TAXI TV TAXI Independent A&R

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!

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.

It’s been quite a while since we’ve had one of your very favorite guests on TAXI TV, so I’m happy to let you know that 5-time Grammy-winner Rob Chiarelli will be my guest on this week’s TAXI TV!

If you’re not already familiar with Rob’s career, you can learn more about him here: https://www.finalmix.com/

Rob and I have been close friends for several decades, and we love to talk about mixing, mics, production, and even finding success in the sync market. We spent three hours trading studio stories and techniques at dinner last night. Our waiter kept asking, “Is there anything else I can get you guys?” He was anxious to get us out of there, but we weren’t having it ;-) I wish you could have been there. I’m sure we’ll re-create the magic on this week’s show!

Remind me to ask Rob about the time he was trapped in a burning apartment building with a big pop star! Seriously close call!!!

Ask Your Questions During the Live Show…

Rob and I will also be taking questions in real-time from the viewers in the Chat Room during the show. Want to know our recommended drum mics, ask us! Is your bottom end poofy and flabby? We can tell you how to fix that! Reverb settings, panning, compressor settings, EQ, and anything else you can think of will all be on the table, so join us to get answers from a seasoned pro!

Live Viewers Get a FREE New FinalMix Plugin!

Join us for the live broadcast, and you’ll get a code for a FREE plugin from Rob’s software company, FinalMix. He was raving about a new plugin that’s not even up on his website yet, and he’s going to give it away to every live audience member. Honestly, I’ve never seen him this excited about one of his plugins, so you don’t want to miss out on this giveaway. You need to be in the Chatroom during the live broadcast to get it. If you miss the show, you’ll miss your chance!

Frankly, I just can’t seem to wrap my head around what the MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) does. I think I’m reasonably intelligent, but that’s just my opinion and I’m biased ;-) But, every time I hear what the MLC does and who might have money coming to them, I understand it at the moment, then can’t remember the complexities an hour later.

Michael Eames is VERY involved with the MLC and explains it better than anybody I know. He’s also one of the smartest people I’ve ever met in our industry. Really! When he tells me how important the work the MLC is doing, I believe him.

If you want to understand what it does, and if there’s any money owed to you sitting in their bank account, do NOT miss this episode of TAXI TV! I think there’s a window in which you have to claim it, but as I said, I could be wrong ;-)

AI and its effect on music creation is likely the most talked about topic of the year amongst musicians. And, while I haven’t wanted to jump on the click-bait bandwagon like so many other music-related YouTube channels have, I also don’t want to stick our collective heads in the sand.

It’s early in the game but also a party to which you don’t want to be late. My personal feeling is, that histrionics are bad and balance is good.

I was catching up with my old friend, Todd Herreman this week, and he had some interesting and balanced views on the topic of AI, and I’ve asked him to join us on this week’s TAXI TV to share his thoughts and insights.

By the way, Todd was a valued member of TAXI’s A&R team for several years. He knows and understands indie musicians!

🚨 WARNING: Viewer Discretion is Advised: This video contains some "spicy" language.
Please advise near: 56:42, 1:06:51, 1:14:18, 1:22:09, 1:23:39, 1:31:23, 1:32:30.

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 ;-)