General Music Chat

I was contacted by another A & R rep, this one from "Song Placements, Inc."
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Has anyone here done business with them?

I can research them for you, but when these kinds of places SOLICIT the musican or songwriter, they are almost always PAID SERVICES. Meaning You pay them. If that is the case, I wouldn't do it. Those are usually bottom feeders, exisiting off the dreams of songwriters.

The only one I know, that charges, but may be legit:

http://www.taxi.com


Taxi seems to have some respect in the industry, if their deals with respectable companies is an indication. I have THOUGHT about using them before, but so far I haven't.

No nightmares have come to my attention with Taxi, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.

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Yeah, Taxi charges about $300 to join, then a fee per each submitted song.
I think these guys are similar; but I've got the idea they're a little more main-stream - MTV and the like . . .
I saw a 3rd part article on them; they got a good review . . .evidently they've had unbridled success promoting their members; I don't think they're bottom feeders at all . . .
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I heard someone say that the deals which Taxi gets you are often only a few hundred dollars, and often involve outright sales of your songs.
But - that's only hearsay . . . dunno . . .
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The articel I read said: "Song Placements is the leading, independent promotion and placement agency in Hollywood CA."
Yet they've only been in business since 2006.
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What I was looking for was somone who actually did business with them.
Or anyone who's done business, previously with a different A & R reps.
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I'll have to check them out.

What I don't like about Taxi, is that you don't find HUGE and NUMEROUS examples of successes. You know? It's more like, maybe the top 1% is making a living. That's a little offsetting, because there is such good equipment out there today, that the competition is likely overwhelming. Even though they claim you don't need a perfect demo to have songs get accepted, I imagine that a very well done demo, surely gets better consideration. I feel like that throw away line of theirs is more to increase paid membership.

I just don't trust these kinds of places very well.

But I'll check out the one you mentioned when I get time.

There was someone on here awhile back that had some experience with Taxi, but I can't remember who. Maybe he knows something about this as well?

I think the problem with these services is that they won't discriminate on who's money they will take.

Taxi is great, if you write and record great songs and jingles, but if you already write great songs and jingles, you will accomplish the same results submitting directly to the publishers.

While Taxi (not commenting on the other one since I don't know them) is a generally honest service, they are still bottom feeders in the sense that they are weaseling themselves as a middle-man between you and the publishers and libraries, and costing you money for it.

Then you add in all the bottom feeders who are less honest and you have a LOT of artists getting their dreams sucked out of their wallets.

Publishers & record producers get so many CDs in a day that they just throw them out.
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They're swamped with CDs; and most of it is either unusable, or not the kind of song they're looking for.
. . . the intros are 1 minute too long, the music is ok, but the lyrics are lame (or vice cersa), or the verse is great but the chorus sucks . . .
. . . unusable . . .
It's too frustrating for them to listen to all those songs. They have plenty of other work to do . . .
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That's where an A & R rep comes in.
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They listen to the CDs.
They screen out all the crap, and then talk to the people who do the best stuff.
Then they screen out all the people who make unrealistic demands, or who are just plain jerks . . .
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And so they only forward the best songs on - and they are songs done by people they can actually work with.
And they forward the right music to the right people.
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They have industry connections, and 99.9% of musicians do not . . .
I may know music, but I'm not kidding myself in thinking I can go it alone.
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I think that almost all of our sucesses in life are somehow related to other people . . .

An A & R rep just called me from Hollywood, Ca; just got off the phone; I talked to her for about 25 minutes . . .
They named 2 of my songs (listed on my MySpace site) that they're interested in; one is for a specific movie . . .
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There is more reasons to sign up with them than there are reasons to not sign up.
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When weighing them against Taxi:
I exchanged 2 emails with Taxi. com. They know I've been interested, but they eventually cancelled my email newsletter. Twice.
The other company calls up with specific questions about specific songs.
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Well - that's a no brainer . . .

I don't no jack about all this stuff Alan, but it is interesing to me.
Keep us posted on how it works for you. There is no such thing as too much information. (unless some moron is trying to tell you about his sex life LOL)
Any ways, best wishes from Texas !

You can license or sell songs for tV shows or movies.
Pay is in the neighborhood of $400 per song, plus residuals.
And, in some rare cases, up to $10,000/song.
Big name groups usually ask for too much money.
But there are a few trillion small guys out there - like you an me - who are writing and recording songs.
A & R folks will screen out all the crummy songs and all the jerks.
The folks who make it past the A & R folks have a marketable product, and are people you can actually work with.
(I've met musicians who are not likable, and who do not have the ability to make friends.)
The folks who make it past the A & R folks will have their songs forwarded on to the buyers.
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There are many ways to sell your music, all by yourself:
> Perform live:
. . . from lowest performance pay to highest, it would probably be something like this: Play in dive bars, restaurants, festivals, executive functions, concerts, or casinos. . . . plus or minus . . .
> Sell CDs
> Sell individule songs via the internet, say using companies like Snocap or Bandbox.
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That's pretty much it, I suspect, for selling your own music.
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So then, if you're going to work with others, you'll really be moving into the business world.
I think that idea might scare a lot of musicians.
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Working with others brings us to the subject of record companies . . . which everone here seems to hate the idea of . . .

And then there's Movies, Radio, and TV.
Everything from Theme songs, to commercials (yick) to the music they play on CSI.
Every one of those songs is making someone some money . . .

I signed up.
Slight chance of my song "Half-Jazzed Blues" winding up in a movie.
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Will keep you folks updated.

Alan, you write great songs, you deserve to be paid handsomely for them. If I were you I wouldn't accept $400 for any of your tunes. That's an insult. I'd make them make you an offer you can't refuse, you're worth it...

Thanks, Bob.
The $400 price I mentioned was the minimum.
I won't discuss the amount of money we were talking, but it was substantially more.
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But - remember - that is the up-front check.
If someone's song gets in a movie, they'll be collecting residules for years . . . .
How much money - depends upon how well the movie does.

Collecting money for YEARS? That sounds more like it. And that will probably lead to more contracts. Where do I sign up?

Man I smell a BLOCKBUSTER !!!
Best wishes man.

Yeah, you pay. That makes tons of sense to me, well at least if you are desperate.