by Nariko Yamata

Created on: January 21, 2007   Last Updated: February 13, 2007

The Trouble with TAXI: Exposing Music Placement Services

As many of you are working a day job like myself, you probably have little to no extra money to spend on getting signed to a record label. However, getting signed could allegedly make your life easier, so you decide to approach an organization like TAXI, which promises to shop your music to the labels and to TV and movie producers for you. I've got two words: DON'T BOTHER.

TAXI: Are they corrupt?

It is not because TAXI is full of corrupt souls lusting to stiff honest musicians out of their hard-earned money, though I would be lying if I said that I didn't think that they were a bit shark-like. The TAXI people are actually pretty cool. It's their system that is very inefficient, and in the end, TAXI is a merely a very expensive lottery.

When you join TAXI, you are expected to send physical CDs to separate "listings". Even though TAXI costs about $400 dollars to join, each CD you submit requires a five dollar "listing fee". You submit a song, or two, or three to a TAXI listing. The staff listen to your song all of one time and then decide whether or not to forward to the label posting the listing through them. This is where the odds get really bad: about one out of every ten listings you will submit may or may not result in a forward. So you are spending $50 dollars for every one chance of being forwarded, (not to mention the $400 annual fee for being a TAXI member, remember?). Sure, you'll receive some shabbily worded reviews blandly praising your voice, style, and uniqueness, yet you will never get real information why your music is not forwarded. One of TAXI's ways of skating is by claiming that the submission is "inappropriate for the listing", yet it is near impossible to send the right thing when the listing itself contains precious little information about what the company actually wants from you.

A sample listing:
You see this listing (which I invented myself based on real listings when I was a TAXI member):

TAXI LISTING #001
Indie label in New York looking for finished CD's of Rock/Rap music a la Usher, Outkast, etc. Music should have a real rock edge (electric guitars, real drums, etc.) Must be willing to tour. Interested in quality, finished-product, radio ready production for placement in films and TV. Please submit 2 to 3 songs on CD only. Photo and bio required. Include lyric sheets. Enclose SASE if you want a reply. Must be received no later than Aug 3, 200-.

You have a sound that is constantly compared

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