TAXI A&R falsely encourage musicians and recording artists , Internet

I have been with Taxi for almost a year now and I have been pleased with their service because it serves my purpose. Either through lack of discipline or dorection I had very few finished songs before I joined Taxi. I have about 20 there now and I have a clear view of what I want to do next, what needs work and my production schedule is much more clear and "with purpose" than it was a year ago.

I think it is easy to trash this company because of front-end fees and other costs that might appear predatory - but... it's not like you are handing over your catalog. If you work with taxi, getting reviewed and work to improve your product, at the end of it all, you have a catalog that either you belive in or you have an inkling that what you have is just not good enough. And hey, that's your babies your talking about :)

When I see the effort that Taxi puts out with weekly videos, documented help and forums (although heavily moderated), peer review and resource material, it's not like they are sitting on a web platform taking in the money. They are working this thing and I feel it has been to my benefit.

If I had to say there was two things they could, and should, do better, I would suggest that their website is poor and I would consider easing up on their client variables in order to reduce the number of times you have to sign in. This is one area that makes me think the company does a poor job in representing itself. Also, the time it takes for them to review a song gets way past the 30 days after the submission date (they claim it is 10 to 30 days and I have had them as long as 60 days).

So, I should say that I have handed in about 20 songs for a total of 30 entries - I have had no forwards. I don't feel I have been ripped off and with the resource material I have received and the direcxtion I have benefitting from, I suspect that I have a better chance in the music business because of Taxi in that they have helped me get my act together - and for me, that is a service that is difficult to find. 

here's the thing... Places like Guitar center and sam ash, make money on the dreams of people as well as selling instruments. Thats not really ripping people off. What troubles me however, is the notion that the CEO is freaking out because the person who commented was anonymous. thats the internet. He then says he has people that are saying positive things, and then makes a link to his own pages! Really? That makes you look seedy. Do'nt you think people can see through that? What is funny, is how the whopping 290 yearly bill to be shopped without really "seeing" any efforts? as far as one knows, they have "deemed" the music as bad, and took your money anyhow...Here is the "rip off" part. You are saying that the music itself needs to be something you can shop, right? Well it seems to me, you need to be listening to the music, and then saying is it something you can shop or not...But youre simply taking any and all dollars...This is like telling all the people who apply for a job, that they are hired, then dont call them, and have them come in to work, then they sit in the office, and the folk never tell you anything. they just have you coming to the office, and sitting waiting in the lobby for a week...Then they say, "we really have no open positions for you". And here you have been driving all the way to the place.

Listen, musicians are stupid enough to accept that the "industry" is cut throat, yada yada...But here's the thing..when it comes to the owners like TAXI? they are seeing this business like any other one...they want to take money from people paying. There is no "cut throat" to it. They will take your money, knowing your music has zero chance of them shopping you.

For this not to be a rip off? they would have to be up front and say "your music is not at a level that we can shop you."

but the CEO himself, stated that the problem laid with the artist, whose music was apperantly not good enough to pick.

So wait...are they saying that they are having companies look at them, even though they have a boat load of crap? Why would a serious company want to weed through a mess of crap to find something good? if the ceo actually Pushes only the good? then he is ripping off the man that is sending him stuff he would never shop.

So i would say, don't give this, or any other company asking for huge amounts , a dime. if the man could find you a deal? he would get money from that deal.

Its like paying a person 290 bucks to shop your resume, but they take any and all resumes, knowing you could never get the jobs they go for because they all want degrees and you dont have one, and they never let you know it.

I do find it funny that the guy who posted this is anonymous. I would love a link to his/her music to make an educated opinion on why or why not their music never landed a deal.

On that same page though, I am going to try Taxi for a Year. I don't think anybody should lock into a 3 year agreement without giving it the old try before you buy.

After watching many youtube videos on Michael and Taxi, it appears to be as real as anything.

People, you have to understand the music business is cut throat, and if you're not willing to put forth the effort to make your songs and recordings sound as perfect for the job as possible, someone else will.

