Taxi.com

[Atwork]

Anybody here ever signed up with www.taxi.com or sold anything through them?

[Buck62]

It's a scam.

You're paying someone to review your tunes... whoopty-doo.

The people on their advertisements that claim success are only getting meager, low-paying commercial work.

Believe me, if they had even ONE nationally-known act that got discovered by them, they'd be plastering it all over the front of their literature.

Save your $$ for better recording gear.

[Buffalo Bob]

Buck's right. My wife and I are both writers, and we attended one of Laskow's little sales pitch seminars. Total snake oil! Writers are a vulnerable market - the fact is that your odds are about 18 billion to one of getting a cut, but nobody believes that. They are taken in by people who lack the integrity of a snail, all for the promise of success in the biz.
Years ago we belonged to a group called the LA Songwriters Showcase, and they held monthly live song critiques with real industry folks doing the judging. These guys could be brutally honest, mostly A&R people, but if they heard a song they liked, they put a hold on it right there and then. The membership fee was nominal, and well worth the contacts you could make.
By the way, I'm setting up my own company, called The Song Critic. Just send me $500 and a copy of your song, and I will actually LISTEN to it on authentic Recording Studio Monitor Speakers and give you a written critique! Special price for TWO songs - $1200.!
Def: "Critic" : (1) noun, meaning: 'Like a eunic in a harem; he sees it done every night, he knows how to do it; but he just can't do it himself.'


Bob (Not Dobbs!)

[DavidK]

Ditto what Buck and Bob say, it is a scam. Send me $150 and I wont get you work either, but at least I have saved you money

[Atwork]

Thanks for the replies. I had thought they (Taxi) sounded quite interesting but I'll leave them alone now.

[Buffalo Bob]

Now me and Mr. Laskow are facing competition from DavidK, no less! Well, WE WON'T BE UNDERSOLD!!!! Special offer, if you join in the next fifteen minutes, we'll throw in a copy of my book, "How To Succeed In The Music Business Without Really Trying" and an authentic GOLD RECORD WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!!!!!!!

Buf

[Atwork]

Sounds great. Send me ten dollars and I'll buy your book.

[mikeh]

I can't be as critical of Taxi as some have. I work with a songwriter who is a member of Taxi and has had a couple of songs published. One was placed in a movie and we have actually made some money (nothing to retire on). More importantly, this writer gained direct contact to a legit publisher - through Taxi. At least in this case, the cost of the Taxi membership has paid for itself.

Naturally being published means nothing if the material is not placed, recorded and purchased by the buying public - but it can be difficult to get published without some type of in. Although the odds of geting a cut on a multi platinum recording are very slim, the "meager low paying commercial work" may be better than having your material sitting on a shelf in the bedroom. Over the years, I've been able to buy various pieces of gear (but not enough for a house or car) from payments received for "meager commercial work"

Concerning the review that Taxi provides, the reviews I have read were very accurate and constructive - although not by themself worth the price of admission.

I don't feel Taxi is a complete scam. It can provide a possible in for the right material (very formula driven). Is it worth a couple hundred dollars membership? It was for one person I know.

Certainly, if a writer has confidence, focus, a never ending drive and a willingness to accept many rejections from publishers, producers, lawyers and anyone else you can get your material to, then that writer doesn't need Taxi. But, if a writer is not willing to put in the effort - Taxi (or a service like it could possibly be a tool).

Regarding saving the money for better recording gear - although I'm all for gear (and possibly buying gear could be a better use of the cash) - if your primary focus is song writing, you don't need a ton of gear. I know a writer that used Band-In-A Box, with a live vocal mixed live to a standard two track cassette who got the song published (no money coming in yet from that tune).

Granted, most publishers are getting fully produced "artist" demos (everyone can afford a "decent studio" these days), and some producers and/or labels prefer a recording what is already mastered (gee, the label doesn't have to invest in studio time) - but if you're looking for a writer deal (vs. an "artist deal") a good song with a good vocal is what it is all about.

I must go on record as stating I am not personally a member of Taxi. I'm not even a fan of Taxi (I'm sure many people with no real chance pay fees to Taxi - with no possible return) - but I have actually gained some "meager" income as a result of Taxi.

