TAXI

I am a member of Taxi and I have always looked up to them for their expertise in the music business. Their critiques have helped me sharpen my songwriting skills and I’m learning how to be professional on the business side. I would join if you have 5 or more songs that you feel are ready to be pitched to different opportunities in the music industry.

Sportmac

If they’re such good songwriters why aren’t they writing songs instead of reviewing them for TAXI?

I sent some of my song to John Braheny and he told me they were pretty good, that I had talent, I didn’t like the way he reviewed them because he it was quite evident he didn’t listen to my songs before he started reviewing them.

One of my songs started out, you see the girl coming down the street, I know she’s so sweet, he said how do you know she’s sweet?  In the final stanza the song says she tells me I’m her true love.

He told me some other songwriters to try and lo and behold they critiqued for Taxi too. They told me I should start off with the final stanza as my opening.

I thought about it for awhile and I came to the conclusion that sending these people my songs only gave them ideas for songs and I was paying them to give them those ideas. SEEMED LIKE A LOSER TO ME.

I heard some of your songs - they are not real bad, but there is nothing special in them. So you should not worry that anyone from Taxi “steal” your ideas, why should they. Didn´t you let a Demo-Service do all the work? (producing, composing)

I don’t try to sing, I know I can’t sing, I must be a LOT smarter than you.

Charles, did I understand that correctly ... John Braheny the well-known author and singer/songwriter journalist reviewed a couple of your songs and said they were good and that you had talent but it was evident that he didn’t even listen to them. Now how much is that worth? Did you pay him for that service? Did that help you find out if the songs are good and if you really do have talent?

Regarding TAXI I think it is always good to have professionals evaluate your songs. But I personally think they are very expensive.

@Charles: I don´t write lyrics. I know I can´t write lyrics. So I must be A LOT smarter then you.

:)

Robert

Been awhile, can’t really say whether he listened to the song but I know he read the lyrics first because he had notations written on them.

When he got to “I know she’s so sweet”, he had a notation, how do you know that and in the 5th verse the song says, “she tells me I’m her true love”, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that one out does it?

The other songwriters, husband/wife team, wanted me to start out with the 6th verse, how can I lay it all on the line when I don’t have a single dime and she already has a really great guy who can give her anything short of the sky what if she thinks I’m really just a good friend should I walk away and try to pretend that it’s not really such a big deal when that’s not the way that I feel, but to me 5 and 6 were the conclusion to the song as it’s title is I Don’t Know What To Do.

John Braheny didn’t suggest anything like that

They all critique for TAXI.

I have another song called You Must’ve Seen Inside My Heart, the chorus starts off with that line and the next is but you knew just how to tear it apart and Braheny said, why did she have to tear it apart, now why would a guy need a girl to tear his heart apart, can you give me an answer to that? Would because he had already had a love that didn’t work out that he hadn’t gotten over, be reasonable? Don’t you think most people who listen to music could figure that out?

The other songwriter said, oh I love that title, but she went on to say I had too many lyrics and not enough chorus so she gave me a George Jones song, He Stopped Loving Her Today as a good example of a song, THERE ARE 4 VERSES OF LYRICS, A CHORUS, A VERSE OF SPOKEN WORDS AND THEN ANOTHER CHORUS, 5 VERSES OF LYRICS 2 VERSES OF CHORUS, MINE ARE 6 AND 3. My choruses are 6 lines, his 4 so I have 18 lines of chorus, he has 8. I know my songs are long, I’ve always preferred long songs.

Robert

I guess he was just going by the lyrics as I told him I had them done by professionals. When I contacted him, he told me it would take a couple of weeks, when that period was over I contacted him again and he said he hadn’t even started on them, I was sort of pissed off, he said everyone tells people that, he sent me my money back but he went through the 4 songs, he said he was going to critique them anyway.

The other songwriter got them back to me in a week.

I thought about sending one to Jason Blume but he doesn’t do the critiquing himself.

Here’s 1.

