Some companies only let you see the good news. TAXI has always been more transparent than that, so we're going to feature a past member's story about why he didn't renew his membership. Ouch!!! Honestly, I take it very personally when somebody doesn't renew their membership. How did we fail them? What could we have done better? Why did this person quit TAXI???? - Was it frustration due to no forwards? - Was it because he was forwarded, but he never heard back from the company we sent the music t...
Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 33 min
Erin Jacobson is hands-down the most popular Music Attorney who has ever graced the stage at our convention – the TAXI Road Rally! Why? Because it’s obvious to the songwriters, artists, and composers in our audience, that she actually gives a damn about them! We’ll be covering some of today’s most frequently asked music business questions, and then open the floor to questions from the viewing audience during the live show. Questions Submitted Before the Show Will Be Answered First! Here’s how to...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Andrea Stolpe is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, author, performing artist, and educator. She has worked as a staff writer for EMI, Almo-Irving, and Universal Music Publishing, with songs recorded by artists such as: Faith Hill, Julianne Hough, Daniel Lee Martin, Jimmy Wayne, and others. Andrea teaches Songwriting at the University of California’s Thornton School of Music, and is the author and instructor of Berklee College of Music’s online course Commercial Songwriting Techniques. For the past...
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 33 min
TAXI's Head Screener, Craig Pilo, gives expert feedback and suggestions for fixes on your Instrumentals and Cues. He's a world-class expert, and super supportive of indie musicians, especially TAXI's members! Craig was one of the very best and most experienced Film/TV music experts on our A&R team prior to becoming our Head Screener. His feedback is honest, straightforward, and always helpful!
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 36 min
Tracey and Vance Marino have had their Instrumentals and Songs placed THOUSANDS of times in TV, Film, Commercials, and Video Games. How did this husband and wife team from San Diego do it? What did they do that you might not have done yet? How did they do it, how long did it take, and what mistakes did they make along the way? I asked them those questions and many, many more on this episode of TAXI TV. I also asked them how the heck they found the time to write their new book, Hey! That’s My Son...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 41 min
Our A&R team and staff have done it again! They've put together a playlist of some of their favorite songs and instrumentals they've heard over the last month, and you get to hear them on Monday's TAXI TV. I'll be back in Los Angeles, so this episode will go live at our normal time of 4 pm, Pacific time. Join me for this episode and you just might win a copy of Steve Barden's awesome book, Writing Production Music for TV: The Road to Success, or Robin Frederick's best-seller, Shortcuts to Hi...
May 17, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Trailers, TV Cues & Sound Design: The Similarities and Differences Explained Randon Purcell doesn't need TAXI anymore! Here's why... "Hey Michael! I hope you and the family are all well! Everything here is madness, but going well enough. My job at [name withheld] is keeping me plenty busy, and I’m even doing some side scoring gigs on some movies with my boss, so that’s fun too. I just got signed on to do the score for a new animated show as well, later this year, so 2022 should be busy as ev...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Aaron Slater is the founder of SongwritingMagazine.com. Duncan Haskell is the "interview hustler." We're pretty sure these gents have learned a lot about songwriting and songwriters, so I'm going to get them to spill their guts and share their best tips on Monday's episode. What I really want to know is why many songwriters never get to enjoy the career they dream of, but some do! What do they know that the others don't? Let's find out together on this episode of TAXI TV!
May 02, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Our Top 10 episodes of TAXI TV have become wildly popular among our viewers! Honestly, at first, I thought our members were simply being supportive of their fellow members and their music. I might have been right during the first few Top 10 shows, but a pattern started to become evident; the shows and the music kept getting better...and better, and better! No matter which genres of music we featured, our viewers were blown away by the creativity, songwriting, and production they heard.
Apr 25, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Adonis Aletras lives on the island of Cyprus, near Greece. We think much of his success can be attributed to his talent, tenacity, and hunger to learn as much as possible about the composers who became successful before him. That insatiable hunger led him to conduct "mini interviews" with dozens of top composers and other industry luminaries. The result? Adonis's book, So, You Want to Become a Media Composer? Check out his book on Amazon here! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HHB6G8B/ref=nosim?tag=t...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 35 min
Tour the Legendary West Coast PRS Guitar Showroom! Join TAXI CEO Michael Laskow for an insider's tour of what he likes to call, "The Guitar Player's Candy Store"! Winn Krozack heads up the West Coast PRS Guitar Showroom where some super famous artists drop in to play the works of art hanging on the walls. Yep, this guitar player's lair is tucked away in a rehearsal complex where some really big acts prep for upcoming tours. You never know who could walk in, unannounced! Winn has been with PRS fr...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr 31 min
TAXI member John Pearson is a full-time Producer/Songwriter based in Nashville, TN. He's also become a much-admired member of the TAXI community and has inspired other members with his realistic, pragmatic, and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic and approach to the sync licensing side of the music industry. John is an A-List bass player who has toured with major Country acts and has certainly paid his dues in Nashville's community of pro songwriters. But, what sets him apart is rather than just t...
Mar 29, 2022•1 hr 37 min
Every month, our A&R Team makes a list of 10 of their favorite TAXI Member songs and/or instrumentals that they've heard lately. We call them the "Top 10," but don't let that mislead you into thinking they're THE 10 best songs or instrumentals out of ALL the music our members make. Really, it's more like a list of, "Hey, these are really cool and you should check them out." And you should! 0:00 - Intro 2:55 - "Focus" by Halle Abadi 7:55 - "Help Myself" by Ani 16:25 - "Stomp Rock Anthem" by A...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 34 min
On today's episode, TAXI's Head Music Screener - Craig Pilo - joins us in answering all of your Music Business questions! He is an industry pro, an accomplished performer, and has all the insight you could ask for.
