Episodes

  • Why You Haven't _Made It__[090825]

    Why You Haven't _Made It__[090825]
    Sep 10 2025
    Are you frustrated that you haven’t “made it” yet? No forwards from TAXI? No music libraries contacting you after TAXI forwards your music? No placements resulting from the music you’ve signed with music libraries or sync companies? We’re going to dive into some reasons why those things may not have happened for you yet on today’s episode, and what you can do about it. This episode was inspired by dozens—maybe hundreds of comments I’ve seen online over many years that go something like this: “I have a friend who used TAXI and said he didn’t get anything out of it.” After realizing I was only seeing this issue through the lens of TAXI’s members, I decided to make today’s episode about all songwriters, composers, producers, and artists who are frustrated they haven’t made it, whether they’re TAXI members or not! My research kept leading me back to books by Stephen Pressfield and Simon Sinek, and I’m going to share some cherry-picked wisdom from both of them on today’s episode. If you’re frustrated you haven’t “made it,” don’t miss today’s episode of TAXI TV! It just might change everything!
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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • How Long Does Sync _Success_ Take_.[082525]mp4

    How Long Does Sync _Success_ Take_.[082525]mp4
    Aug 26 2025
    Have you ever wondered what the answers to these questions are? "How many submissions does it take until I start getting forwards from TAXI?" "How many forwards from TAXI does it take until I start to get deals and offers?" "How long after TAXI forwards my music does it take until I hear from the client?" "How long after I sign with the music library will it take for placements to happen?" "How long will it take to get paid after my music appears in a TV show?" You're not alone! Virtually all TAXI members (and all other musicians) have probably wanted answers to these very same questions. I've invited successful (and very experienced) TAXI member, Greg Carrozza, to join me for this episode so we can give you some real-world answers to those questions and many more. Here are a few more questions... "Have you ever wondered if songs or instrumentals get more placements?" "Have you ever wondered if songs or instrumentals generate more income, on the whole?" "Have you ever wondered which genres get the most placements?" "Have you ever wondered which genres generate the most income?" If you've ever wondered about any of the above, don't miss this episode!
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • A&R Ear Training! Would You Forward This Music or Not_.[081825]mp4

    A&R Ear Training! Would You Forward This Music or Not_.[081825]mp4
    Aug 19 2025
    “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 to test your A&R skills and see if TAXI's A&R team is as good as I think they are ;-) I'm going to surprise you with which listings we'll "judge" during this episode, but we'll choose one that was for songs, and the other will be an instrumental listing. Get a good night's sleep and clean your ears to get ready for an A&R Hot Seat episode that you guys love so much!
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    1 hr and 39 mins
  • Ask the Guy with 105,000 Syncs Anything![081125]

    Ask the Guy with 105,000 Syncs Anything![081125]
    Aug 12 2025
    Long-time TAXI member, Keith LuBrant, has had more than 105,000 sync placements on more than 1,711 TV shows, on more than 283 TV networks, worldwide. He has a family, a full-time job, a mortgage, and all of the typical responsibilities you probably have. So, how has he accomplished what virtually every person reading this would like to do? You’ll have your chance to ask him that and every other question you can think of during today’s episode of TAXI TV. Send Your Questions Early to Get Front-of-the-Line! Email your questions to liz@taxi.com no later than MONDAY at 2pm PDT, and you’ll get bumped to the front of the line before we take questions from the folks in the live chat room!
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    1 hr and 40 mins
  • TAXI’s CEO Needs Your Opinion![080425]

    TAXI’s CEO Needs Your Opinion![080425]
    Aug 5 2025
    I’ve got most of the main panels sorted out for this year’s conference, the TAXI Road Rally. But I need your opinion before I start calling to invite and confirm the panelists. Do you like the topics? Do you have other ideas? Is there consensus? As always, I want to get your opinions before I lock things down. Win a FREE Copy of Dean Krippaehne’s latest book, Cue Tips! — 50 songwriting, composing, and music production hacks to speed up your sync journey: https://amzn.to/45cIFKS I’ve read it. I loved it, and I’m going to give away THREE copies as a thank you for your help!
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    1 hr and 43 mins
  • Music Library CEO Shares “Pain Points!”[072825]

    Music Library CEO Shares “Pain Points!”[072825]
    Jul 29 2025
    “So, Michael? Exactly what are the complaints you get from music library executives, if they’re not about the music?” I was going to do a TAXI TV episode and enumerate the complaints myself until I spent 47 minutes on the phone this past Sunday with a very wise music library CEO. He was frustrated… actually, you might even say, exasperated. He told me about his “pain points,” and they sounded nearly identical to what we hear from other library owners. That’s why I’ve invited him to tell you about the mistakes that create “pain points” for the companies you’d like to work with. Maybe more people will get the message if they hear it coming directly from a highly seasoned sync executive rather than me. If you think all you have to do is create really awesome music and sync companies will clamor to sign it and get you tons of placements, you don’t want to miss this episode of TAXI TV. Great music is only half of it, and you’re going to hear about the other half on today’s episode of TAXI TV at 4 PM PDT. If you want to have more libraries sign and sync your music, don’t miss today’s episode! There’s some mission-critical stuff you need to learn, and we’re going to hand it to you on a silver platter… and for FREE! All you need to do is block out the time to watch this TAXI TV.
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    1 hr and 36 mins
  • Ask This Six-Time Grammy-Winner Your Questions![072125]

    Ask This Six-Time Grammy-Winner Your Questions![072125]
    Jul 22 2025
    I’m excited to have Rob Chiarelli join us for this week’s episode! He’s a huge fan-favorite on TAXI TV, and at our FREE (for TAXI members) annual conference, TAXI’s Road Rally (November 6th-9th, this year). Rob’s down-to-earth advice covers a wide range of topics, including production, engineering, mixing, music licensing, and general career advice, which is always relatable because he comes from your world. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and spent years playing live before he began working in many of the world’s top recording studios. Here’s his bio… Rob Chiarelli is an American record producer, mix engineer, musician, published author, and 6x Grammy Award winner. Widely recognized as a music producer for Will Smith and Men in Black II, Chiarelli's work appears on numerous Gold and Platinum albums and motion picture soundtracks, including 16 GRAMMY winners. Rob is also the founder of Final Mix Software, and he’s going to give away some free plugins to five lucky viewers during this week’s show! Hopefully, this new release! Please get your questions ready before the show because we’re going to take them in the order in which they appear in the live chat room. You’ll also need to be in the live chat to win the plugin!
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    1 hr and 41 mins
  • Three HUGE Mistakes That Can Prevent Sync Placements![071425]

    Three HUGE Mistakes That Can Prevent Sync Placements![071425]
    Jul 15 2025
    I was doing some research yesterday, and I stumbled on something that’s been staring me in the face for decades. It’s a “formula” that TAXI’s most successful members use. Especially, the members who want to earn income with sync placements. Conversely, when I researched TAXI’s least successful members, I discovered that virtually none of them used the same formula. Why wouldn’t they, when it obviously works?! Frustrated? Are you frustrated that you’re not getting forwards, deals, and sync placements? Are you getting some, but you’d like to get more? In both cases, I found hard evidence that there are three things you can do that will stop you from killing your own sync career. I’m going to disclose that evidence on today’s episode of TAXI TV. Bonus Career-Saver! I also uncovered another mistake that even our successful members make, and it’s sort of a time bomb that doesn’t blow up in your face until way after the damage is done. Hopefully, I can save some careers by disclosing that mistake on today’s show.
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    1 hr and 31 mins