> LOVE HONOR AND OBEY – I know you said you like long songs, but this song is twice the length of the usual country song. If it were mine, I’d edit it to this structure: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, shortened bridge, chorus. Although your language is clear and emotional, there are just too many parts to this song.
>
>
>
> What’s going to become of me
>
> Now that you’ve set me free – the story that follows is not really her setting him free. Might be more like, “now that you’ve broken free”
>
> Will I ever see the light of another day
>
> And will it matter anyway
>
> Never felt so sad or so blue
>
> Knowing that you’ve been untrue
>
> It’s really hard to understand
>
> Why you would share yourself with another man
>
>
>
> It is really rough
>
> Knowing that our love just wasn’t enough
>
> To keep you from throwing it all away
>
> For a lousy roll in the hay
>
> Did you lose your sense of responsibility (all of your – on demo)
>
> Or has everything gotten to me me me
>
> I don’t care what the people say
>
> This is not the American way – I’m not sure that nationality or patriotism has anything to do with this story.
>
>
>
> Chorus
>
> What ever happened to love honor and obey
>
> Are these just words people say
>
> How could you just throw our love away
>
> And what would make you do our girls this way – if the daughters are going to be a part of the song, they should be introduced before the first chorus.
>
> I’ll tell one thing before you get on the bus
>
> One day you’ll be sorry for what you did to us
>
>
>
> The girls don’t want you around
>
> And things are worse than they sound
>
> They cry themself to sleep everynight
>
> Because they know things will never be right
>
> Why couldn’t you see
>
> You wouldn’t be just hurting me
>
> They know I wasn’t the one who pitched them aside
>
> The day our family died
>
>
>
> Now you may never see (get to)
>
> How beautiful the girls will grow up to be
>
> Nor will you ever hear them say
>
> I got a cute guy coming over today
>
> Or see them go out on their first date
>
> Or be waiting at the door when they come in late
>
> You won’t be there when some asks for their hand
>
> To share the joy and sorrow of this land
>
>
>
> Chorus
>
> What ever happened to love honor and obey
>
> Are these just words people say (people could be more specific to her – like: “were those just words for you to say”)
>
> How could you just throw our love away
>
> And what would make you do our girls this way
>
> I’ll tell one thing before you get on the bus
>
> One day you’ll be sorry for what you did to us
>
>
>
> I’m gonna have to find something to do
>
> So I can keep my mind off you
>
> I loved you with all of my heart
>
> And you just ripped it apart
>
> Somehow we will survive
>
> I have the girls to keep me alive
>
> Something else that makes me sad
>
> Now I will have to be mom and dad
>
>
>
> It’s just so hard to believe
>
> That I was so easy to deceive
>
> I thought you were the love of my life
>
> A loving caring mother and wife
>
> It doesn’t matter what people say
>
> Everyone of us will have to pay
>
> And even though you are going away
>
> We’ll have to live with it everyday
>
>
>
> What ever happened to love honor and obey
>
> Are these just words people say
>
> How could you just throw our love away
>
> And what would make you do our girls this way
>
> I’ll tell one thing before you get on the bus
>
> One day you’ll be sorry for what you did to us
>
> For what you did to us
>
>
>
> Here’s an idea of the kind of edit I’d make:
>
>
>
> Love Honor and Obey
>
>
>
> What’s going to become of me
>
> Now that you’ve set me free
>
> Will I ever see the light of another day
>
> And will it matter anyway
>
> The girls don’t want you around
>
> And things are worse than they sound
>
> They cry themself to sleep everynight
>
> Because they know things will never be right
>
>
>
> Chorus
>
> What ever happened to love honor and obey
>
> WERE THOSE JUST WORDS FOR YOU TO SAY
>
> How could you just throw our love away
>
> And what would make you do our girls this way
>
> What ever happened to love honor and obey
>
>
>
> It’s just so hard to believe
>
> That I was so easy to deceive
>
> I thought you were the love of my life
>
> A loving caring mother and wife
>
> I loved you with all of my heart
>
> And you just ripped it apart
>
> And even though you are going away
>
> We’ll have to live with it everyday
>
>
>
> Chorus
>
>
>
> I loved you with all of my heart
>
> And you just ripped it apart
>
> Somehow we will survive
>
> I have the girls to keep me alive
>
>
>
> Chorus

