I recently submitted one of my tunes,
Cruise Control, for an placement opportunity. Got back the following comment -
"Interested blend of instruments. Synthesized choir background is of poor quality. Good driving beat."
Aside from the probably auto-corrected "interested", it struck me as funny because, the objection about the choir sounds is purely about the expectations.
That sound was a very conscious choice on my part. It is a sound that would be instantly recognizable to people who listen to much progressive rock - it's a Mellotron,
an 8-bit tape-based sampler from the 60s that is lo-fi, slightly out of tune and gritty sounding, but it is a useful sound unto itself. As a choir it sucks,
as a Mellotron it has a warm gritty character. All about what you are looking for. It is much like the old Roland TR808 and TR909 drum machines are to rappers -
as authentic sounding drums, not so much; but as an alternate, those sounds are used everywhere in rap and hip-hop.
The point is, of course, the listener is also right - if you don't know what a Mellotron sounds like, then it is just a crappy sounding choir; and if your ears wanted
a pristine full sounding choir then it is not going to work for you.
Sometimes listeners just are not going to get what you are going for.