rethinking submission policy to benefit "looking for" requests

Every now and again I click on these types of threads to see what a client is looking for:

I just listened to what the customer wants.

I’d be willing to make a bet that this type of track that the client is looking for would be rejected if someone uploaded it.

So what can be done about this? Start a category called “Specialty” and market it as just that “specialty tracks” I am thinking about cheesy polkas, corny mariachi’s, cheesy, dated 50’s vintage film scores, other corny or odd ethnic/ world music tracks. The main point is that there are always weird needs out there. Yes, most want that slick sounding contemporary, corporate, orchestral epic, or catchy pop/ rock track…we all are well aware of that.

Back to submissions and rejections: At some point AJ should consider thinking about changing it’s submissions policy. What should the change be? I’d propose vetting new writers/ authors prior to allowing for even their first upload. Make them send a link to a 5 to 10 track portfolio on their web site or Soundcloud page. They should essentially “apply” to be an author. Make them upload valid ID - Drivers License or National Identity Card. Listen to their works and then e-mail them saying they have qualified to submit.

For those of us who have been around long enough…Do we really need to wait 25 days now? I know this is starting to demotivate me. I talk to other authors who are also expressing dissatisfaction. I used to not care at 15 to 20 days…but wow, we’re now flirting with a 30 day cue? In these circumstances above with this customer, we do not have the ability to dig into our back catalogs on our own internal servers, locate a track that fits the description, upload it and have it instantly published for the customer to check out. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Additionally, with a change in policy from vetting writers skills first verses vetting each individual uploaded track, AJ will be able to reduce costs by spending less on reviewer labor. Are you not currently rejecting maybe 50% of every track uploaded by all the new authors? Isn’t reviewing labor a very high cost impacting your profit margin? I have the opinion that some authors no longer need any review. Anyone selling here for 3 to 8 years now with some level of success now knows not to release inferior, poorly produced music. I think it’s time to maybe just trust those authors and let them work in an “instantly self published” environment, but maybe cap the uploads to only 2 or 3 per week…even 1 per week would work. You can even delete the track if you really feel as though it’s not good. If anything, I think reviewers could easily get together and come up with a list of 300 to 500 authors (out of the 13,134 supposedly selling here!) and grant those authors “publish your works instantly without review” status. I just do not see any downside to this idea…only upside for AJ, authors, and customers.

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Great ideas. Some of them almost equal to my. I think this is time to do something like you suggest here.