Our annual conference, the TAXI Road Rally, is fast approaching (November 7th – 10th), and the planning has already begun! To make sure the Rally has the panels and classes you really want, I need to hear from you! Will you please join me on this week’s TAXI TV to give your input and opinions? Which Sponsors Would You Like Discounts From? I also need your help in suggesting sponsors that you’d like to see at the Rally. Why? Because they often give Rally-specific discounts, on-site during...

You’d be hard-pressed to find a successful TAXI member who hasn’t read at least one of Dean Krippaehne’s books on creating music for media. "Demystifying the Cue" and "Demystifying the Genre" have become industry standards, and I suspect the same will be true for Dean’s newest book, "Cue Tips – 50 songwriting, composing, and Music Production Hacks to speed up your sync journey." Dean’s a great teacher because he speaks and writes in very conversational terms. It feels like your best friend...

It’s been quite a while since we’ve had one of your very favorite guests on TAXI TV, so I’m happy to let you know that 5-time Grammy-winner Rob Chiarelli will be my guest on this week’s TAXI TV! If you’re not already familiar with Rob’s career, you can learn more about him here: https://www.finalmix.com/ Rob and I have been close friends for several decades, and we love to talk about mixing, mics, production, and even finding success in the sync market. We spent three hours trading studio...

Frankly, I just can’t seem to wrap my head around what the MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) does. I think I’m reasonably intelligent, but that’s just my opinion and I’m biased ;-) But, every time I hear what the MLC does and who might have money coming to them, I understand it at the moment, then can’t remember the complexities an hour later. Michael Eames is VERY involved with the MLC and explains it better than anybody I know. He’s also one of the smartest people I’ve ever met in our...

AI and its effect on music creation is likely the most talked about topic of the year amongst musicians. And, while I haven’t wanted to jump on the click-bait bandwagon like so many other music-related YouTube channels have, I also don’t want to stick our collective heads in the sand. It’s early in the game but also a party to which you don’t want to be late. My personal feeling is, that histrionics are bad and balance is good. I was catching up with my old friend, Todd Herreman this week,...

It's been a while since we've done an "Ask Michael Anything" on TAXI TV, so that's exactly what we're going to do on today's show! Ask me anything about TAXI, engineering & production (from the mics and wires aspect), or the music licensing business, and I'll do my best to give straight ahead helpful answers. Want to know what production music libraries are looking for? I can tell you! Want to know why Hollywood studios won't use you to score their blockbuster films? I know the...

Our viewers love it when we do the “A&R Hot Seat” episodes, and here’s why… “Michael, I’ve learned so much from the A&R Hot Seat episodes on TAXI TV! Can you please do them more often? My music has improved quite a bit because it’s much easier to be objective when deciding what works and what doesn’t about somebody else’s music rather than my own.” —Timothy Reardon We’ve been hearing the same thing from other viewers for years! With that in mind, on this week’s TAXI TV, we’ll be...

Bobby Borg joined me on TAXI TV a couple weeks ago and after the show ended, I realized how much more we could have covered. Specifically, I felt that we could have gone more in-depth on the subject of marketing for musicians. He’s the perfect person to talk about it because he’s the author of, Music Marketing for The DIY Musician. But, he’s much more than the author of that book!

Do you believe that you’re either born with talent or you’re not? Do you believe that hit songwriters just pop out of their mother’s bellies imbued with the gift of writing great songs? I don’t! All the hit songwriters I’ve met during my career have gone to great lengths to learn the craft of songwriting. And they keep working at their craft to stay current and relevant as styles and the public’s preferences change with the times. There’s something else that hit songwriters have in common,...

You can be an extremely talented musician with songs that sound like they’re destined to fly to the top of the charts or TV instrumentals that could earn a bunch of mailbox money, but there’s another “factor” that could stop key music industry executives from wanting to work with you —lacking business skills. More specifically, MUSIC business skills! Which musician would you sign? Given the choice of working with an artist, composer, songwriter, or producer who has a decent, working...

Who among us hasn't had self-doubt at one time or another? It might be so bad that it keeps you stuck in the same place—career-wise—for your entire life! Maybe in other ways, as well! If you're anything like me, meeting people who prove that you can be anything you want to be can change the outcome of your life in an instant. Kim Tibbs is one of those incredibly rare, super-inspiring musicians. She's an unstoppable force of nature with a list of impressive accomplishments that didn't come...

Stephanie Reid is a super-smart music licensing executive who has a really interesting take on the Artificial Intelligence kerfuffle, as it relates to the music industry. Are you trepidatious? Have you lost sleep because you’ve spent years building your sync career, and now it looks like Robbie the Robot is going to force you into busking on street corners in the not-too-distant future? Now that you’ve listened to all the other prognosticators shouting, “The sky is falling!” you should hear...

