First Ever Submission Rejected!

Envato Authors AudioJungle
#1

Hi everyone,
I made my first ever submission to Audiojungle recently and it was rejected! I’m not feeling too upset with myself, I know I need to produce much more and keep submitting but I am not entirely clear from the response in which area the problem lies.
I am an adept musician but relatively new to commercial composition and professional sound mixing. I wrote the track from my own imagination and I have now switched to making my music reflect current trends but I would like some feedback on how to do this more effectively in order to get a submission accepted.
What represents a ‘good mix’ in the eyes of the Audiojungle team? A hard drum kit? A fat bass? Loud or soft? How do I achieve this?
Is my composition too wild and adventurous for the needs of potential clients?

Thanks for your help!

#2

Share the item link

#3

Here’s the track:

I would appreciate a good piece of critical feedback as well as tips on how I can come back stronger next time.

What I also need to know is: if I am not able to re-submit a track, am I not taking a big risk by submitting it at all? If I put a lot time and effort into it and then it is rejected, what do I do with that track? If I correct the faults and bring it up to the required standards, can I not re-submit?

If I cannot re-submit, would a re-mixed version of the old track (with a significantly different arrangement and level mix) count as a new submission?

Thanks for your help!

#4

Your track needs a better mix and mastering.
And it’s a little bit long in my opinion. keep it around 2 minutes.
Not a hopeless case.

ıf you make drastic changes, you can upload your track.

Good Luck.

#5

I like it very much, but I would replace the snare with something more real, as everything else sounds almost “played”. And also the hihat on the left, that open sound distracts from the rest. In fact when it is not there, I feel the track better. It is a very good job however. It would be a pity if AJ rejects it, work on it a little more, most of all on the drums, in order not to waste the track because it is a good idea. IMHO.

#6

Hi Magic Mood,
Thanks, that’s really encouraging and a great piece of feedback. I am starting to wonder if my choice of headphones is the problem. I opted for a set of AudioTechnica headphones around the 80€ mark but I see on the Audiojungle forum that everyone was praising their ATH-M50X model at around 133€. I should not have tried to save the money, it’s always the same story with music tech gear… make the investment at the start.
Do you have any opinions on headphones? I don’t think speakers are an option for me at the moment.

#7

Hi Julian,

Your feedback has really reassured me that I am not wasting my time, thank you!
Could you explain to me what ‘open sound’ means in regard to the hi-hat?
I will definitely take your advice about the drums, I’m working off a sample collection I put together but I can definitely go looking for other sounds.
Unfortunately, the track has already been rejected. I may consider giving it a full structural overhaul (based on a similar, already successful example) and remixing the levels and panning in order to re-present it as a new track.

#8

I avoid headphones. They just don’t work for me.

#9

Hi, I mean the open hi hat sorry! :grinning:

#10

Hi MagicMood,
I really need headphones as I don’t have the money for speakers and I live in a flatshare in an appartment building so I don’t want to make much noise. Was the mix so off that I should mistrust my headphones or was it just not the right mix for the genre? If so, can you give me your advice on what you do to achieve a good commercial mix?

Hi Julian,
No, don’t apologise! It wasn’t a question of not being able to understand the sentence. It was rather my lack of understanding regarding mixing terminology. I just don’t know what ‘open’ means in the context of mixing but I’d like to learn

#11

It is really hard for me to give an advice on mixing with headphones.
But you can always use AJ’s best selling tracks as a reference.

1 Like
#12

OK great, I will check them out and reflect on what I need to change. Thanks!