Did you see she made the notation about her breaking free but yet she put NOW THAT YOU’VE SEE ME FREE, IT MUST’VE NOT BEEN SO IMPORTANT, SHE FORGOT IT PLUS SHE HAS i LOVED YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND YOU JUST RIPPED IT APART IN THE LAST 2 VERSES AND SHE GUTTED PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT THE GIRLS.

Now Braheny said I had too many rhymns of obey say away in a row there but I asked him if he had ever heard of LOOK AWAY by Chicago, you know they have a lot of the same words over and over at the end, he didn’t reply.

Just wanted to throw something out there…. you don’t have to be a paying member of Taxi to participate in their forums, or to see the industry listings… the only thing you can’t do as a non-member is submit to the listings or attend their yearly Road Rally.  There’s a wealth of information, and good people, there.  Join the forums, post in the peer to peer and hear what others think, check out the Success Stories and the review section (lots of goods and bads shared there).  Look at the industry listings and see if your songs might be on target for what is out there.

I am a former member of TAXI and didn’t have a lot of success, but it’s not TAXI’s fault.  I just didn’t have much of a library to submit with at the time.  All the same, I still learn a lot from participating at the forums, and will probably rejoin at some point.  If you are actively producing music and have a good collection of broadcast quality tunes under your belt, it might be worth the cost of membership.  I’ve met a lot of people there who owe most of their success to connections made through TAXI.  They aren’t walking advertisements, either… just people doing what they love who were lucky enough to submit the right music at the right time and make a few connections.  Either way, it doesn’t hurt (or cost) to check things out.

TAXI also has a regular webcast at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/music-marketing-online which is free to watch and some of the screeners are guests.  Someone ask why the screeners are doing that if they can write good music.  The answer, mostly, is that they are doing both.  Lots of successful people in the industry have taken a stint there, and give lots of great feedback.  Ultimately, it is just one person’s opinion, but it may also be a person who has some perspective on what is having success and what isn’t for a particular listing and/or producer, and what their standards are.  A rejection might not mean that the song needs to be changed… just that it’s not a good fit for that listing.

Hope to see you over there, and looking forward to participating here at the Songwriter101 forums, too.
Best wishes,

Tim

I submitted to Sweet Rosie, whatever, and I’m waiting for the results. I don’t understand what kind of a contract it is. Is it a non-exclusive one. Go to musicxray.com and her company among others are listed there. Don’t ever sign your song away.

Sylvia

Why do you have to know why she’s so sweet. Is that John listening to the ridiculous lyrics in songs that make it to the top?  Obviously, she’s so sweet because you think she is, and that’s enough. No one’s listening that hard. As long as the rhyming is good and the story line is good and you’ve got a great melody that’s memorable, people can hum it and that’s what they like.

Martin would evaluate your songs better.

Sylvia

Sylvia Semel - 11 February 2011 05:49 PM

Martin would evaluate your songs better.

Sylvia

Hm? You mentioned my name. Why did you mention my name? :)

It was a great compliment. You could evaluate songs better than that John Braheny who charges for it. That’s all I meant. You’ve helped me with my songs, right?

Sylvia

Hi There,

Well if you can afford to re do them,  why did you rush to get them demo’d in the first place.

Seems you have rushed in like so many do,  where you should have done simple demo’s.

Professional advice is a must for all of us.                 

A few pats on the bak from fellow peers wont make them great songs.

TAXI   is a great organisation and if you cat afford to re do Demo’s you wont be able to join because it’s not cheap.

Have your work critiqued by Jason Blume or a similar orgaisation

Even join the N.S,A.I.  it’s not expensive and professional critiques are free once you have joined.

Best Wishes,  and maybe buy some of the best Song Writing Books,  that’s what most of us do

who are serious about writing Great Songs