[David Hooper]

They are not a "scam," but, like anything, you do need to know what you are getting involved with before handing over any cash.

I am not a member of Taxi, but have known Laskow for years and have actually been to their convention, the Road Rally. See my comments on Taxi as well as comments on their annual convention.

dave @ kathode ray

[Atwork]

mikeh and Mr. Hooper - thanks for your contributions. Now I've heard both sides.

[Gidge]

speaking of scams....
http://www.indiebiz.com/

Dave, when you gonna get me a songwriting deal?.....

[David Hooper]

Gidge, scam is a strong word. Why do you think that IndieBiz.com is a scam?

[Buck62]

Yeah, Gidge... you can't say for sure that indiebiz is a scam.

Call it is exactly what it is..... SPAM!

[David Hooper]

Very witty.

All of my posts have info that is useful. Don't say I'm spamming because I leave a link to identify myself. I'm not posting advertisements here.

[Buffalo Bob]

I like my spam with eggs, not snake oil.

[DavidK]

I dont know anything about Dave's Indie deal, no comment.

Taxi I do know about, a friend is in it. The evaluations arent much different than what you could get in the MP3 mixing clinic here ( If you asked folks to comment more on lyrics and less on sound).

The worst part of TAXI is the 5 dollar fee for each song: that is a fuckin joke, what a ripoff. You pay $300 to join, and then you pay 5 bucks a pop? Absurd.

How bout just payin me $5 bucks a song? No $300 fee needed, just post your song in the MP3 clinic, send me 5 bucks, and I will listen. I am sure I have more connections in the biz than most of taxi's screeners; If you want an artist to hear your music, send me the tape (and 5 bucks) and I will put it in his pocket as I back them up.

Taxi certainly has many scam-like qualities, the 5 bucks per song really makes me lose any respect for them. Save your money.

[Buffalo Bob]

SIGN ME UP DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

[David Hooper]

The $5/song fee that Taxi charges is something that I can get behind. If they didn't have that, people would send in boxes of demos, many of which would have nothing to do with what the Taxi people are looking for. The $5 fee is a small price to have people filter things out on their own.

dave @ kathode ray

[DavidK]

So, Basically, Taxi is punishing its members with a five dollar fee per tune, Making a fortune, because some dickhead is going to send a box full of crap?? That is crazy. Have a limit on the number of songs one can have reviewed per week/month/year. $300 is a large chunk of money, but what taxi is saying is the evaluation is NOT INCLUDED IN THE $300 FEE. They should put that in bold letters on their webpage.

Think about it: Taxi admits that your chances are slim to get money, most people know that of course. But they give you a bunch of addresses and contacts that arent gonna help most people anyways, and I guarantee you the exact info can be found on the internet or in some $20 music business book from Borders.

So the main, most important feature for most Taxi members is the evaluation service. But guess what? THE EVALUATION SERVICE IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE $300 FEE. So the $300 for many people=
"if you send taxi $300, we will allow you to buy our service for $5 a song". What a crock of shit, I cant think of another word but SCAM.
Maybe Taxi is a great service for some, but the evaluation service has turned in to a SCAM

[Gidge]

Ok, Mr Hopper, lets say perhaps it isnt a scam...tell me what do I get for my $29.95 a month.......

[David Hooper]

Originally posted by Gidge
Ok, Mr Hopper, lets say perhaps it isnt a scam...tell me what do I get for my $29.95 a month.......

www.indiebiz.com has complete details on this. I can also mail you a FAQ in PDF format.

[DavidK]

David Hooper, do you have an opinion about my last post?

[Gidge]

yeah, you just taxi-hatin'.....you aint got no love for a scama playa......

you may want him to email u a FUQ file in TDK, or something like that........

[Gidge]

also.....

[David Hooper]

Originally posted by DavidK
David Hooper, do you have an opinion about my last post?

Taxi can charge whatever they want to for their service and people can either take them up on it or not take them up on it. That doesn't make them a scam.

One look at my opinion of Taxi and you'll see what I think about them. What somebody charges for their service has nothing to do with anything though. There are definitely those who think that Taxi is worth every cent.

dave @ kathode ray