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr 41 min
On today's episode, TAXI CEO Michael Laskow answered your Music Biz questions! He provided great info to help you learn the business side of the Music Business!
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 37 min
Do you get ticked-off when you see something like this in some of TAXI’s Industry Listings? IMPORTANT NOTE: This Company offers an Exclusive deal, and has a strong preference for signing material from songwriters who have worked for libraries and licensing companies in the past and understand how standard deals work. If you don't have that experience and you don't know the drill on typical deals, they politely ask that you don't submit to this request. Or this... IMPORTANT NOTE: This Library off...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 34 min
On this episode of TAXI TV, TAXI CEO Michael Laskow goes over the Top 10 Myths of Creating Music for Film/TV Music Licensing!
Feb 21, 2022•57 min
On this episode of TAXI TV, TAXI CEO Michael Laskow plays member-submitted love songs and our A&R team's Top 10 song picks for the month of February! Take a listen to see if your Love Song was played!
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Want to write better songs? On this episode of TAXI TV, Robin Frederick reviews viewers' songs and gives useful tips and suggestions on how to improve them! There's a reason Robin Frederick – leading songwriting expert and author of the best-selling books Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting and Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV – speaks to standing-room-only audiences at the TAXI Road Rally every year, her insights and advice on how to make your song even better are nothing short of amazing! C...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 35 min
TAXI turned 30 years old on January 15th, so we celebrated by doing a retrospective with some great stories and some trivia questions with great prizes like a free consult with Robin Frederick, TAXI swag, and a one-hour consult with TAXI's head screener, Craig Pilo! Get your very on TAXI T-shirt, Hoodie, and Mug here: https://taxi-swag-central.myshopify.com/
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Member Eric Copeland posted a YouTube review of TAXI, then posted a follow-up video about whether he was going to renew his membership or not. Our fearless CEO thought some critical information was missing and reached out to Eric and suggested a public duel, like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Or maybe a jousting match! 😂 Eric politely declined, but he and Michael thought it might be fun, enlightening, and more gentleman-like to interview each other on this week's episode of TAXI TV. Fun, i...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Every month, our A&R Team makes a list of 10 of their favorite TAXI Member songs or instrumentals that they've heard lately. We call them the "Top 10," but don't let that mislead you into thinking they're THE 10 best songs or instrumentals out of ALL the music our members make. Really, it's more like a list of, "Hey, these are really cool and you should check them out." And you should! Check out the member's pages to hear their music below! "Lil' Bruh" by Lew Sid: https://bit.ly/3HSxb1R "Lig...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bkKneFkZxUA Have you already made your New Year's resolutions as to how you're going to be successful with your music career in 2022? Stop lying to yourself and join me today for some actionable steps you can take that will actually work! Bite off what you can actually chew, and just maybe you won't need to make any resolutions for your music next year!! Find your realistic steps along the path of musical success on today's show. Don't miss this on...
Jan 04, 2022•1 hr 26 min
We got so many Christmas/Holiday song submissions for last week's show (over 300 of them!!) that we've decided to listen to more of them this week! And, not to be all "Scrooge"-like, but a TON of them submitted for last week's show were not the Piano/Vocal or Guitar/Vocal versions we asked for! We couldn't consider those, as they would not have been on a level playing field with submissions from people who DID follow instructions ;-) Speaking of not following instructions: A gazillion of the sub...
Dec 28, 2021•1 hr 44 min
We're getting in the holiday spirit on this week's episode of TAXI TV with a listening party of viewer-submitted Christmas songs! But, there's a catch! You can only submit piano/vocal or guitar/vocal songs. Here's how to submit your songs... Want a chance to get your Christmas/Holiday song played on the show? Email a link to where we can download it to taxitv@taxi.com by 12 pm Pacific time on Monday, December 20th!
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 28 min
Our viewers love to tune up their ears by hearing submissions for a hot request from TAXI, then casting their votes to see if they line up with what our A&R team decided. One of our regular viewers summed it up nicely when she emailed, "Judging songs on TAXI TV helps me judge my own music more objectively. I create better music because of these episodes, please do more of them!" Join us for the fun, the education, and the community spirit in the live chat room during this week's episode of T...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 37 min
Many of TAXI's most successful members attribute at least a portion of their success to how carefully they read our Industry Listings. Very few people know how much craft goes into writing the Listings. The goals are: 1)To give each and every one of our members the highest probability of making a great submission. 2) Giving the A&R team members accurate and bountiful information to use when they do their job. 3) To ensure that the people and companies who trust TAXI to find them great music ...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Every month, our A&R Team makes a list of 10 of their favorite TAXI Member songs or instrumentals that they've heard lately. We call them the "Top 10," but don't let that mislead you into thinking they're THE 10 best songs or instrumentals out of ALL the music our members make. Really, it's more like a list of, "Hey, these are really cool and you should check them out." And you should! Please join me on this week's episode of TAXI TV as we listen together!
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Here's your chance to ask me something I might have missed in the chat during a recent episode! Throw anything at me, and I'll do my best to give you a great answer. Ask me about anything – from TAXI-specific questions, to engineering or production questions, to music business questions, to music industry business etiquette queries, to questions about TAXI's screening/A&R process, to film/TV music questions (songs and instrumentals), to TAXI Road Rally questions, to just about anything else ...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 33 min
Not sure if your song's lyrics are universal? Why not consult an expert? I've invited everyone's favorite songwriting coach, Robin Frederick, to join me on this week's episode of TAXI TV to review your song's lyrics and give you the answer! “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting” by Robin Frederick https://amzn.to/3iwNrfw “Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV” by Robin Frederick https://amzn.to/3xbU6jq
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 36 min
