Hello, everyone! Looking to hear possible reasons as to why this track was rejected (link below). It’s my first submission, so I want to get some good critique before I finish my second submission. I sell through quite a few other companies and haven’t been rejected by any of them. This includes Artlist, Pond5, Motion Array, and Filmstro.
I assume it is just a bit too busy, and it may also have a tad more low end than they want for this style.
Let me know you thoughts!
Cheers,
Philip
Nice track. Before AJ got picky with accepting new items, I think it would definitely be accepted.
Here are some of my ideas on what could be the reason for rejection:
1. Production - Does not stand out enough. (it is not exactly a “mistake”, but when everyone is standing out, and you’re not, it kind of puts you at the back of the line.)
e.g. - the intro to your track is basically a fade in envelope. If you check some of AJ tracks in similar genre, you will find that they usually have way more things going on.
(automated filters, phrases from main melody, big drum accents, fat risers and stingers, reverse reverb fx, pitch shifted samples etc…)
2. This synth - that starts at 0:18 and plays throughout the entire track is very weird. I understand the idea you were going for, but it sounds to chaotic and breaks the overall groove of the song,
feels like it pops out randomly out of nowhere. Also, at 0:43 when guitars come in, it gets lost in them, does not stand out as an element and makes the arrangement sound more muddy.
3. Mixing - Mix seems to be too dynamic (quiet) and could use more energy and drive for that genre. (Again, comparing to other items on the market). Although if you compress it more, it might be needing more contrast between elements.)
Hope I could help,
Good luck with your next submission!
Thank you for the critique! Good thoughts on the production and synth. I put this whole thing together in like 6–8 hours, but spending a bit more time on the production value wouldn’t hurt. I listened to some tracks prior to writing that are on AJ, and I thought it was close enough (better in some cases). Apparently not!
I typically like to keep things sounding very dynamic, so I master around an LRA of 10. With that said, I could have definitely kicked it a little harder for this genre, and I will definitely keep that in mind.
Cheers,
Philip