I’ve been asked a gazillion times, “What’s the fastest way to succeed in sync licensing?” Some folks have asked, “What’s the easiest way to launch my music licensing career?”

Well, it’s the beginning of a New Year, and I’m sure many of you watching this have decided that 2025 is the year in which you’ll 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, don’t miss this episode of TAXI TV! Personally, I think what I’m going to recommend can truly be at least a bit of a shortcut. Ready to blast off in 2025? Then watch this episode, and see if you agree!

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.

It’s 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!

As I sat in the dimly lit grand ballroom listening to Robin Frederick’s presentation at this year’s 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 she’s saying. She was giving one of her famous brain dumps in which you can’t take notes quickly enough. Every word matters! And every concept she freely gives away could be that ONE thing that helps you take your songs from really good to really, REALLY good. So good that one person asks another, “Have you heard that song?”

There’s not a songwriter alive who doesn’t pray for that reaction. I’m right, huh? You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you?

Well, this past November, Robin covered a topic that she’s never covered before; How to Turn Your Authentic Story into Hit Songs. And you could hear a pin drop in that ballroom.

TAXI member, Jim Thacker has experienced a bit of a meteoric rise in the world of music licensing. As I’ve 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 he’s now in what I call, “Sync’s Inner Circle.”

Yes, he’s 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.

I invited Jim to sit on the, “How to Get into Sync’s Inner Circle” panel at this year’s TAXI conference, the Road Rally, and he hit it out of the park! As a matter of fact, ALL of the panelists were incredibly informative, generous with their tips, and downright inspiring!

Jim will be my guest on this week’s TAXI TV, and he will be sharing his tips about what you can do to make music libraries and music supervisors love you, too!

There are so many ways to get paid for your work in the age of digital music, that I admit that I’m 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 year’s TAXI Road Rally were SO glad they went!

They were so grateful that I’ve invited one the MLC’s top executives (Serona Elton, Head of Educational Partnerships) to join us on this week’s TAXI TV. I’ve met with her on Zoom, and she’s really good at explaining why you really could have money just sitting there waiting for you, and what you can do to collect it!

Serona is also the Director of the Music Business Program at the University of Miami, my alma mater, so I like her even more!!!

If you were at this year’s TAXI Road Rally (our annual FREE conference), you were part of what many of the attendees are saying was the best we’ve 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 members who come made it special.

I’ve never seen a happier, more motivated, or more excited group of attendees in all the years we’ve been gathering for the Road Rally. If you couldn’t join us, this might sound like marketing hyperbole. If you were there, you know exactly what I’m talking about! And you know that it’s not an exaggeration! Not even a little bit.

Let’s capture that lightning in a bottle…

I’m going to share a bunch of Rally photos and member comments during this week’s TAXI TV episode. A lot of them! Maybe you’ll see some shots of yourself or hear your comments read out loud.

I also have an ulterior motive for doing this episode: I want to hear from you about what YOU think made this year’s Rally so special, so we can make it even better next year! “Do more of this, or less of that,” sort of feedback is what I want to hear.

I also want people who didn’t come to hear how powerful and career-changing the Rally is because frankly, there are still a lot of members who don’t know what they’re missing. I think they’d rather hear it from the horse’s mouth, rather than the “boss’s mouth.”

As I was grabbing my notes from a table on the stage during last weekend’s TAXI Road Rally, I overheard a musician talking with a music supervisor who had just finished speaking on a panel.

The TAXI member said, “Scan 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.”

Without missing a beat, the music supervisor asked, “Why don’t you have a website?”

Why wouldn’t you put all of your music, photos, bio, videos, and social media all in one place? Why make it harder than it needs to be for the people who want to know about you to learn everything they can about you?

So, I invited Joseph Longo from Bandzoogle to join us for this week’s episode! He was my guest about a year ago, and he was so good at explaining all of this that I called his boss the next day to tell him how what a great job Joseph did!

Win a FREE Thirty-Minute Website Consultation with Joseph!

I’ve also asked Joseph if he would give away a consulting session with one of our viewers who either needs feedback on their existing website or wants advice on what their website should feature if they choose to build one.

TAXI’s free conference, the Road Rally starts on November 7th, so I’d like to dedicate an episode of TAXI TV to let you know what you’ll miss if you stay home and miss what people say is the best conference of its kind. I’ll 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 year’s Rally has the best panels, classes, and mentors we’ve ever had!

Got Rally Questions?

I’ll also answer your questions about the Rally… anything and everything you might be wondering about! We want you to come prepared to make the best of this powerful weekend.

If you haven’t already registered, you can do it by clicking this link!

https://www.taxi.com/taxi-road-rally/

If You’ve Already Registered, but Haven’t Reserved Your Seat at the Eat & Greet Luncheon, click this link!

https://www.taxi.com/hosting_user_sessions/new

Win a FREE Book of Your Choice!

One lucky viewer will get to pick one of these awesome books!

Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting: by Robin Frederick: https://amzn.to/3DmmJQo

Demystifying the Cue: by Dean Krippaehne: https://amzn.to/486Auzd

Writing Production Music for TV by Steve Barden: https://amzn.to/41qUQ3i

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 to test your A&R skills and see if TAXI's A&R team is as good as I think they are ;-) Here's what we'll be judging together.

TAXI # S240922AC - INDIE POP and INDIE FOLK SONGS for (up to) $20,000 placements.

So, how does a song written twenty-one years ago end up in the #1 position on the iTunes Dance chart in multiple countries, and #18 in the U.S.?

Well, it was written by a songwriter with cuts on albums that have sold 50 million copies. He’s also had singles on Billboard’s Pop, Country, and R&B charts, and his songs have been recorded by artists including Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, the Oak Ridge Boys, K-Pop & J-Pop artists, and many more. He’s also composed the background score and songs for an Emmy-winning TV show and another that was Emmy-nominated.

From reading the above, you might think he was born talented (maybe he was), and as soon as his gift for writing hit songs was heard by a music industry executive, the floodgates opened.

Wrong! That was not the case at all, and of course, I’m speaking about hit songwriter, Jason Blume!

Jason found his success by being incredibly persistent! When he first moved to Los Angeles decades ago, he lived in a very dumpy, unsafe apartment, and literally ate cat food because that’s all he could afford!

That’s why I’ve invited him to inspire you with his story of overcoming obstacles that would send most humans running home with their tails tucked firmly between their legs.

There will be a LIVE Q&A with Jason during the last 30 minutes!