# Is taxi.com any good?



## rabiang (Jul 23, 2011)

Hi,

im wondering if anyone here has any experience with taxi.com. if so, how was it?

thanks, 
chris


----------



## rgames (Jul 23, 2011)

I looked into it a few years ago and talked w/ some of their folks.

First, my impressions was that they deal almost exclusively with pop styles - if you write orchestral music, they really have no clue about what you do or where to place your music.

Second, even if you write pop music, it didn't seem like their services were worth much. My impression was that most of what they do is contact music libraries that you can contact yourself. So I'm not sure of the value of their service.

However, note that I keep saying "my impression" - they provided almost no useful information when I talked to them, so maybe they actually are a great service. However, the vibe I got was not a good one.

rgames


----------



## rabiang (Jul 23, 2011)

thanks, rick!

We are in between pop and orchestral, so im still not sure what to do. some friends recommend taxi.com very highly indeed, some dont. 

for our music, a mix of many styles in the true sense of the word(s), would someone see a benefit from joining taxi compared to surveying 'Music library report' and contacting companies based on that? I would assume our music is best fit for small budget movies, documentaries, nature movies, scenic commericals (if they exist) etc. We often get the stamp that we 'sound like music of movies', hence my question.


----------



## Cruciform (Jul 23, 2011)

Chris,

I'm a Taxi member. More accurately, I finished one year with them and didn't renew until now due to a couple of listings I want "in" on.

Taxi can be a frustrating service for a number of reasons which I won't go into in this post. Between the VI Control forum and MLR you already have the essence of what Taxi can give you. I'd say for someone like yourself, the only reason to join would be the same reason I rejoined: to access specific opportunities that I couldn't find out about on my own.

Taxi does work for some and there are quite a few composers and songwriters who've done well out of it. On the other hand, it doesn't work for everyone. 

The listings are available at their website and you can sign up to get their dispatch listings emailed to you. Dispatch is an additional cost, short turnaround opportunities service. Taxi is far from "almost exclusively pop". I don't do pop or blues or jazz or singer/songwriter or, or, or. Yet I've found enough opportunities to sign up for a second term with them. I'd suggest keeping an eye on their listings and subscribe to the dispatch emails. You don't have to be a paid member to access that info. Then after a couple of months, if you see enough opportunities to warrant the cost of joining, decide then.

I'm not a Taxi fanboy, they simple fill a niche in my self-promotion efforts. Just wanted to give you a perspective from someone who uses them.


----------



## rgames (Jul 23, 2011)

I guess it can work, it's just an odd setup that smells to me like exploitation of uncertainty.

Here's why: Taxi has no skin in the game. They make money from their members regardless of whether they placements or not. So where's their incentive? Their only incentive is to get people to sign up - after that, well, I'm not sure they really care what happens to you. They've already made their money - they have no incentive to stick with you to get you some placements.

I looked back at the website and it still seems like they're focused squarely on pop styles. They constantly refer to "your band" or "your song" or "the songwriter" but almost never use the term "composer". And their "Instrumental" opportunities are pretty slim - many of them are "Instrumental Hip Hop" or some other name for a pop style without pop vocals.

Plus, they place a lot of emphasis on the "critique". So it appears they're pandering to that crowd who just wants someone to listen to and acknowledge their music and provide some type of gospel feedback, like they really have any insight into what's going to succeed. I've been dealing with music libraries long enough to know that there's no consistency - the same track gets drastically different feedback in different libraries (and drastically different sales). Also, the "critic" is probably some musician who needs the cash and works there for a month or two at most. Is he the guy you want making the call on the commercial appeal of your music?

So, yeah, I don't have a high opinion of services like Taxi. But like I said, I could never get any info out of them, so maybe I'm wrong. I'm happy it works for you 

rgames


----------



## Cruciform (Jul 23, 2011)

Richard, you have a strong opinion given you've never used the service and therefore have no experience with it. Not that I expect you or anyone to use it. That's neither here nor there. 

Beyond the obvious pop listings (I wonder why commercial clients would be looking for commercial pop music?!), here's a bunch of instrumental requests...

* AUTHENTIC GERMAN INSTRUMENTALS a la Volksmusik, Oom-pah, etc.

* INSTRUMENTAL WAR DRUM TRACKS in the STYLE of Doudou N'diaye Rose, KODO Japanese drumming, and African Tribal drumming are needed 

* AUTHENTIC IRISH and SCOTTISH INSTRUMENTALS - both Traditional and Contemporary, needed

* HIGH CLASSICAL, **ORIGINAL** INSTRUMENTAL TRACKS in the STYLE OF the opening (Allegro) movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto in G, K. 453 and Georg Anton Benda's Symphony No. 9 in A Major needed 

* ETHNIC HAWAIIAN and POLYNESIAN INSTRUMENTALS in all styles, needed 

* REALITY TV-STYLE INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed 

* FRENCH FOLK INSTRUMENTALS a la Baguette Quartette, etc., needed

* ORIGINAL, NEW AGE INSTRUMENTAL TRACKS in the STYLE of Era's "Ameno," Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," and Vast's "You" are needed

* ETHNIC LATIN INSTRUMENTALS IN A RANGE OF STYLES, including Ranchera, Norteno, Mariachi, Salsa, Meringue, Mambo, Flamenco, Cha Cha, Tango, Brazilian, Afro Cuban, Cuban, South American, etc., needed by


Etc.

Etc.

Etc.

Taxi's skin in the game is that repeat clients wouldn't run listings with them if they weren't on the up and up. One of their most prolific clients sources writers only through them.

Does everyone want or need Taxi? No. Does it work for everyone who uses it? No. But it's far from exploitation.


-------------------------

Chris,

My advice remains the same. Peruse their listings for a few months (updated on the 1st and 15th of each month), subscribe to their dispatch emails (sometimes nothing for a week or more then a flood within a few days) - that costs nothing. Then decide for yourself.

Hopefully, you'll get some more replies, positive or negative, from people who've used the service. FWIW, here's a lengthy review of my first year in music for media which includes my first year with Taxi. You'll note that my experience with Taxi was not ideal, but at least my comments are fair.


----------



## rabiang (Jul 24, 2011)

Thanks a lot to you both! Very useful discussion.


----------



## jamwerks (Jul 24, 2011)

Of course that Taxi doesn’t "work" for those thousands whose music isn’t up to snuff, but that’s not Taxi’s fault.


----------



## Pete N (Jul 25, 2011)

If you want to get an impression of the man behind Taxi, Michael Laskow, you could watch some of the Taxi TV videos at:

http://www.ustream.tv/user/TAXI_Music/videos


----------

