-- been there. Also, when taxi gets a listing, they are dealing with a very busy A&R person and if they make it too much work for that person, they will just get annoyed and go away. There's a lot of great music out there and it's a buyer's market for them.HTH Casey

You tube is the answer,I always go there to sample the examples. I must say though, I've seen plenty of actual song titles mentioned in taxi listings, I guess it depends on your genre. i think country listings mention them more often.

One of the things that was said at the Road Rally that made a lot of sense to me is, when reading listings with one or more artists named as a las... do not listen to their most obscure stuff... but go to iTunes, look them up, and see the song or songs that have the most popularity rating... these are likely the songs that the listing party & screeners are going to thinking of when reviewing your submission. H

One thing that I've heard consistently is that TAXI doesn't write the listings, the listing party does, which might explain some of the vagueness you're experiencing in the listings. I don't know how much TAXI interacts with the listing parties on the text of the listings. That would be a good question to ask them with a phone call or e-mail.I have seen listings that list specific songs or specific albums but I don't know how often because I don't look at song listings that often.I know there's internet radio applications such as Rhapsody that will create playlists based on info that you provide. It can be a frustrating process. Run your concern by TAXI and keep writing, listening and submitting.Mazz

Well, I've always said that by joining Taxi you submit yourself to yet another level of bureaucracy. I'm sure it happens that a Taxi screener will reject a piece that the end user might have accepted... assuming you could get to her/him on your own, of course. Taxi is just one more tool in your bag of tricks, and no system is perfect. That's why it's important to pursue opportunities outside of Taxi too. That said, the cream always rises to the top, and if you would be successful elsewhere you would probably (eventually) be successful through Taxi too. Cam

Dec 29, 2008, 8:27pm, cameron wrote:if you would be successful elsewhere you would probably (eventually) be successful through Taxi too. Camor vice versea..... if you would be successful with TAXI you would probably (eventually) be successful elsewhere too

What I've started doing when I'm not familiar with any of the listed "ah-la" recommendations is using Pandora.comI'll create a station(s) based on the bands that are listed and will then let Pandora play me cuts from that band and any other band that are similar to them. And I just let it play like a radio while I'm farting around the house. Gives me a broad idea of not only that bands style but others in the genre that are similar to them. Helps me...B

Jan 15, 2009, 11:02am, fusilierb wrote:What I've started doing when I'm not familiar with any of the listed "ah-la" recommendations is using Pandora.comI'll create a station(s) based on the bands that are listed and will then let Pandora play me cuts from that band and any other band that are similar to them. And I just let it play like a radio while I'm farting around the house. Gives me a broad idea of not only that bands style but others in the genre that are similar to them. Helps me...BBrilliant! Will try that!

Quester,Another thing to look for on listings that mention the ala's are the use of adjectives like: "up tempo....mid tempo....driving sound....etc" to describe what is being looked for........this helps me to narrow down what songs I will listen to when I listen to songs on itune, amazon, etc....Regards;Dick