TAXI TV

Latest Episodes:

Collaborate Your Way To More Sync Success![081224] Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

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 college professors who often take a very academic approach when teaching. My point? You’ll come away from this episode with actionable advice you can use starting the very next day! Want to know how a collaborative relationship works? We’ve got you covered! Want to know how and where to find collaborators? Greg will tell you! Want to know who gets what percentage of the booty? You’ll find out! Want to know the technical aspects (easier than you think)? Done! Want to know how to end a collab that’s not working out? Easier than you might think! Win One of THREE FREE Books on Sync! I’ll be giving away THREE books this week, and they are… Insert book covers with links Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV (Robin Frederick) https://amzn.to/3YEgRNY, Cue Tips (Dean Krippheane) https://amzn.to/3YJIxke, and Writing Production Music for TV (Steve Barden) https://amzn.to/3YClkQX The Winner of the $200 Road Rally Plane Fare Prize Will Be Announced!

Ask TAXI's Head Screener Anything![080524] Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

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 searching for it! Questions submitted in advance of the show will get answered first! Please email them to Liz@taxi.com no later than Monday, August 5th at 1pm Pacific time. Cast Your Votes Craig will join me for the first half of Monday’s episode, and we’ll spend the second half watching the Road Rally testimonial videos submitted by our members. You’ll be able to vote on a dedicated form after the episode ends. The winner will get a $200 prize to help them buy their plane ticket to the Rally which is coming up in little more than 3 months (November 7th – 10th)! TAXI’s Free Music Conference… We’re always amazed by how many TAXI members seem completely unaware of the TAXI Road Rally, so here are a couple of links to help you learn more about this career-changing event! https://www.taxi.com/transmitter/2407/registration-for-taxis-free-conference-is-open/ https://www.taxi.com/taxi-road-rally

Would You Forward This Music Or Not A&R Ear Training This Week![072924] Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

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 from other viewers for years! With that in mind, on this week’s TAXI TV we’ll be making A&R decisions on two different types of music. Let's test your A&R skills and see if TAXI's A&R team is as good as I think they are ;-) Here's what we'll be judging together. TAXI # S240612UP - EMOTIONALLY UPLIFTING PIANO and STRING INSTRUMENTALS and/or CUES TAXI # S240716SS - ACOUSTIC-Driven INDIE SINGER/SONGWRITER SONGS about LOVE

AI Musicians' Friend Or Foe [072224] Jul 23, 2024

Show notes

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, lawsuits, and technological advances the rest of us don’t. At least not to the same extent. Oh, we know some of the stuff, but most of the opinions we all hear (in my opinion) are based on far less information than what I think Paul has consumed. I’ve watched most of his videos and had several discussions with him on this hot-button topic, and feel like he can inject some common sense that might make us feel like the sky isn’t falling as fast or hard as some might have us think. You just might find yourself saying, “Oh wow, I hadn’t thought of that aspect of it!”

Music Library CEO Tells You What NOT To Do! [071524] Jul 16, 2024

Show notes

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 produce, so he started a music library. Harder than it sounds, and I’ll ask him to tell us why on this week’s TAXI TV. But the REAL reason I asked him to be on TAXI TV is because of our relentless efforts to help you learn how to not blow a deal when you’re offered one. I’m also going to ask him to give you tips on avoiding mistakes that could make a library grow cold on you and your music. Who better than somebody who’s been on both sides of the sync licensing fence — Composer/Library CEO? Win a FREE Book During This Week’s Live Broadcast! I’m not sure exactly which book (or books) we’ll be giving away yet. I’ve got to check the stash ;-) But, you can rest assured it/they will be about creating and succeeding in sync licensing.

TWO Music Library Execs Explain What They Need From YOU![070824] Jul 09, 2024

Show notes

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 tell you that both of these folks are highly experienced, highly regarded, and well-informed execs from a very successful company. Whatever they share, you can take to the bank! Miss this episode at your own peril, as they say. Who ARE “they,” anyway? Get Your Questions Ready! We’re going to do some live Q&A during this episode, so please get your questions ready in advance. And PLEASE keep them short and pithy! I’ll be choosing questions from the Live Chat Room, so you’ll need to watch the live episode on Monday to have a shot at getting your questions answered.

Why Vinyl Is Making A Surprising Comeback [070124] Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

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 commercials and explain why the music was used and how the ad agency picked it. You see, this music supe mostly does big TV commercials! After watching the interview, I called Tony VanVeen at Disc Makers (their CEO) to ask him if vinyl was indeed making a strong comeback, and to my surprise, he said it was booming! And that’s why I’ve asked Tony to be my guest on this week’s TAXI TV! I want to know why vinyl has become a “thing” again, and if it’s something all musicians should consider. Win a Vinyl Package from Disc Makers? Tony has kindly offered to give a FREE vinyl pressing to one of our viewers during this week’s show. The lucky winner (drawn at random from our chat room audience) will get 100 vinyl records, full-color labels, black vinyl, color jackets, white inner sleeves, and poly wrap. The artist only pays shipping. Extras like fancy colored vinyl or special effects like splatter vinyl, or heavy 180-gram pressings are all possible upgrades, but the winner will have to cover the cost of any upgrades.

Ask 2 Grammy - Winning Engineers Your Questions![062424] Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

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 your studio is in your home. Convenient? Yes! You can work whenever you want, and for as long as you want! Isolating? Also, yes! Working by yourself pretty much limits you to learning from YouTube videos. But, that’s not nearly as good as having TWO real-deal, hit-making, multi-Grammy-winning, multi-platinum engineers/mixers answer your specific questions in real-time. That’s EXACTLY what you’re going to do when you join Rob Chiarelli, Michael Havens, and me on this very special episode of TAXI TV, live! Michael engineers Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin’s records, and Rob mixes them. They’ve also (collectively) worked with Justin Bieber, Tori Kelly, Chance the Rapper, Demi Lovato, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Erica Campbell, Big Smo, Andra Day, The Corrs, Public Enemy, Jesse McCartney, LeeAnn Rimes, Will Smith, Danny Elfman, Christina Aguilera, Teddy Pendergrass, The Temptations, The Four Tops, and many, many more!

TAXI Needs Your Help And Your Suggestions On The Road Rally![061024] Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

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 the weekend! We’ll be opening registration for the Rally in the next few days, so if you’ve never attended, ask yourself this simple question, “How much value is there in doing something that could dramatically speed up my path to music industry success?” Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, and you can click the link below to see several Rally success stories that will give you a really good idea of what you’ll be missing if you don’t take advantage of this FREE perk that you’re entitled to!

Mastering Sync Music Cue Tips With Dean Krippaehne! [060324] Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

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 is giving you the advice he learned after making his own mistakes along the way.

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