house concerts and 21st century touring

Does TAXI know what they are talking about?

by Fran Snyder

This post isn’t about touring or house concerts. However, you need great songs to make a living at this music thing, so I think this might be of value to singer-songwriters out there.

In this article I’ll try to give a FOX, uh, “fair and balanced” view of TAXI, but with a personal emphasis of how they have reviewed one of my better songs and whether or not I find their reviews helpful.

TAXI, if you are unfamiliar with the company, has successfully positioned itself (over a fair number of years) as a “filter” for end-users of independent music. These end users would include music supervisors (looking for songs for television, movies and related media), music libraries (who provide compilations of music for various other end-users), and even A&R reps who are looking for songs or artists.

The idea is, they collect songs from artists, review them, and forward only the best (and most appropriate) to the companies who ask for these songs. If they consistently find excellent, “on-target” material, the more often the music industry will come calling for more songs, and more opportunities will be generated for member artists.

As with most successful companies, there are a lot of stories floating around out there about whether this company is legit and if they really serve their members (who pay $200-300/year to belong). Continue Reading »

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TAXI critiques of song “Ruined,” continued. See part 1 of this series first.

by Fran Snyder

In the last post, we started discussing TAXI, and the song critiques they offer to artist members. You were also able to hear “Ruined,” one of the songs I’ve sent in several times to TAXI, so that we can talk about the several different critiques I’ve received for that particular song. But first, here’s the lyric:

Ruined

I was a dull day’s overcast sky, you were the sun on a sweet apple pie
I’d sworn off love so I averted my eyes
I was happy enough living alone, even if it was lonely i felt right at home
no fussin no fighting, no arguments arising from thin air
I was doing so well, oh well

Ruined… because of you
I’m ruined… what can I do
I’m ruined… caught with my defenses down
Ruined… you are my
un-doing… you chased the clouds away
You ruined my bad day Continue Reading »

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a.k.a. Is your street team homeless?

by Fran Snyder

You’ve got talent, and a desire to share that talent with people. You’ve heard of house concerts and may have even joined concertsinyourhome.com. You’ve spent a few hours contacting hosts on the site, and maybe you are a little frustrated that people aren’t jumping at the opportunity to host a concert that features YOU.

As valuable a resource as CIYH has become, it astounds me how many artists neglect the most likely source of house concert venues - their fans. Think of yourself as a salesman (you are.) When you start a business, who are the most likely people to buy from you? Continue Reading »

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