Hey Ian.
I would be very interested in in any information or advice you can offer.

I have been writing for years and written over three hundred songs.
Some good and some ,well you know.

Ive always wanted to be a song writer and not really interested in the fame side.
Id love to write for other artist.

Thought Taxi may be the thing.
Their fees would certainly add up to a lot of rum I wouldnt be able to drink

Thanks again Ian much appreciated.

Rob

Like you, I really only want to place a song in Film or with an artist.
So to get me going, I asked myself some questions.

I asked my self "can I collect all of the Industry listings which Taxi sends out
to their members a couple of times a month?" NO

Do I even have a hope of making Industry contacts myself? Realistically even a fraction? . . . NO

Do I produce a reasonably good production to send in? According to critiques - YES

Are the songs doing any good just playing back on my computer? NO

Am I worried about copyright theft? OF COURSE. But not enough to not move ahead!

Do I believe in some of my songs? - YES

Is there another alternative like Taxi? NOT THAT I KNOW.

Is there any better time to do this? NOT AT THE AGE OF 64! The time is now!

So Rob those are the questions I asked myself . . . and then joined for a year at a time.
But I still am not making the best use of submitting songs to related Industry requests.

I'll set a separate post on my Sunday and post a song or two with the Taxi critiques
and the "before" and "after" versions of the song with the Taxi comments.

Cheers - Ian

I have never been a member, but I have looked at the pitch listings quite an bit and the forums. Taxi is a very targeted pitch. When you submit a song for an opportunity it had better be perfect for the listing and be "A+" professional work. If you don't have top notch recordings, then you are wasting your money (unless you are "investing" to help up your overall game -- which some folks do and they do get better).

It seems like it is more geared towards TV/Film/advertising stuff. Are you really going to get a pitch to the next Kenny Chesney or Lady GaGa? I really doubt it, that stuff is pretty much closed up to the outsiders (when you figure that artist has an established circle of friends, producers, team members, they just don't need outside songs). By the way, YOU can become an insider since everyone starts off as an outsider.

Kevin:

And that is the main point. You had better be spot on to the listing.

Also note that what you submit to be a potential artist had best be a cut above, what you need
to be a song provider or (if you've ever heard some of the tracks for HOUSE on Youtube) a cut above spots for TV and Film. As for advertising . . . . you'd best have the best of the best in equipment.

Still I can hum and haw about all of these things, but if I'm not being proactive . . . nothing changes, and I sit wishfully thinking, but learning zilch.

You don't have any fun and you just remain a legend in your mind as the song goes.

Kevin I'm not leveling this minor tirade at you. You give some good advice and perspective on songwriting.
But I see a lot of nay-saying on this forum. Yes - there are always negative reasons for not doing something - and I've been on that side.
If anyone out there has ever had ONE dream of placing a song, then they should be being proactive. Since the Industry rarely takes unsolicited songs from unknowns, then you might as well have an agent like Taxi to open whatever doors they can - doors that your average songwriter can't locate, nor has the time to track down.

See ya later - Ian

You may want to look into BroadJam: http://www.broadjam.com/

They have contest for different genres of music.

Watch Taxi TV on ustream. It's been on a couple of years or more now. There are lots of archived videos from the weekly show. Some shows are critique shows with songs sent in by the members. Other shows have industry guests. Enlightening to say the least. Click on all to see the whole list. Great resource for members - those thinking of becoming members - and other inquiring minds.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/music-marketing-online