TAXI TV

We all know that it's WHO you know, not just what you know, right? But can you honestly say that you've done everything you can to fill your little "Black Book" with music industry contacts that are key to a sustained, successful career in the music business? How many music supervisors do you personally know? How many production music library owners do you personally know? How many A&R people or m...

Do you have questions about anything in the recording, mixing, or production realm? Great! We’ve got the perfect guy to answer them for you, live on this week’s TAXI TV! Ronan Chris Murphy is an acclaimed music producer, engineer, and mixer, known for his versatile work across various genres. With a career spanning decades, he has collaborated with notable artists like King Crimson, Tony Levin, St...

If you’re reading this, you’d undoubtedly like to be thought of as a “Go-To” musician in the eyes of the “kingpins” of sync world, right? Well, I was speaking with a TAXI member named Robina-Ritchie Barker the other day, and I was blown away by the way she looks at the sync industry. More specifically, her views on what it takes to become successful in the sync industry. The funny thing is; the da...

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 straightforward and helpful answers. Want to know what production music libraries are looking for? I can tell you! Want t...

If your goal is to earn your living creating music instead of having a day job that you don’t love, then you really don’t want to miss this week’s episode of TAXI TV. Would you like to have written this statement? “Today, I have lost track, but hundreds of TV shows and almost 100 networks have used my music all over the world. I went from wondering how to get a piece of music in a library almost 1...

Casey Hurowitz has been to more TAXI Road Rallies than any other member, with the probable exception of the legendary Bill Gordon. Casey has long been the go-to guy for Rally first-timers and even some conference veterans. Go-to for what, you might ask… Everything from where to grab the free hotel shuttle, to bringing a hoodie because it can get chilly in the ballroom, to the best way to present y...

Not only will Robin be sharing her 5 best tips for writing better songs more quickly than you do now, she will also be giving feedback on THREE randomly chosen songs from our loyal viewers. If you’re reading this email, follow the steps below to have your song in the running for one of Robin’s famous feedback sessions. Win a FREE Copy of Robin’s Best-Selling Book! Actually, this week’s winner can...

TAXI member, Greg Carrozza will be my guest on this week’s show and he’s going to share everything he knows about collaborating with your fellow TAXI members. If you’d like to accelerate your journey to a successful career in sync licensing, this will be some of the best advice you can get! Greg is a very practical, pragmatic guy, and he explains things in plain English. He’s the exact opposite of...

Get your questions ready for TAXI’s Head Screener, Craig Pilo, because he’s going to join us on this week’s TAXI TV! He’s always a popular guest, and has a great deal of knowledge to share about the sync industry in general, as well as insight relating to TAXI’s screeners, the screening process, common mistakes, and great tips for getting more of your music forwarded to the industry people who are...

Our viewers love 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 f...

If you’re exhausted by all the worry and hand-wringing caused by the threat of Artificial Intelligence obsoleting musicians, I think you’re going to like this episode of TAXI TV. I think you’ll be somewhat less stressed after watching it! TAXI member/composer/producer, Paul Croteau has done the work the rest of us don’t have the bandwidth to do—he’s been obsessively following the AI discussions, l...

I’m not going to mention my guest’s name in this description. If I do, people will bombard him with emails asking to have their music heard. You’ll have to watch the show to see who it is ;-) This music library CEO is a successful TV and film composer who used TAXI to build his career over many years. He became successful enough that he was getting more requests for music than he could personally...

Two of the most articulate executives from the music library industry asked me if they could join me for an episode of TAXI TV. They’ve got insider info they want to share, and they think our TAXI TV audience is the best place to start spreading the love. I’m not giving out their names in this email because they would get bombarded with, “Listen to my music” emails if I did —sorry! Trust me when I...

I saw a great interview with a music supervisor talking about why vinyl is so desirable and making a strong comeback. I thought he was so articulate and informative, that I’m meeting him for lunch in exactly 2 hours (rushing to get this written, lol). I’m going to ask him to speak at this year’s Road Rally, November 7th – 11th in Los Angeles. I’m also going to ask him to play a bunch of TV commerc...

I was lucky enough to start my career wrapping cables at a world-class recording studio, surrounded by the best engineers, mixers, and producers in the business. I learned so much just by being “under the roof” and working with those incredibly talented people. Sadly, most of you reading this will never get to ask questions and learn engineering and production from the best in the business because...

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 lik...

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 tea...

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,...

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 ex...

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 histrioni...

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 kno...

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 thin...

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...

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...