TAXI.com

I submitted to this listing:

Y111114SS

Contemporary ACOUSTIC GUITAR or PIANO-based, SINGER/SONGWRITER SONGS needed for our next COMPILATION that will be sent DIRECTLY to our MUSIC SUPERVISOR friends at some of the Top shows on TV. There is a clear trend in TV shows toward LO-FI, EMOTION-DRIVEN SONGS that often sound like they're being sung by the songwriters themselves. Sometimes they're just guitar/vocal or piano/vocal driven pieces, other times you'll hear more instruments. What the MAJORITY of them have in common is the RAW, HONEST EMOTION in the vocals and an overall artistic AUTHENTICITY. Sometimes that even means using a vocal that's a little pitchy because the emotion is so strong. LYRIC THEMES can be about: finding love, losing love, trying to figure out life, moving on, happiness, sadness, longing, despairÉ you know, the usual emotions that self-absorbed TV characters have playing behind them as they sit in a bay window sipping tea ......


This song>>> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_so ... D=11196884

the MUSIC box was checked as the reason for the return.

Any thoughts? I thought this would have nailed it. I'm wondering just what exactly are they looking for and didn't see in this song.

Herb, here I really think you're the victim of capriciousness.
Your song/recording hit every bullet point on their want list.
Who can figure the whims of some people?
So often, I hear someone describe who they're looking for in
a suitor, only to find them pass up candidate after candidate
who fits their description exactly.


Good job, man.

Burpo.... my thoughts exactly...which is why I was surprised to see this one returned.

I have it in for another SS listing so I'll see if that one goes or returns.

Hey Herb - Nice tune here, well done! After listening to some of the forwards i suspect they were looking for a bit more modern, indie sound. This tune is pretty traditional, almost retro. All the same it's a great tune that should find a home somewhere.

Good luck!

eo

Hi Herb,
I listened to the song and liked it as well. It's certainly got the rawness and emotion mentioned in the listing. It reminded me (a little bit) of Neil Young meets Willie Nelson in the vocal approach, and it WAS about lost love, and it was lo-fi and had some authenticity bolstered by the bits of pitchiness in the vocal. All good stuff! But there WAS one aspect mentioned right up front in the listing that probably took it out of contention for this listing, and EEOO nailed it: it's not really contemporary or hip which were mentioned twice in the listing.

Here's the entire listing:

Contemporary ACOUSTIC GUITAR or PIANO-based, SINGER/SONGWRITER SONGS needed for our next COMPILATION that will be sent DIRECTLY to our MUSIC SUPERVISOR friends at some of the Top shows on TV. There is a clear trend in TV shows toward LO-FI, EMOTION-DRIVEN SONGS that often sound like they’re being sung by the songwriters themselves. Sometimes they’re just guitar/vocal or piano/vocal driven pieces, other times you’ll hear more instruments. What the MAJORITY of them have in common is the RAW, HONEST EMOTION in the vocals and an overall artistic AUTHENTICITY. Sometimes that even means using a vocal that’s a little pitchy because the emotion is so strong. LYRIC THEMES can be about: finding love, losing love, trying to figure out life, moving on, happiness, sadness, longing, despair… you know, the usual emotions that self-absorbed TV characters have playing behind them as they sit in a bay window sipping tea (or chugging booze) and reflecting about something deep and emotional. Gag me! Want to get a good idea of those types of songs, the vocal style we’re talking about, and the lo-fi production we need? Listen to any and ALL of the songs on this YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM4FHb7T ... re=related
See what we mean? Got songs like that? We’re looking for the best of the best to represent TAXI’s membership to some of the TOP Music Supervisors working in TV today. We’ll ultimately need 5 to 10 songs for this compilation, so there will be more than the usual one slot to fill! Lo-Fi is cool, just plain bad recordings, not so much! Keep your submissions hip and contemporary, and keep your lyric themes UNIVERSAL. In other words, avoid city names, people’s names, and other specifics that would limit the types of scenes in which your song can work. All submissions need to be Broadcast Quality within the context of what we’ve described and referenced in this listing (excellent home recordings are fine). You must own or control 100% of the Master and Composition rights. We STRONGLY expect that any of these songs that get picked up and used will NOT have publisher splits, so you’ll retain all rights and keep 100% of the income. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS by two of TAXI’s TOP Film and TV screeners. No critiques from TAXI due to the short deadline. Submissions must be received no later than MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14th at 10 am. TAXI #Y111114SS

We got about 1,200 submissions for this listing, and approximately 10% of those songs got a forward. VERY high number of submissions, TONS of time spent screening, and LOTS of forwards. I've personally been going through ALL of the forwards to see what was found, and frankly, I thought the screener was SLIGHTLY liberal in what he forwarded.

I disagree with Burpo's comment that NOT forwarding your song was based on the screener being "capricious." I actually found that a little demeaning to TAXI and the screener. In the context of the ENTIRE listing, the request for CONTEMPORARY and HIP songs, and the songs featured on the example page, I think the screener did the right thing.

Your song is VERY heartfelt and DID have several of the elements the listing asked for, but to me, it felt like it skewed more appropriate for an older demographic, and sounds like it comes more from the classic era of the '70s than the examples on the youtube page.

If I can offer up a little advice coming from the old producer in me, and NOT so relevant to the listing; the second acoustic guitar (the fills) were cool, but sometimes felt like they weren't totally in the pocket (timing), and there might have been too many of them. I LIKED them -- they reminded me of the fills in the Eagles' New Kid in Town a little, and I'm a sucker for that era! But there were moments when they overshadowed the vocal. Not so much in volume, but the parts were pretty frequent and may have been busy enough that they jangled to the point of being a little distracting. They became the focus, not what the lyric just said or the emotion that could have been evoked.

Anyway... I hope this helps in explaining why the song probably didn't get a forward for this listing. The next time Robert Duval is a cowboy and has a scene where he's sitting in a dusty log cabin's kitchen, all alone because his wife just left him, I PROMISE to forward it to the supervisor should I know him or her.

Hope this helps,
Michael

I didn't mean to demean anyone. I was going on the information in the post
and I think my response was understandable.

What more can a writer and Taxi passenger ask for than to have Michael Laskow, president of Taxi, take the time to listen and give a custom critique of the song.

Thanks Michael..... still a shame to see this fine song get returned..... but that's how it goes. I appreciate the time you spent to listen and comment on it.