barbara thorndyke

If someone claims they can get you work in return for money, not a cut, they are not in the business of finding you work, they are in the business of taking your money. Taxi boasts signing deals with virtually every major company in the entertainment industry as the first thing you see on the website are the logos for disney, columbia, warner bros etc. My colleague who works at disney corporate in burbank said no one at disney has ever heard of taxi. The same with Mtv and warner brothers said taxi "sounds like one of many music mill library scams in hollywood. we never use them, and neither does anyone reputable" A phone call with a taxi representative resulted in them not being able to name even one deal with any of these companies resulting from them, and I was just being told to check out the success stories blog on their site. Dont you think if taxi landed a deal with a mega media outlet they would shout that from the rooftops? I am curious if these top companies know their image is being posted by taxi. Taxi is misleading; I joined after discovering a post for a listing that fit me perfectly. After that, I kept getting ads to join "dispatch", to 'find more suitable listings'. "taxi dispatch" is an add-on, for another $200. They claim these are for postings with a "quick turnaround". After another call, the representative could not adequately explain what that entails. These "dispatch listings" were no different then the regular ones I paid my yearly 300$ membership for. A quick turnaround in the business world is fri-mon, these were up for more then a month. Regular membership is refundable, dispatch isnt. You get one posting for 300$ refundable, then the rest for 200$. The submissions are absolutely non refundable as well, which makes sense, as that is the true service they are rendering. you pay to get your stuff listened to and 'evaluated', by who exactly? not the people who make the decision and write the contract. Going by their glassdoor reviews, just about anyone off the street in los angeles. "pros: you get paid to listen to music and simply see if it fits previously posted guidelines/ cons: not the best reputation in the industry. if youre looking to get into music yourself dont tell people you worked there and leave it off your resume" At 5$ a track that adds up, after one year I racked up hundreds. You cant even submit the same track for another listing for free. It adds up to more than a chunk of change, and its all non refundable. Taxi claims as its selling point, "a trip to los angeles is expensive, plus a top music attorney charges hundreds, taxi pays for itself many times over". Are you kidding me!! what any aspiring artist would give to be invited to los angeles because a top company is interested in their work, having that 20 min coffee with a warner brothers executive is the biggest foot in the door opportunity that rarely if ever comes around, and is well worth putting it on the plastic! Shocked taxi even mentions contracts and attorneys, because taxi doesnt even provide you with that either. They simply give your contact to the mystery company hiring. You are left to your own devices to negotiate with a mega media mogul. good luck! Either you have an agent who takes a cut (not taxi's service or business model) or unless you totally are inviting yourself to get taken advantage of, will end up hiring a 300$ a hour attorney anyway. Taxi has 'awards' that are given to paying members, typically informing 'finalists' right before their renewal notice. Thats borderline shady, and a convenient conflict of interest. Taxi has a mercurial presence on internet review sites (yelp google etc). They appear on and off under different names (taxi music, taxi a and r, taxi a&r, etc) Presumably to keep covering their tracks and try to limit bad reviews. It seems the only people who have favorable reviews are people who enjoy getting positive feedback from submissions and are 'encouraged'. They do not have an excellent rating with the BBB. The pros are slim; the road rally is a great opportunity to network, but then again, so is any convention. This will be mostly however with other musicians looking for work or exposure just like you, but you never know who knows people. Taxi's selling point is it makes your submissions unsolicited. This is fine, however considering apparently no top company uses taxi, If anything taxi's clientele are very very indie. Im talking usc/nyu film school projects. Major companies simply do not use them. The weekly videos (posted on YouTube) are seldom useful, mostly fellow musicians plugging their own stuff, and im pretty sure it looks like are shot in the ceo's living room. If someone claims they can get you work in return for money, not a cut, they are not in the business of finding you work, they are in the business of taking your money. p.s. for the record about 80% of my submissions were forwarded.