June 2011
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 16, No. 6
NEXT MEETING 5:00pm Sunday, June 5th, 2011
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 382-9942
Vice President/Newsletter
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, campkittycat@gmail.com
Membership
Susan Foster-Trewick, susiecool2001@yahoo.com
Newsletter
Jeff Mason, jeffrey_mason@me.com
Matthew Campbell, matthew_sax77@yahoo.com
Website
Carlos Colon (352) 326-4295
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every month at the Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson (at the extreme east end of Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport ) in Orlando .
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org or myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando .
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Matt here. Summer is upon us, already? It doesn’t seem like we had much of a spring. But it’s really hard to complain when so much of the country is dealing with horrendous weather and its after-effects. Too bad we can’t take some of that Mississippi swell and dump it on our Florida lawns.
Are you writing? I hope the answer is ‘yes’. One of the reasons I look forward to the summer is that I generally have more time to write. I thought that would change once my kids went off to college; strangely, it hasn’t. But I try to take advantage of whatever free time I can muster. Something I’ve discovered about myself is that when I’m writing, I’m better. And I mean better everything: better husband, better engineer, better person. I’m more relaxed, less distracted, etc. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who feels this way; anyone care to share?
Thanks again to Matthew Campbell for hosting the May meeting. My wife and I were in Boston , visiting my daughter at college and attending her last orchestra concert. Boston is a terrific city to visit, assuming you go in May and not in January. The subway is relatively inexpensive and visitor-friendly. And there’s no sporting event quite like a Red Sox game in Fenway Park .
Bring your latest composition, and I’ll see you Sunday the 5th. J
Matt (for Russ)
Do You Want to Call a Cab?
By Jeff Mason
TAXI is an A&R company based in California . It was founded in 1992 by Michael Laskow, an engineer and producer who has worked with Eric Clapton, Neal Young, and Cheap Trick. For those readers not familiar with the term, “A&R” stands for Artist and Repertoire. The intent of TAXI is to help songwriters, composers, and bands have their music heard by record labels, publishers, and supervisors of film and TV projects. There is an annual membership fee of $299 and it costs $5 to submit a song. In return TAXI sends out a twice monthly tip sheet on the 1st and 15th of the month. If you have a piece that you think matches a tip, you can submit it; a professional from the music industry will review it, may or may not offer a critique, and will forward it to the producer or publisher if he or she thinks it suitable. Membership in TAXI also gets you two free tickets for its convention in LA, and there is a 100% money-back guarantee if not satisfied within the first year.
I’ve been curious about TAXI for a long time. There are ads in many of the music periodicals and I’ve received stuff in the mail. My first instinct said “scam”. The ads reminded me of an infomercial, and the endorsements struck me as a little too good to be true. I was skeptical and decided to do some research. The first question I typed into my search engine was “TAXI does it work?“, and I discovered that I’m not the only doubter out there. There is a heated debate about TAXI’s merits. There are some very good forums and lots of material on the subject.
The first article I read was by Bryan Hazard on a website called Music Think Tank. He has been a TAXI member for 12 years and has never had a successful deal made via TAXI. Some of his work had been screened and submitted but it has never been picked up by the client. He also made it clear that he didn’t think TAXI was a scam, and that it delivered what it promised. It’s just that TAXI doesn’t make the decision; it acts as a clearing house or a screening process. He gave several reasons why one might consider joining TAXI. It is a very fair and balanced article and I encourage anyone considering TAXI to read it.
I read through a couple of very informative forums. One was Songwriter 101 which is powered by BMI, and another was Just Plain Folks hosted by Brian Austin Whitney. Both these forums were very contentious but I gleaned a lot of stuff from them.
Here are a couple of my conclusions. I like the money back guarantee, and from what I’ve read TAXI stands behind their word on that. So what have you got to lose? I thought that the $5 submission fee was a bit steep. TAXI calls it the “discouragement fee.” It stops people from sending every song they have for every listing, and forces people to be more focused. I think I understand that. I think the annual fee would be worth it if you could go to the convention; it’s called the Road Rally and is said to be one of the best. There are a lot of top industry people attending it. You could look at it as educational and inspirational.
My final conclusion is, you’d better be ready for that opportunity when it comes. Make sure that your work fits the requested criteria and that it’s very good. Every person making an endorsement on TAXI is a top notch composer. I took the time to check their work. See you next time.
ISG Bulletin Board
Matthew “Sax” Campbell open mics and gigs:
- Acoustic Open Mic Night, 1st Thurs each month 9pm-12am, hosted by Matthew “Sax” Campbell, House of Beer, 13526 Village Park Dr, Suites 208&210, Hunter’s Creek (Orlando), www.hobflorida.com. All ages with parental supervision until 10pm, 21 and up after 10pm; no drum sets plz, small 1-spkr amps OK, all musical styles welcome, clean language till 10pm (no exceptions), non-smoking inside, full PA and 6 string acoustic and bass amp provided.
Delivering high-quality FLASH streaming video! No matter what product or service you may be offering, the power of video can be impressive! In fact, flash video is the most effective way to deliver rich media on your website. Video grabs your visitor's interest more so than simply text and images, or even audio. Video keeps visitors on your site longer and often triggers a purchase! Video not only will enhance your marketing message, but it's also entertaining. Video is useful for demonstrating your product or service, as well as teaching, inspiring, and motivating your visitors to become a customer! So if you're holding out with a website that may look outdated or obsolete, you may be losing business. It's time to make a change. Visit my website at http://www.videosaysitall.com. Thanks and call me anytime (352-326-4295)…Carlos Colon
Kitty Camp Pet Boarding—A loving, lakeside resort in Fruitland Park . Daily activities include: playtime, bird-watching, brushing, petting, purring, sunbathing, catnapping, and kitty’s favorite…mealtime! Daily/Weekly/Long Term, private rooms and suites available. 25% off weekly stay, FREE first night. Please call for details at 352-205-4284. Posted by ISG member Jackie Gould.
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Matt Griffin at the meetings or email him at isgorl@cfl.rr.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the ISG . For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-members, please call Matt or email: isgorl@cfl.rr.com .
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Place your classified ad or gig announcement here! Free to ISG members as always! Just get your text to Matt by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best ( isgorl@cfl.rr.com ).
New members always welcome!
May’s Top Songs—Results of monthly critique session
(1) Bittersweet Sunrise by Matthew and Rebecca Campbell
(2) Waiting by Matthew and Rebecca Campbell
© 2011 ISG