TAXI Road Rally 2009 – Don’t Sell Yourself Short!
Filed under: Music Industry Tips — dpenn @ 9:31 am
Last month I attended my 4th TAXI Road Rally and, as usual, it did not disappoint. I had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and attend workshops and panels led by industry veterans. For those of you who don’t know, TAXI is an independent A&R company dedicated to helping artists further their careers. They provide career tools for musicians and composers, industry listings, and once a year they put on a free event for their members called the TAXI Road Rally that takes place in California. The event alone is worth the yearly TAXI membership. You can learn more at www.taxi.com. I strongly recommend it.
Below are a few thoughts on how you can maximize the benefits from attending your next TAXI Road Rally or any other music industry event.
1. CUT DOWN THE INTRO’s!!!
Yes – music is an art. But – music is also a business as you all know. If an A&R exec or music supervisor is sifting through hundreds and hundreds of songs for consideration in their project, they are not going to wait through a long intro to get to the crux of your song to see if it’s a fit. If you don’t engage them in seconds, you can most likely kiss your chances goodbye. Sitting in on the listening panels at the TAXI Rally – I was amazed at how many artists just don’t get this. If they’re new to the industry, hopefully they take heed of this and adjust as necessary. If they’ve been around for a while, know of this, and yet still have the sentiment of “I’m not changing my music for anyone – I’m an artist!” – well, you open up more opportunities for people like me. As Dave Trotter from Harpo/Studio 51 said quite a few times while listening to randomly drawn songs – by the time the song actually kicked in, the TV scene would have already passed. MAKE AN EDIT of your song for Film/TV placement. Same goes for label consideration. GET TO THE POINT. You will vastly increase your chances at success.
2. A PROFESSIONAL LOOKING DEMO IS KEY!!!
Every year it’s the same thing. A panel ends and tons of people bum rush the panelists at the stage to give them a copy of their demo. There is ALWAYS someone with a clear jewel case, non-labeled CD who throw their demo into a panelists hand and yell “TRACK 2!!! HALF WAY THROUGH THE SONG CHECK OUT THE 2ND PART OF THE CHORUS!!!” (I’m seriously, and unfortunately not making this up). Then comes the perplexed look from the panelist, and they either say OK (which means they really don’t care and most likely will not listen to it), or they plain don’t accept it (which they shouldn’t). It’s just mind blowing to me how someone can pay for the airfare, pay for the hotel, spend the money while out at the Rally, and then shoot your chances down to nil by presenting an amateur, unprofessional looking demo. When they get back to their offices and sift through the stack of CD’s, do you really think that an extremely poor looking presentation is going to make any kind of impact on them? Even if the song is great, an unprofessional/amateur looking demo will severely limit your chances at success if it’s in the running with someone else’s professional looking demo. Appearance matters!!! Personally, I wait until the crowd clears and the panelist is leaving the auditorium. I then politely (and briefly) introduce myself and hand them a copy of my professionally packaged demo. I also make sure to already have a label on the front of my CD case with the persons name on it. It shows them that you ACTUALLY CARE. Trust me, professionalism goes a long way. It’s so surprising to me that so many people just don’t get it, or care.
3. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MIX!!!
A great songs impact is severely reduced with a muddy flat mix. I was really surprised this year when a large majority of the tracks played at the listening panels all had this bassy, muddy, flat sound to them. At first I thought it might have been the PA system, but my thoughts were corroborated through speaking to numerous industry mentors who listened to peoples CD’s through headphones and had the same opinion. I have no idea why this was more prevalent this year than in the past, but if you want any chance of having your song placed on a TV show or in a film, you MUST have broadcast quality.
BOTTOM LINE:
It’s all about presentation. Whether it’s hooking the listener in immediately to the song, presenting your demo in a way that says “I take this seriously” or making sure that your song pops in the mix, these elements will do the “selling” for you when you’re not in the room. Don’t sell yourself short.