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 know why Hollywood studios won't use you to score their blockbuster films? I know the answer! Want to know why your mixes don't sound like hit records? I'll let you in on a little secret ;-)

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 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 types of music: Light-hearted, organic Instrumental Cues and Christmas Songs. I’m back in Los Angeles, and this will be a LIVE episode with some FREE prizes to celebrate our first live episode in several weeks. If you’d like to have a shot at winning a copy of one of these two incredible books, you’ll need to watch the live episode and be present in the Chat Room.

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 preferences change with the times. There’s something else that hit songwriters have in common, but few will ever admit it. They ALL made a ton of mistakes in the beginning! Many of those mistakes are common to virtually all beginning songwriters. But, if you don’t know what those common mistakes are, you keep making them over-and-over until they become career-killing habits! “Career-killing” as in; your career as a hit songwriter never materializes. You stay stuck in “amateur-land” no matter how many years you keep writing songs. Please don’t think of me as being rude or harsh for asking this, but, how many years have you been writing songs? And if you’re completely honest with yourself, how many hit songs have you written in all those years? You’ll stop making those common mistakes once you know what they are… And best-selling author of Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting, Robin Frederick is the perfect person to tell you exactly what those mistakes are, and how to avoid making them as you finally move your career forward! That’s why I’ve asked Robin to join us on this week’s episode of TAXI TV!

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 of working with an artist, composer, songwriter, or producer who has a decent, working knowledge of how the “sausage is made” VS the musician who thinks great music is all they need, the industry executives I’ve worked with for nearly 50 years always seem to sign deals with musicians who have their business s#!t together. Why is that? Because the musicians who understand the business side of the music business are easier to work with, and almost always make more money for all parties involved. Who would you work with?

Who among us hasn't had self-doubt at one time or another? It might be so bad that it keeps you stuck in the same place—career-wise—for your entire life! Maybe in other ways, as well! If you're anything like me, meeting people who prove that you can be anything you want to be can change the outcome of your life in an instant. Kim Tibbs is one of those incredibly rare, super-inspiring musicians. She's an unstoppable force of nature with a list of impressive accomplishments that didn't come easily. Kim accomplished her goals with a burning desire, a clear vision, and a willingness to work hard. If you're feeling stuck, uninspired, or need to find your true path, spending some time with Kim Tibbs could be the "thing" that becomes your life-changing moment. Trust me, you'll feel inspired to reach higher and accomplish more by the time you finish this very special episode of TAXI TV!

Stephanie Reid is a super-smart music licensing executive who has a really interesting take on the Artificial Intelligence kerfuffle, as it relates to the music industry. Are you trepidatious? Have you lost sleep because you’ve spent years building your sync career, and now it looks like Robbie the Robot is going to force you into busking on street corners in the not-too-distant future? Now that you’ve listened to all the other prognosticators shouting, “The sky is falling!” you should hear what my incredibly well-informed, and well-reasoned friend Steph has to say. Try and poke holes in her logic and see how that goes. And while you’re at it, listen to how she thinks the blockchain could dramatically improve the music publishing industry! Put your thinking caps on gang! This episode is chock-full of great information, and I’m curious to see how you feel after watching it!

If you’re new-ish to the world of sync music licensing, you’re going to love hearing what Jim Thacker has to say. What he’s going to share with you could literally save you from making years of career-killing mistakes!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been disappointed when I hear about a musician who I want to check out, and they only have social media. Most don’t know how to use their socials very well, and even when they do, I don’t find everything I need to know about them. How much success have you had with your music that can be directly attributable to your social media? Yep, that’s what I thought — practically none. However, when I Google a musician, and the first thing I see at the top of the page is something like XYZMusician.com, I click and usually learn everything I need to know: What their story is, what their music sounds like, when and where their gigs are, what their videos look like if they have an EPK if they sell merch, do they have a Patreon, what their career path looks like, and how to contact him or her. Oh yeah, and links to all of their social media.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a music creator who doesn’t want to get their music in TV shows, films, or commercials. Yet, the majority of songwriters, artists, producers, and composers who want to jump into the sync side of the music industry really don’t know the “rules of the game,” where to start, or the strategies that can get you to a six-figure income. Most aren’t aware of some very common mistakes they’re making that could easily kill a sync career before it ever has a chance to take off! I’m going to boil it down to a clearly defined list of critical things every musician should know if they want to start a career in music licensing or see faster growth if they’re already on the path.

It's time to hear some great music from TAXI's members — songs and instrumentals, alike! Our Top 10 episodes are viewer favorites, so please join us tomorrow at 4 pm (PST) for the LIVE show and you'll have a shot at winning a copy of Dean Krippaehne's must-have book, Demystifying the Genre! If you want to get your music on TV, this book is indispensable! And you'll have a shot at winning a FREE copy if you're in the chat room for this episode! Join us and you'll hear a range of really cool music that our A&R team has uncovered recently.

How many songs or instrumentals do you have that remain unfinished? C'mon... be honest with yourself. How much more successful could you be if you actually DID finish all the songs or instrumentals you started? Join me and my special guest, Robin Frederick, as we uncover some great ways to make sure you DO finish your songs and instrumentals when you start them. I think this is going to be a really powerful episode! Frankly, I'm champing at the bit to share this information with you!! It could be life-changing. Certainly career-changing! And Robin... well, we all love and appreciate Robin's endless supply of wisdom, so I can't wait to hear her suggestions for finishing the songs and instrumentals you start!