If you’re new-ish to the world of sync music licensing, you’re going to love hearing what Jim Thacker has to say. What he’s going to share with you could literally save you from making years of career-killing mistakes!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been disappointed when I hear about a musician who I want to check out, and they only have social media. Most don’t know how to use their socials very well, and even when they do, I don’t find everything I need to know about them. How much success have you had with your music that can be directly attributable to your social media? Yep, that’s what I thought — practically none. However, when I Google a musician, and the first thing I see at the top of the...

You’d be hard-pressed to find a music creator who doesn’t want to get their music in TV shows, films, or commercials. Yet, the majority of songwriters, artists, producers, and composers who want to jump into the sync side of the music industry really don’t know the “rules of the game,” where to start, or the strategies that can get you to a six-figure income. Most aren’t aware of some very common mistakes they’re making that could easily kill a sync career before it ever has a chance to take...

It's time to hear some great music from TAXI's members — songs and instrumentals, alike! Our Top 10 episodes are viewer favorites, so please join us tomorrow at 4 pm (PST) for the LIVE show and you'll have a shot at winning a copy of Dean Krippaehne's must-have book, Demystifying the Genre! If you want to get your music on TV, this book is indispensable! And you'll have a shot at winning a FREE copy if you're in the chat room for this episode! Join us and you'll hear a range of really cool...

How many songs or instrumentals do you have that remain unfinished? C'mon... be honest with yourself. How much more successful could you be if you actually DID finish all the songs or instrumentals you started? Join me and my special guest, Robin Frederick, as we uncover some great ways to make sure you DO finish your songs and instrumentals when you start them. I think this is going to be a really powerful episode! Frankly, I'm champing at the bit to share this information with you!! It...

TAXI's Head Screener (Craig Pilo) will join Michael to answer any and all questions during this week's LIVE episode of TAXI TV. Got questions on topics like how TAXI's A&R team approaches their job, common submission mistakes, little improvements that can make a big difference, production tips for sounding more contemporary, and more? Craig and Michael will give you straight-up answers! Bonus topic: Craig is a first-call session and live drummer, and he'll be happy to answer your...

TAXI TV has been “on the air” for at least 13 years, and we’ve never done an episode featuring a pair of earphones. The reason is; I’ve never heard any that were impressive enough to tell you about. But now I have, and this week I’m going to share them with you! While other manufacturers have seemingly tried to improve the listening/hearing experience by building a better “mousetrap,” Flare Audio studied the “mouse” first. Well, actually, the human ear, and how it degrades sound. Flare’s...

TAXI member, Matt Vander Boegh’s music plays somewhere in the world every hour of every day. His accomplishments have inspired his fellow TAXI members to quit making excuses, to get busy, and to become more productive. In 13 years, he’s amassed a staggering 25,000+ placements on over 900 TV programs, including various major sporting events, Hollywood movies, high-profile reality TV shows, soap operas, commercials, and daytime & evening talk shows. He has nearly 5,000 cues and hundreds of...

Members have suggested doing an online Holiday Party for this week’s TAXI TV, so why not?! We imagine this will be sort of like the Quarantini Happy Hours we enjoyed so much during the pandemic, except we won’t be locked down this time ;-) Will we hang out and have some fun? Yep! Will I answer questions, if asked? Sure, why not? Will we pick some of the songs at random to listen to? Yes, we will! Will we do some random drawings for prizes? Absolutely!

I’ve been compiling a list of mistakes that can hurt, or even KILL your chances of having a successful career in the music licensing business. Some of these mistakes are made by people just starting out. Shockingly, others are made by people who I think are seasoned pros at this point in their careers! You might have heard of some of these mistakes before, but I’ll bet there will be plenty that you’ve never even thought about, and could be making yourself! This is a Do-Not-Miss episode! Win...

Our viewers have always loved our "A&R Hot Seat" episodes! Here's why: by judging music to see if their opinions line up with TAXI's A&R staff, our members get to fine-tune their "industry ears." They LOVE how it helps them listen to their own music more critically! Members have also told me that these episodes build confidence in TAXI's A&R team when they see that the screeners' decisions are very much on-target!

If you’ve ever thought, “I just need a manager,” listen up! The manager you’re probably dreaming of—you know… you make the music, and they do all the business-y and promotional work to help you become famous… that kind of manager—probably won’t want to work with you yet, and here’s why… The big, high-powered managers work on commission, and they won’t MAKE a commission unless you’re already making money. A well-meaning super fan might offer to manage you in the beginning, and that’s great…...