This artist, just by the way they talk, sounds like a sore loser. There is no gurrantee in life that people are going to buy your product, EVER. That's just basic business. If you have some hard evidence that you have been cheated that is one thing, but you just sound like a child.

I just got out of a 5 year contract that screwed me completely over due to a terrible work ethic from a dishonest manager who ONCE UPON A TIME was an A and R rep for a division of warner bros records.

Talk about loss. Sounds to me like you got a slap on the wrist at best. Put out some hit music, work hard, and hope for the best.

Michael, keep an eye out for me. Justin Alexander.

Also, I would never tell you or anybody how to do your job, but as a potential customer of your services, I might consider uploading some more recent videos to your YouTube channel.
It looks like you guys have nothing new going on.

We're all on the same team! Rock on.

I looked over the Taxi A&R website and it looked very suspicious to me.  My main work is as an engineer through placement agencies. Those companies do all of the leg work to find me positions by selling my skills to their clients. No company charges an up front placement fee. They make their money by billing the client a bit more than they pay me which is perfectly reasonable.

I have found in the "arts" that there are all kinds of scams and ripoffs targeting artists from "reading fees" to "listening fees". Reputable companies get paid after they've made the sale, not by sponging off artist submissions.

I've been a TAXI member for a year now, and will be re-upping my membership.  I have mainly positive but mixed feelings about the company.  First off, I do not believe it is in anyway a scam.  They are exactly what they say they are, as Michael Laskow rebutted already.  The music business is hard as crap to break into.  It's art, which is subject to the listener.  There screeners are in the business, and are blunt.  Their constructive  criticism is good, but i don't always agree, and sometimes I feel more confused than ever.  I went to the convention last November in LA not expecting much, and left feeling I had learned a lot, and feeling great.  I've been bummed by rejections since then, but in no way feel TAXI is malicious about taking my money.

They do seem to want a lot of stuff that's like other stuff out there, making me feel if I have something original to offer, it's not gonna be wanted.  Trying to make a living at music is not a pretty site, especially if your trying to compete at this level.  They have bands, writers, etc. that have done great.  Unfortunately you have 0.01% chance of doing anything in this business.  TAXI may increase that to .1%, which is better than you had. 

The person who filed this report makes one very key statement: “One year I had 16 song Forwards through their service with great review comments and didn’t hear from anyone that the music was forwarded too, never made a dime.”

TAXI is in the business of forwarding music that we feel meets the needs and is of high quality to record labels, music publishers, film & TV music supervisors and ad agencies who have requested pre-screened music. Nowhere on our website or in our brochure do we guarantee that the company we forward the music to will sign it.

We are in the business of making professional introductions for our musician members, but we cannot guarantee that the listing company will offer or sign a contract. It is similar to an employment agency—not every person will be offered a job each time they are sent on an interview.
Essentially, what we do is to GET our members the interviews.

The complainant also likens TAXI to gambling in Las Vegas.
The big difference is that gambling is a game of chance… purely chance, and with TAXI you have a great deal of control over your chances of winning by submitting high quality music.

Notice that the ANONYMOUS complainant recommended trying TAXI for a year to see if it works for you or not. To gauge whether that statement is good advice or not, I would recommend reading the unedited comments from our members who have been successful using our service, and noting how many of them became successful after some period of time.

Click this link to read them: http://forums.taxi.com/topic21279.html

While I feel bad that this person was not offered any deals after we forwarded his music—and I can understand his or her disappointment—I think it’s a cheap shot to claim that we’re any sort of rip-off based on one person’s experience when there is so much public information that clearly shows that many other folks have a completely opposite experience.

Click here to read TAXI member success stories in their own, unedited words:

http://forums.taxi.com/taxi-success-stories-f7.html

We’ve had problems with competitors posting ANONYMOUS claims like these to denigrate us and bolster their own chance for success. It troubles me that sites like this do not require proof before allowing ANYBODY to post claims—true or false—without first making sure that the claims are from real customers and are solid claims.

Sincerely,

Michael Laskow

Founder, TAXI.com