TAXI's Head Screener (Craig Pilo) will join Michael to answer any and all questions during this week's LIVE episode of TAXI TV. Got questions on topics like how TAXI's A&R team approaches their job, common submission mistakes, little improvements that can make a big difference, production tips for sounding more contemporary, and more? Craig and Michael will give you straight-up answers! Bonus topic: Craig is a first-call session and live drummer, and he'll be happy to answer your questions about getting drum sounds in the studio, tuning your drums, making programmed drums sound and feel more realistic, and anything else you can think of! Please have some questions ready to go in the live chat, or even better, email your questions to TAXITV@TAXI.com no later than 2 pm Pacific Time on Monday, January 22nd.

TAXI TV has been “on the air” for at least 13 years, and we’ve never done an episode featuring a pair of earphones. The reason is; I’ve never heard any that were impressive enough to tell you about. But now I have, and this week I’m going to share them with you! While other manufacturers have seemingly tried to improve the listening/hearing experience by building a better “mousetrap,” Flare Audio studied the “mouse” first. Well, actually, the human ear, and how it degrades sound. Flare’s E-Prototype earphones dramatically reduce the natural distortion the ear canal introduces, and the result is noticeable. The imaging is impressive, the EQ curve sounds balanced and true, ear fatigue is greatly diminished (if not non-existent), and I’m hearing things/parts/instruments I’ve never heard before—even in my beloved Steely Dan songs I’ve used as my control room references for decades. Want to Win a Pair of Flare’s E-Prototypes? Flare’s Co-Founder, Davies Roberts is staying up very late (in the U.K.) to join us for this live episode (4pm Pacific time), and he’s going to give away a pair or two of E-Prototypes! We’ll also play the video Flare used for their GofundMe campaign and do a lot of Q&A with Davies, and hopefully, his wife and Co-Founder, Naomi. Can You Tell I’m Excited to Turn You on to Flare? I was introduced to the E-Prototypes by a close friend who’s done high-level audio restoration for Warner Bros. and several other companies for decades. He’s got very discerning ears and insisted that I check his E-Prototypes out. I did, and the rest, as they say, is history!

TAXI member, Matt Vander Boegh’s music plays somewhere in the world every hour of every day. His accomplishments have inspired his fellow TAXI members to quit making excuses, to get busy, and to become more productive. In 13 years, he’s amassed a staggering 25,000+ placements on over 900 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 many high-end production music libraries.

Members have suggested doing an online Holiday Party for this week’s TAXI TV, so why not?! We imagine this will be sort of like the Quarantini Happy Hours we enjoyed so much during the pandemic, except we won’t be locked down this time ;-) Will we hang out and have some fun? Yep! Will I answer questions, if asked? Sure, why not? Will we pick some of the songs at random to listen to? Yes, we will! Will we do some random drawings for prizes? Absolutely!

I’ve been compiling a list of mistakes that can hurt, or even KILL your chances of having a successful career in the music licensing business. Some of these mistakes are made by people just starting out. Shockingly, others are made by people who I think are seasoned pros at this point in their careers! You might have heard of some of these mistakes before, but I’ll bet there will be plenty that you’ve never even thought about, and could be making yourself! This is a Do-Not-Miss episode! Win a TAXI Coffee Mug! I’ve got an official TAXI coffee mug left over from the Road Rally, and I’d love to give it away. But, you’ve got to be in the chat room during the LIVE show to win. TAXI Merch Store: https://taxi-swag-central.myshopify.com/

Our viewers have always loved our "A&R Hot Seat" episodes! Here's why: by judging music to see if their opinions line up with TAXI's A&R staff, our members get to fine-tune their "industry ears." They LOVE how it helps them listen to their own music more critically! Members have also told me that these episodes build confidence in TAXI's A&R team when they see that the screeners' decisions are very much on-target!

If you’ve ever thought, “I just need a manager,” listen up! The manager you’re probably dreaming of—you know… you make the music, and they do all the business-y and promotional work to help you become famous… that kind of manager—probably won’t want to work with you yet, and here’s why… The big, high-powered managers work on commission, and they won’t MAKE a commission unless you’re already making money. A well-meaning super fan might offer to manage you in the beginning, and that’s great… at least for a while. But can their lack of industry knowledge, connections, and clout be replaced by their raw enthusiasm? Maybe, but typically, not! And if they’re successful enough to help make you famous and/or get offers from major labels, in most cases, the label you sign with is going to “suggest” that you sign with a seasoned pro instead of your super fan. And that’s when things get ugly.

It's time to hear some great music from TAXI's members — songs and instrumentals, alike! Our Top 10 episodes are viewer favorites, so please join us tomorrow at 4 pm (PST) for the LIVE show and you'll have a shot at winning a copy of Steve Barden's must-have book! Join us and you'll hear a range of really cool music that our A&R team has uncovered recently. Win a FREE Book During the Live Broadcast! I'm also going to give away a copy of this awesome book, loved by TAXI members all over the world! Writing Production Music for TV by Steve Barden: https://amzn.to/47AYQkK Be in the chatroom during the live broadcast to have a shot at winning this highly-rated book! *As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases from the link above in this description.