For many songwriters, birthing a great lyric can be agonizingly slow and painful. Yep, sort of like childbirth! Well, any mom would tell you that itâs not even close, but you get my point; It can be daunting, slow, and yes, even painful to write a great lyric. But it doesnât have to be! If youâve ever had writerâs block or find that it takes so long to craft a great lyric, you miss opportunities for TV and film placements because the window of opportunity is often short. Robin Frederickâauthor o...
Jun 24, 2025â˘1 hr 27 min
True Swans are a duo who are becoming quite successful using TAXI to launch their career. Michelle Lindley and Todd Dunnigan live more than 600 miles from each other, yet their collaboration has been nothing short of remarkable! If youâd like to know how and why long-distance collaborations can work and what the 4 keys to success Todd and Michelle have uncovered, then donât miss this fascinating interview.
Jun 17, 2025â˘1 hr 43 min
I thought you needed tens of thousands (or more) followers to pull off a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise money for your music. I was wrong, you donât! Frankly, I knew very little about crowdfunding to raise money for music (or any other type of project). When Kevin McNoldy was doing his excellent TAXI TV episode about music mastering a few weeks ago, he mentioned that he knew quite a bit about it. He wasnât kidding!!! And the most surprising thing I learned while taping this episode is...
Jun 10, 2025â˘1 hr 39 min
If you think that making great music is the key to making more money in sync licensing, youâre half wrong! If you donât have great (and appropriate) titles for your music, nobody will know how great it is because they wonât find it, hear it, or license it. Shocked? Donât be! Thereâs not a single music supervisor or TV editor side who wouldnât back me up on that. I couldnât find great information about creating titles that get your music found, heard, and generate income, anywhere! I solved that ...
Jun 03, 2025â˘1 hr 36 min
TAXI member, Jim Thacker, is experiencing what manyâif not mostâother musicians hope to accomplish. His music is being heard all over the world, and heâs landing some really nice sync placements on an ever-increasing basis. Some of them are in brand-name TV commercials! But things werenât always going the way Jim wanted them to! Is the same true for you? Are you frustrated, disappointed, or just plain fed up with your music career? Are you doubting that it will ever happen? Hearing why Jimâs ini...
May 20, 2025â˘1 hr 5 min
A year ago, Spotify decided they werenât going to pay royalties on tracks that streamed less than 1,000 times. Instead, those royalties would go to other artists proportionately to their streaming totals. Our friend Tony van Veen, CEO of Disc Makers, recently calculated that in 2024 alone, this resulted in $47 million in independent artist royalties being diverted to (mostly) the majors! He went public with this data, Spotify actually responded, and Tony put them in their place. Iâm excited that...
May 13, 2025â˘1 hr 37 min
Very few music creators really understand what audio mastering is, what it does, and when you need it⌠or not! There are plenty of people who think that mastering is some sort of âmagical fairy dustâ that, when sprinkled on a song or track, makes it much, much better. As if mastering can make a mediocre song become a hit. It canât, and it wonât. It can only make it a better-sounding mediocre song! Join me for this weekâs episode of TAXI TV, and by the end of the show, youâll understand why maste...
May 06, 2025â˘1 hr 35 min
More and more music libraries and music supervisors are asking for stems and alt mixes because it makes your music much more âusable.â If youâre somewhat new to the music licensing world, you might need a little help in understanding how to deliver what the industry pros need, so weâre going to show you on this weekâs episode! TAXI Member, Greg Carrozza, is going to join us this week, and if the tech gods are with us, weâll be showing you what stems and alts are, how to make them, and why they c...
Apr 29, 2025â˘1 hr 21 min
Our viewers love it when we do the âA&R Hot Seatâ episodes, and hereâs why⌠âMichael, Iâve 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 itâs much easier to be objective when deciding what works and what doesnât about somebody elseâs music rather than my own." âTimothy Reardon Weâve been hearing the same thing from other viewers for years! With that in mind, on this weekâs TAXI TV, weâll be making A...
Apr 22, 2025â˘1 hr 40 min
Highly successful TAXI member Matt Vander Boegh interviewed me a month or so ago, and the TAXI TV audience was blown away by the quality of the questions asked. Hereâs the dirty little secret: Many of those questions came from Mattâs group of musicians he mentors at monthly meetings at his house. Mattâs a Pay-It-Forward kind of guy! I was so impressed with the questions from Mattâs Mentees that Iâm flying to Nampa, Idaho, to do a live episode of TAXI TV from Mattâs house during his groupâs meeti...
