JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Industry Message Forum TAXI vs Broadjam???

Sixpence None The Richer and Fisher were both significantly helped by TAXI. There are less than 1000 artists on ALL major labels combined right now and half of those are Classical artists. Most of those reming 500 are very long term superstars. The microscopic number of new artists getting deals make it pretty much impossible for anyone not connected to the producers and power players at those labels to get any consideration. If you're an artist trying to get a record deal, I don't think TAXI is likely to be your pathway because almost nobody is getting a deal. Katy Perry WORKED at TAXI before her deal. Their screeners are full of major A&R staff and there are some active publishers and A%R people who screen for them as well. But the opportunities are just so few to get a deal that 1 thing alone is not going to be your ticket. If you don't have a lot of other stuff going on, then TAXI alone is not going to get you a deal as an artist. There's just too many things you have to be doing very well in addition. TAXI might, however, put a very active band with tons going for them in front of the right people at the right time. And THAT is a big opportunity. It won't get credited to TAXI, but they certainly have to be considered part of the reason. And that's what ALL the things you do are. It's a sum total of everything, not ever just 1 thing. If you're an artist with nothing going on who only plays in your basement and isn't selling any CD's or doing well attended live shows, and who doesn't have their act together in the marketing and business side of things, TAXI nor anyone else can help you.

So unless that applies to you Mike, then I wouldn't use TAXI as the pathway to get a label deal. You won't be plucked from complete obscurity just as actresses are no longer found at soda counters on Hollywood and Vine. (And actually never were.. that was a marketing created myth). But TAXI can be one of your tools that, when combined with a lot of other stuff, can really be a great way to get your music in front of a decision maker who may not sign you on the spot, but will later remember you because of it. And folks who sign acts these days are NEVER going to publicly recognize the people who brought the act to their attention. That's just not the real world.

TAXI's claim to fame is that they are, by a large margin, the best at what they do in the industry. They are honest, they have far superior contacts to anyone else who tries to compete with them, and they have actual success stories in the real music industry. If you scoff at all those deals it simply shows you don't understand how making a real living in the music industry works. Every little deal and opportunity leads to a new one and keeps you alive another day to reach your goals. Show me someone in their field doing it better?

Brian