Taylor Rummel is a music industry veteran and music nonprofit advocate specializing in music curation, grant writing, and document design with a focus on community-building.
Selections of professional, volunteer, and academic work:
As a curator for Universal Music Group, one of my tasks involved conceptualizing and delivering thematic artist compilations (“TACs”) for label artists, creating pitch decks to construct and present ideas. Using already-released music, TACs effectively redressed content and appeared during streaming “downtime” for artists, providing an avenue of attraction for new fans and means of reengagement for old.
Songs Of Hope And Comfort was a TAC built for Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and was eventually rereleased as an expanded edition, showing the enduring value of the works. The concept for the TAC came from an identification of recurrent themes in Andrea’s music, and song selection was aided by statistical insight, where track saves and skip rates were scrutinized. Coordination with Andrea’s team ensured a deliberate curatorial process, and subsequent TACs were built and released as a result of the partnership, resulting in hundreds of thousands of new streams and thousands of new saves.
Andrea Bocceli Compilation ‘Songs Of Hope And Comfort’
As a volunteer grant writer for music nonprofit Michigan Music Alliance (MMA), I am tasked with researching potential funders for the organization (using search tools such as Foundation Directory), maintaining a directory of funder prospects, and drafting, editing, submitting, and following up on letters of intent and grant applications.
In April 2025, in collaboration with the MMA’s executive director and board president, I spearheaded a grant application and submission for Great Lakes Energy’s ‘People Fund,’ articulating a need for a piece of operational equipment. Additionally, I put together and submitted a follow-up report for an earlier ‘People Fund’ grant, which saw awarded support for additional equipment.
Great Lakes Energy ‘People Fund’ Grant Application & Final Report
For the Michigan Music Alliance—and, as part of an academic project—I penned a volunteer recruitment letter chronicling my time with the organization. Using Canva to construct the document—and, working with the executive director to gather informational and editorial assets—I engaged in public-facing personal writing, reflecting on MMA events and experiences while testifying to their value. Going forward, the piece will be able to serve as marketing material in outreach efforts for volunteers.