Not All Music Submission Companies Are Created Equal

By TAXI's A&R Staff

Since starting TAXI in 1992, we've helped thousands of songwriters, artists and composers get record deals, publishing deals and countless Film and TV placements. The music submissions to fill these needs have come in from all over the world.

Our success has led to dozens of competitors trying to imitate our service, which oddly enough has caused hundreds of musicians to contact TAXI to check on the credibility of the competing companies. If you need an expert opinion, you call an expert!

Not wanting to slag all of our competitors, we decided to address the issue in a general way, and will not refer to any of the companies by name. That should make our attorney happy.

Technology has moved ahead quickly, providing anybody who wants to get into the music industry and has a computer, the ability to do so. But having a website that allows you to host and submit music there, does not a real music industry player make.

I've seen such companies sprout up in the strangest of places — the cow pastures of Wisconsin, to the deserts of Nevada, and even a couple in countries that most people would consider third world. Very few of them are in Los Angeles, Nashville or New York - the true music centers of the world.

Questions you should ask these companies before you decide to submit your music to them:

• How long have you been in business?
• Where are you located?
• Do you pre-screen the music you pitch to the industry?
• Who do you have screening the music — other musicians who are also submitting their music or real industry experts with verifiable resumes and track records?
• Do you have a list of the film companies, record companies, music publishing companies, and TV networks that you've successfully placed music with?
• Do you have a public forum where I can ask your current members if they are happy with your service?
• Do you offer a money back guarantee?
• What percentage of the music submissions you receive are forwarded on to the requesting company by your service?
• If the company you are considering does not, or will not answer those questions, then you might want to look elsewhere! We've provided you with the answers you'll get if you call TAXI below. But we still encourage you to contact us at 1-800-458-2111 if you have more questions. We're always happy to answer them for you!

Q: How long have you been in business?
A: TAXI was the first independent A&R company in the world, and we've been in business since 1992. We remain the world leader.

Q: Where are you located?
A: In a suburb of Los Angeles - Calabasas, California. Not in a remote city with no music industry people in it. To help musicians get deals, you need to be extremely well connected to the people you do business with!

Q: Do you pre-screen the music you pitch to the industry?
A: Yes, that's why more than 1,000 record companies, music publishers and Film and TV music supervisors have used TAXI and keep coming back time and time again. They know that they'll always get the very best music from the very best songwriters, artists and composers because we carefully listen to every track before we submit music for any of their projects.

Q: Who do you have screening the music - other musicians who are also submitting their music or real industry experts with verifiable resumes and track records?
A: TAXI's A&R team is made up of more than 200 heavyweight music industry veterans who are highly skilled in the art of picking hits. They've been Vice Presidents and Directors of A&R at major labels, music publishers, Grammy-winning songwriters and producers, Hollywood music supervisors, and program directors from top radio stations. They have worked at companies like A&M, Arista, ASCAP, BMI, Capitol, Columbia, EMI Music Publishing, Famous Music, MCA, RCA, Universal, Warner Bros., Windham Hill, Word, Virgin, and many, many more. We guarantee your music will always be thoroughly listened to by one of our pros — no second stringers. Your music will be screened under our direct supervision at TAXI's Los Angeles headquarters.

Want to see our A&R team list? Click here to read it.

Q: Do you have a list of the film companies, record companies, music publishing companies, and TV networks that you've successfully placed music with?
This is just a sampling of the companies that have used TAXI to find music from independent artists, songwriters and composers:
A: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, MTV, HBO, CNN, PBS, ESPN, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Fox Sports, Discovery, Speed, History Channel, Travel Channel, TLC, HGTV, History Channel, Biography, National Geographic, USA, TNT and just about every other network you can think of! A&M, Arista, Atlantic, BMG, Capitol, Columbia, DreamWorks, EMI, Epic, Geffen, Island/Def Jam, Jive, Interscope, MCA, Motown, RCA, Reprise, Sony, Universal, Virgin, Warner Bros., and Word are just a few of the record labels and publishers we've worked with.

Q: Do you have a public forum where I can ask your current members if they are happy with your service?
A: Yes we do. Here's the link: http://forums.taxi.com

Q: Do you offer a money back guarantee?
A: Yes we do. Click here and scroll down to read it!

Q: What percentage of the music submissions you receive are forwarded on to the requesting company by your service?
A: It depends on the company and how strict they ask us to be in what music we submit to them. For a record major record label, only a small percentage will be forwarded. For film ad TV music placements, we can be more liberal. If a company tells you that all the music submitted is sent to the requesting company, you'd be wise to steer clear of that service. The real people in the music industry will not listen to hundreds of submissions, so why would they use a service that sends them unfiltered music?

Feel free to call us with further questions at 1-800-458-2111. If you've already decided that TAXI is the company that you'd like to use to make your music submissions to the record, Film & TV and publishing industries, then just click the button below to begin submitting now.