Anyone got the scoop on "TAXI" or Similar Companies?

Hi all, just curious if anyone has experience (good or bad) with the TAXI company for artist mediation with the recording industry?

If you have good or bad stories, please state how many times you've submitted to them and any replies you've gotten or offers, etc.

I am considering the step to signing up with Taxi in the coming weeks. Are there any other worth-while companies as large as Taxi that has as many industry opportunities as them? Just curious where my money might be best spent. I remember a website (I think it was in LA) that offered industry opportunities in music, movies, gaming, touring, etc. I really liked the site and I paid and joined them but lost the logon info so I never took advantage of them. They never emailed me back. So, now i'm looking to Taxi. Whichever is best. So, I ask all of you guys and gals.

Do you have experiences with Taxi or other similar companies? Or do you have a band or buddy(s) that have experience with any company like this? Just want to stay away from the bad and try to go with the best bang for the buck. I think Taxi is $300 first year and $200 each additional. Pretty hefty annual fee. However, I believe you get what you pay for. So, i'll ask you all what you think.

Thanks,

Acoustic Reality

I have no personal experience but I've heard mostly good things about TAXI from people I trust. The problem many people seem to have with them tends to be that they don't promote their successes enough. As a result, it's difficult to gauge how good they are at what they do.

Based on what others have said, most people who become disgruntled with TAXI are those who misunderstand it's mission. Basically, TAXI will only forward songs that meet very specific criteria and it seems a lot of people submit songs that don't meet those criteria.

Of course, it's all a crap shoot in the end but I've been told by people I believe to be reputable, that TAXI does exactly what they say they will do. Some people join without truly understanding what they do.

I've been considering joining myself but I won't do it until I see a listing where I might have a chance of getting a song forwarded. It's not worth it to me otherwise.

Good luck.

I don't know about TAXI, but if you want to promote yourself and get yourself a little website going, you should check out Soundclick . You can put your music up there and have people review it and have people download your mp3's. I hear alot of people are migrating there after the downfall of MP3.com. You can do the little 10 mb site for free (which I use) or pay and add more, regardless it has a lot of cool features that any aspiring musician could use. Check it out and good luck!!

Keep on rockin'!!

Brian James

My Soundclick Page

I don;t know about TAXI myself, but I've read good things in reputable places-

My advice to you is general-

what are YOU doing to get your career ready for something like TAXI?

If you are a performer-

1. Do you gig regularly?

2. DO you have professional press packs and demos? Website? Business cards/stationary & promo photos?

3. ARe you making it around in your city/town or region at all?

4. Do you have an album or EP out? Are you promoting it yourself through Amazon.com or any other outlets? local Music stores?

Local Radio? NPR? (in my town they play TONS of local and regional stuff!)

These aren't all "requirements" for moving forward, but many are indications as to how seriously you are taking your own career-

are you giving TAXI something to promote?

If you are a songwriter-

1. Do you have lyrics and lead sheets typed up/printed?

2. Do they have chords/Nashville Numbering?/Actual Music staff written out? (not all are required- just asking)

3. are they legally copywritten and registered? (it's cheap and easy to do for REAL)

3. Do you have professional demos of any or all of these tunes? I mean a real singer and real arrangement that can give them an idea of what it's about (unless you are promoting yourself as a performer- the acoustic guitar into a 4 track aint gonna cut it- it's fine for legal copyright, but you should seriously work up three of your best tunes with a full arrangement and a real singer that sings in the style of what you want to get them placed for)

4. Do you have professional business staionary/cards/ website?

5. Are you a member of any local songwriting associations?

6. Do you do open stage/performing at all?- If so, see above.

Some of these are easy and cheap and ultimately not that big of a deal (business cards and all that crap is useless if you don;t have the rest of it!!!!)

Just some thoughts and goals to keep in mind.

.02

B

If I came to you with something that was $25,000, but you knew you'd be able to turn that investment to $50,000, that woudln't be a lot of money to invest, right?

My point is that if you've got what it takes to use it, $300 is not a lot of money for life changing info.