Apr 15, 2025â˘1 hr 37 min
If youâve ever wondered what an Edit Point, Buttoned Ending, Stinger Ending, or a Developmental Arc are, youâre going to love this weekâs episode of TAXI TV! Weâre going to play examples from a Production Music Library and show you waveforms that should make things crystal clear. Youâll also get the chance to hear some tracks from a successful Music Library. If youâre new to creating music for TV and Film, this could be an extremely enlightening episode. In other words, miss this at your own per...
Apr 08, 2025â˘1 hr 29 min
Successful TAXI member, Jim Thacker stopped by the office when he was in Los Angeles, recently. He asked if I thought the TAXI TV audience would be interested in knowing what he didnât know at the start of his career in music for sync. He sent me his list of 10 Things he wishes heâd known in the beginning of his journey into sync, and I immediately invited him to be my guest on this weekâs episode of TAXI TV. Honestly, even many of TAXIâs experienced members donât know and donât use all the crit...
Apr 01, 2025â˘1 hr 39 min
Andrew Jordan knows all about making career-killing mistakes because heâs either made them himself or has seen friends make them. During a recent phone call, he suggested that we do a panel at the 2025 TAXI music conference, the Road Rally. I added the topic to my list of ideas, and also suggested that we do a TAXI TV ASAP because people need to know what these career-killers are sooner than later! And thatâs exactly what weâre going to cover in this weekâs episode! Andrewâs a smart, hard-workin...
Mar 25, 2025â˘1 hr 34 min
Matt Vander Boegh has gone from Zero-to-Hero in the world of Music Licensing. Hereâs a snippet of his bio from his website: âIn his 14 years of making music for TV, Vander Boegh has amassed a staggering 30,000+ placements on over 1,000 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 full-length songs signed to oodles of high-end music lib...
Mar 18, 2025â˘2 hr 1 min
Youâve dreamed about becoming successful with your music for your entire adult life. You joined TAXI. Youâve watched TAXI TV and attended our conferenceâThe Road Rallyâ to learn how to create what the industry is asking for. Youâve done everything right, and then⌠BAM! With one fell swoop, you made this common mistake that killed a golden opportunity, and possibly your career. What IS that mistake? Youâre going to have to watch this weekâs episode of TAXI TV to find out. And I promise youâll be ...
Mar 11, 2025â˘1 hr 37 min
Weâve all heard about how âmanifestationâ can make things happen for you, right? But, how many of us consciously put manifestation to work in our daily livesâespecially in our pursuit of finding success in our music careers? My guest on this weekâs TAXI TV is the best âmanifestorâ Iâve ever met in my entire life! Kim Tibbs is a TAXI member, and has accomplished more in her career (so far!) than most people would in multiple lifetimes! Kim Tibb's New Music: https://kimtibbsmusic.bandcamp.com/albu...
Mar 04, 2025â˘1 hr 38 min
âWhat can I do to make my recordings sound more professional?â Iâve been getting that question since I started TAXI 33 years ago. Being a âretiredâ engineer/producer, Iâve got opinions and suggestions, but theyâre not as good as somebody whoâs currently in the trenches, doing what you do. But I know a guy who IS in the trenches, and I watch his Youtube videos quite often. And I really like them! You might be watching them as well. Does the name, Jon Meyer ring any bells? Jon will be my guest on ...
Feb 25, 2025â˘1 hr 33 min
Have you ever asked yourself this question? âWhat do I need to do to get people to recognize how good my music is, and start paying me now to license it for their TV shows, films, or commercials?â Give me an âAmen, brother!â if youâve ever asked yourself that question. The Answer Will be Revealed (for real!) on This Weekâs TAXI TV! I just got an email from a TAXI member whoâs only been pursuing his music licensing career with vigor for the last three years, and now his music is getting played in...
Feb 18, 2025â˘1 hr 31 min
Craig Pilo is our Head Screener at TAXI. He knows the sync industry inside and out. He also knows some very common mistakes that TAXI members should avoid making, as well as every other musician trying to make it in the music licensing side of the industry. Want to know how to get more music forwarded by TAXI? Watch this! Want to know what causes about 80% of the âreturnsâ from TAXI? Watch this! Want to know how the TAXI screeners think and how they approach their job? Watch this! Weâll discuss ...
Feb 04, 2025â˘1 hr 32 min
Iâve watched Rob Chiarelli go from music industry hopeful (when he was in his twenties) to one of the most in-demand mixers/producers in the music business today. With about 100 gold and platinum records and 5 Grammy Awards under his belt, heâs learned a thing or two along the way. And heâs learned from some of the best mentors anybody could ask for! Our viewers always love it when Rob joins me on TAXI TV. Heâs my closest friend, and our conversations are always free-wheeling with lots and lots ...
