A few weeks ago we posted a review of the service offered by A&R and music publishing company Taxi. It was less than glowing. A few days later we posted a second piece that talked about their lack of response in addressing the flaws we pointed out in their business. This time we got their attention.
I’m happy to write this third chapter and conclude our Taxi trilogy on a positive note.
A few days after we posted the second article I received a phone call from Michal Laskow, Founder and CEO of Taxi. After a few short minutes talking to Michael my two year build up of frustration and anger with Taxi has simply dissolved. Michael is a super nice guy. We spent an hour on the phone and arranged to meet the following week. Thursday, Joey and I drove to Taxi’s headquarter in Calabasas and spent 2 hours bouncing ideas with Michael about his business and ours. I now have a better perspective of Taxi, and I’d like to share it with you.
Michael is a music industry veteran. He began his career in 1974 at Criteria Studios in Miami Florida as an engineer/producer. He has worked with artists such as Neil Young, Firefall, Melanie, Cheap Trick, Eric Clapton, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and many more. His passion for music is matched by his passion to help songwriters, composers and musicians to get ahead in the music industry. In the 18 years of Taxi’s existence the company has helped many musicians to score record deals, publishing deals, and music placement opportunities. Michael says that at least 6% of Taxi members get some kind of deal through the service. This figure might be higher, as many of the members don’t report back to Taxi about their success stories. Michael shared with us many inside stories that made me realize how hard Taxi works promoting the music of its members. It also made me realize some of the tough challenges the company deals with on a daily basis.
Michael is well aware of the challenges his business faces. He is constantly trying to improve the service and provide better value for his costumers. It seemed like most of the ideas for improvements Joey and I have offered him were either tested before, or at least considered by Taxi.
The meeting with Michael didn’t change our opinion about some of the flaws of Taxi’s service, but it did change our overall perception of the company and its motivation. It makes a huge difference to know that Taxi works very hard to provide good value for its members. They can’t promise miracles, and they can’t promise guaranteed results, but they do the best they can to help musicians propel their career.
My recommendation to anyone who considers taking a ride with Taxi is to make sure you get the most out of it and be professional. Put your ego aside and learn from the people who have had a successful ride. Read the forums, and work hard to improve the quality of your submissions. Make sure your submissions are a perfect match to the description of the opportunity. Don’t waste your money or Taxi’s time trying to change the mind of the supervisor or musical director who has requested a very specific type of music. Above all, be patient and persistent.
Yotam Rosenbaum
EVP of Music, earbits.com
yotam@earbits.com
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/yotam-rosenbaum/8/308/651
Twitter: @earbits
What did they pay you off or something haha?! Everything you put in the first two articles was exactly right. I know Michael can be very convincing but that’s exactly how he gets all of these idiots to pay the $300.00 yearly fee in the first place. Duh!
Well…whether he’s just a convincing salesman or not, a visit to their office and a finer look at what they do every day tells me that whether the service works for everyone or not (and none do), they’re trying. It’s not easy to create success stories in music now, or in the past.
I don’t doubt that they try. Question is: whether they have the legitimate contacts, tools, resources, and staff to deliver on their promise; rather selling (exploiting) a dream, which hey… everybody needs a dream!