Hi guys,
Have been reasonably happy with the performance of my back catalogue over the years. But for some reason, this year, I cannot get a submission accepted. It’s becoming increasingly frustrating waiting 15+ days for AJ to come back with their generic “not good enough but try again even though we haven’t given you any feedback to help you understand where you went wrong” response.
I’ve had some far more awful submissions accepted over the years (perhaps during a less stricter time?) and I can only think I’ve developed as an artist over time. It’s what makes the constant foray of rejections difficult to comprehend.
Here’s my latest rejection:
On some recent rejections, I was advised that perhaps I was a little too creative and experimental in some of my stuff. I cut it back, went the cookie-cutter route and followed the structure verbatim on a couple of top telling tracks. Still nothing.
Any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Hmm, the mix is slightly on the harsh/bright/thin side and the guitar gets sloppy at times.
Maybe there are some factors other than the quality of the track. For example, the reviewer sees that your last n submissions have been rejected and automatically hits the red button.
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Appreciate the feedback RE: the mix. I do have a tendency to mix a little too ‘bright’ at times.
Hoping the second part of your feedback isn’t true, though. That would be some awful kind of prejudice just to get through the queue quicker!
Try not repeating the same 4 chords for 2 minutes always arranged the same way. Your B Section is more like A’, the ending is unmotivated. I guess that’ll not be an issue with shorter compositions tho.
(just my personal opinion)
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I think the standards have definitely got a lot stricter even just in the past year or so. Just when I think I know exactly what they are looking for… reject! I’ve been lucky enough to get a few accepted in the past couple of weeks so I can give you my take…
I think the arrangement just won’t cut it, it’s way too repetitive. Nothing wrong with a repeating chord structure, but you need to build it with lots of different melodic ideas and counterpoints, this just stays the same with the one clav melody.
Once that is fixed, the mix is VERY harsh and bright. Def need some more mids and to build some depth/space between your instruments.
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Thanks widekeys. I appreciate that feedback - I went the simpler route on this one as I was told my last one was too complex! Tried to follow the structure of a couple of other high-selling tracks. Will try to find an in-between on my next submission.
Thanks for your detailed feedback, Robert. I think that’s perhaps where I’ve gone wrong on this one - I am missing those counterpoints that create those nuances throughout the track.
As mentioned above, I’ve definitely had a tendency in the past to mix quite “bright.” I’m starting to understand that I’m probably mixing a little too “bright” - could be time for new monitors 
Really appreciate all the useful constructive criticism, guys.
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