Jan 28, 2025â˘1 hr 48 min
Iâve become close friends with TV Producer, Editor, Director, and Composer Biagio Messina over the last 18 months. Whenever we go out to dinner, Biagio always drops gold nuggets about how he chooses and uses music in his shows, his tricks for making his music much more âusable,â and how TV editors choose and use the music that lands in their shows, as well. In this episode, Biagio will share the tips and tricks he uses to compose his music and tell you how the people who make TV shows pick music...
Jan 20, 2025â˘1 hr 37 min
If youâd like to jump into doing music for film, TV, and Commercials, you might be wondering, âHow do I start, or where do I start?â Both are great questions, and Iâve got the perfect person to help you figure it out! Matt Vander Boegh is an unlikely TAXI All-Star whose music is played all over the world on a daily basis. But, like many of you reading this, Mattâs foray into earning income with his music didnât come without some fits and starts. Mostly fits ;-) Be patient as you watch this becau...
Jan 14, 2025â˘1 hr 51 min
Iâve been asked a gazillion times, âWhatâs the fastest way to succeed in sync licensing?â Some folks have asked, âWhatâs the easiest way to launch my music licensing career?â Well, itâs the beginning of a New Year, and Iâm sure many of you watching this have decided that 2025 is the year in which youâll finally hunker down and go for the gold with film and TV music licensing. If you really want to know the fastest and/or easiest way to succeed, donât miss this episode of TAXI TV! Personally, I t...
Jan 07, 2025â˘1 hr 32 min
I hope your holidays have been warm and wonderful so far, and with 2025 just around the corner we thought it would be a good idea to list off a whole bunch of resolutions that could help you become successful with your music in 2025. Itâs a long list, so pick the ones that are most applicable and most likely to move you ahead in leaps and bounds. There are some really good ones in there!
Jan 02, 2025â˘1 hr 32 min
As I sat in the dimly lit grand ballroom listening to Robin Frederickâs presentation at this yearâs TAXI Road Rally, I noticed how nearly every person in the audience was leaning forward. Just a tad. Not quite bent over, but definitely leaning in the direction of the stage where a single spotlight illuminated the gravitas of what Robin was saying. Why were 1,000 musicians leaning toward her? Because Robin sucks people into what sheâs saying. She was giving one of her famous brain dumps in which ...
Dec 17, 2024â˘1 hr 30 min
TAXI member, Jim Thacker has experienced a bit of a meteoric rise in the world of music licensing. As Iâve gotten to know the straight-ahead, No-B.S. person that he is, Jim has really impressed me with his ability to get so much right that heâs now in what I call, âSyncâs Inner Circle.â Yes, heâs one of the people who music libraries and music supervisors call on when they need to deal with a reliable musician who will get them the right music in a professional manner in a short amount of time. ...
Dec 10, 2024â˘1 hr 40 min
There are so many ways to get paid for your work in the age of digital music, that I admit that Iâm confused as to who exactly pays what. One thing I do know is that the people who attended the presentation by the MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) at this yearâs TAXI Road Rally were SO glad they went! They were so grateful that Iâve invited one the MLCâs top executives (Serona Elton, Head of Educational Partnerships) to join us on this weekâs TAXI TV. Iâve met with her on Zoom, and sheâs rea...
Dec 03, 2024â˘1 hr 32 min
If you were at this yearâs TAXI Road Rally (our annual FREE conference), you were part of what many of the attendees are saying was the best weâve ever produced in 28 years. We humbly agree! There was something special in the air. Maybe it was the quality of the Ballroom Panels, the One-to-One Mentor sessions, the Eat & Greet Luncheons, the Drivers Ed breakout classes, the Sponsors, or the music industry Networking⌠or maybe it was all of those things. One thing for sure is that the TAXI mem...
Nov 26, 2024â˘1 hr 31 min
As I was grabbing my notes from a table on the stage during last weekendâs TAXI Road Rally, I overheard a musician talking with a music supervisor who had just finished speaking on a panel. The TAXI member said, âScan my QR code and it will take you to my linktr.ee that has links to my bio, Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook, my videos, and a bunch of other stuff.â Without missing a beat, the music supervisor asked, âWhy donât you have a website?â Why wouldnât you put all of your music, photos, bio...
Nov 19, 2024â˘1 hr 42 min
TAXIâs free conference, the Road Rally starts on November 7th, so Iâd like to dedicate an episode of TAXI TV to let you know what youâll miss if you stay home and miss what people say is the best conference of its kind. Iâll also go through what we have in store for you in the way of panels, classes, mentoring, and chances to play live at the Rally! Not to brag, but I can tell you that this yearâs Rally has the best panels, classes, and mentors weâve ever had! Got Rally Questions? Iâll also answ...
Oct 29, 2024â˘1 hr 35 min
