Some A&Rs are just plain mean...

[hhuang9611]

as you say, they're usually too busy to comment on rejections, often they don't even reply.
the fact you got a reply at all, take it as encouragement.
they obviously hear something they like, as they are not closing the door for future demos

Good point! I didn't thought of seeing it that way. Thanks for the advice

[BertKoor]

If you want some concrete feedback on your production skills, then post a link to the track (soundcloud should work) here in the Music Cafe:
viewforum.php?f=14

[hhuang9611]

If you want some concrete feedback on your production skills, then post a link to the track (soundcloud should work) here in the Music Cafe:
viewforum.php?f=14

Thanks for the suggestion! Yeah, I remember I used to post my stuff there when I just got started and I have always received very useful feedbacks! But since I started sending demos to labels, I was told that labels would prefer some exclusive stuff and posting tracks in public forums probably isn’t the best thing to do.

But thanks for the reminder. And actually, I think it’s time that I try to give back to the community and offer my (hopefully constructive) feedbacks to others.

[hhuang9611]

On the side note, the track has been accepted by the other label I submitted to. And the label boss said they really liked this one.

So I guess those mixing tweaks did do some wonders, and/or maybe my style fits this label better.

Anyway, I feel less discouraged now, and I’m ready to work on something new.

So maybe the comments from the A&R were helpful after all…

[BertKoor]

Thing is, you don't know what exactly the critique was of this person. Maybe (s)he thought it was over the top with effects, or too sparse. So perhaps it was only a "taste" thing.

Regarding our music cafe: post a short clip only. Then the full track is still exclusive. A minute usually suffices to get the idea. I hate having to fast-forward 3 minutes before you get at the meat.

[DrGonzo]

This one, however, just feels very discouraging and patronizing.

I think it helps to put yourself in their imaginary shoes for a moment. If you get a large amount of submissions every day and your job is to go through them all. Another tune with a five minute drum intro? It's easy to get jaded and not approach the artist with respect of their work.

I didn't find the response too hard though. It felt more like a standard copy/paste reply that goes out to all that didn't pass. Very few A&Rs are taking the time to reply with real comments, but when they do they almost always tell you they couldn't see it ever being released

Be a duck.

[VariKusBrainZ]

Maybe they were being kind and the track is just shit

[hhuang9611]

This one, however, just feels very discouraging and patronizing.

I think it helps to put yourself in their imaginary shoes for a moment. If you get a large amount of submissions every day and your job is to go through them all. Another tune with a five minute drum intro? It's easy to get jaded and not approach the artist with respect of their work.

I didn't find the response too hard though. It felt more like a standard copy/paste reply that goes out to all that didn't pass. Very few A&Rs are taking the time to reply with real comments, but when they do they almost always tell you they couldn't see it ever being released

Be a duck.

What I don't understand is that if they are so busy, why not just put something simple, like a "no, thanks, Good luck next time." And same goes for copying and pasting messages. If they are sending this to massive rejected producers, why not use more generic ones? Anyway, since most people here agree that this is kind of typical response and polite enough, it's probably just me reading too much into it. (But again, I received many rejections before, and they never bugged me. So maybe this one just "clicked" with me in a bad way)

Maybe they were being kind and the track is just shit

Good news for you, this "shitty" track has already found its place to be so it's not your concerns any more

[cryophonik]

I don’t see anything wrong with that reply at all and no worse than the rejection letters I’ve seen over the years.

I also had the same thought as Gonzo that it was likely just a copy/paste reply.

[cryophonik]

On the side note, the track has been accepted by the other label I submitted to. And the label boss said they really liked this one.

Nice, congrats!

[revvy]

I spent many months of getting work rejections recently. Sucks but is a great learning opportunity. Most worthwhile things require a bit of pain.

This one doesn’t seem too neg. Even if we can’t learn much from the actual words we can probably learn from our own responses and reflection.

Whatever you want can sometimes need months and months of determined effort. Stick at it.