Whether or not Taxi will be "life changing" for you, I don't know, but don't walk away from something simply because of the price.

rec.music.makers.songwriters (I think that's the group name) on Usenet has info on just about every songwriting organization you can imagine. groups.google.com will pull it up.

There's a guy who posts as "Fly" on http://www.guitardiner.com who is a member of TAXI and has got a few of his songs used on TV shows. I don't think they pay much, but he's having fun with it.

I have done a lot of TV deals and the way they usually work is that there is no licensing fee, but you will make money off of performance royalties. In other words, you won't get a thing from the production company, but BMI or ASCAP will hook you up when the thing airs.

Not a lot of cash for something like the Real World (or another cable show), but enough to make it worth your while...maybe $300/quarter.

If you guys want another solution that gives out direct contact info, see www.krtipsheet.com. I think there are only one or two TV/film listings up this month, but the first issue is free if you want to check it out before making a commitment.

We've been TAXI members as songwriters for three years. No deals, but we're getting our songs forwarded more and more often. 50 or 60 times our songs have been forwrded to clients. We feel we're much better off for having spent the money, and we're definitely better songwriters because of the practice, and because of the critiques provided by TAXI listeners.

We have a wide range in tastes and influences, and TAXI lists clients needs for practically every kind of music, including instrumentals, that you can think of. So we always feel like we have a target, or goal, for which to write.

In addition, the FREE yearly Road Rally is something you have to attend to fully appreciate. My favorite part is when 2500 or so musicians sit in a large room with a panel of A&R folks, and they pull song submissions out of a barrel to critique.

Maybe you've heard that record label people will give a song only 30 seconds or so to decide if they're interested. Well, it doesn't even take that long. And you see the entire room coming to nearly the same conclusions that the A&R people come to regarding a song's merit. Extremely informative. The cream really does rise to the top, and it's so obvious.

In my humble opinion, the talent of songwriting or performing at a professional level is something that you have, or you don't have. If you have it, and are interested in developing a talent you already have, go for it. VERY smart $300.

Ken

I know $300 per year seems like a lot of money (and it is to most of us) but think about what it would cost you to travel to and stay in one of the music hub cities (New York, LA or Nashville) for just one week. Not to mention the time you'd spend trying to set up appointments and making the most of that week. And how many opportunities are you going to get to be face-to-face with decision makers (even if you live in one of those cities).

The thing about TAXI is that several times per year, you have the opportunity to have your songs forwarded directly to someone who is a decision maker in the business. Not only that, your forwarded song is considered "solicited" material, not unsolicited which usually winds up in the trash. If you already have those contacts, a TAXI membership wouldn't be worth much to you. Then again, you wouldn't be asking us about it either.

Like I said, once I see an opportunity that I think I have a shot at, I'm probably going to join. I'm still working on demos though so that's got to be first. But I'm looking forward to being able to give it a shot in the near future.

Speaking of free conferences, I've giving away seats to 2NMC for the first 100 people who book their hotel ($87/night for three nights). Go to www.2nmc.com for more details.

One thing worth noting is that even after you've paid your membership, it still costs $5 per song you submit per listing. It's to prevent you from sending submissions to every listing. Taxi's FAQ says that their success ratio is 6%+ for members. That being said, I'm still considering joining later on. I'm just now beginning to gig and do the whole press kit thing. I don't want to join prematurely.

I've arrived a little late to this thread but I did want to let you know about our site www.TheMusicBroker.net

Whereas Taxi lets anyone join, even if they are not good enough yet, we only let the best unsigned bands, artistes and writers join and we really do regularly turn people away. We launched two weeks ago so are still in a beta-phase: but we are accepting members and already have over 100 Opportunities on our website AND just launched a UNSIGNED competition with Sonicbids.com (details here http://www.themusicbroker.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=231)

Our company's background is working as outsourced A&R/licensing departments for independent labels; so we are known & respected in the industry. I am also a writer/producer of 10+ years with major label & publisher deals behind me.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that there is something other than Taxi.