Name: Brent and Wes McBride
Company: Copyright Recapture
Company website: www.copyrightrecapture.com
Your all-time favorite song: We’re brothers so it is hard to agree on anything.

Tell us a little about Copyright Recapture and its services.
Copyright Recapture, LLC is the premier intellectual rights termination, protection and management provider for copyright holders in the United States. We offer a wide array of services to support copyright holders and their heirs, always mindful of our responsibility to them and their needs.

How did you get started doing this? What was the catalyst for starting the business?
We are the sons of a songwriter and have seen the highs and lows of his 40 plus year career. Knowing firsthand the life of a songwriter, when we learned about the opportunity they had to reclaim their publishing rights, it sparked an idea. Most songwriters or their heirs were going to need someone to help them navigate this process. We started with that basic premise and have adapted our business to suit the various situations we have encountered over the past 8 years.

Which of your services most benefit Lyric Financial’s songwriters and estates?
Our goal is to offer some form of service or advice for every songwriter or their family. By that we mean everyone’s situation is different. We like to evaluate your current situation and future options. We view it as Estate planning for your copyrights.

How does copyright reversion work?
It is important to note that copyright reversion is part of the United States Copyright Law. To begin claiming your rights, you must submit a Notice of Termination to the current publisher(s) and the United States Copyright Office. There is certain criteria and specific information that must be included in each Notice that cannot be done simply in a template. The creation and submission of these Notices is the core of our business.

What is the process of recapturing a copyright?
Submitting Notice of Termination opens up various options regarding your catalog. You can complete the process and begin publishing the works yourself or through an administrator. The current publisher might offer to pay a non-recoupable bonus to retain the works. You might decide to complete the termination process and sell those rights to a third party. Simply by acting on your rights, you open yourself up to many opportunities.

Any major victories you can tell us about?
We can’t name specific people but we have seen recaptured works re-cut and placed on platinum selling albums, we have negotiated sales of recaptured works and worked with current publishers to retain works for fair compensation. Every time we help someone better their situation in some way, we consider it a victory.

What does the future hold for copyrights and copyright law?
Some things have been corrected or clarified but there are still issues regarding the copyright law. The purpose of the law was to give authors a chance to renegotiate now having the knowledge of what those works are worth after a period of time. Certain situations exist that make it difficult for some people to act on their rights. We, along with many others, are working to get those issues solved so that everyone can benefit from this.

How has the proliferation of new music formats – digital downloads, streaming services, YouTube – changed the landscape for copyright holders?
We don’t buy into the notion that the music industry is dying. In fact, we think there are a lot of people figuring out how to make money in today’s landscape that involves thinking outside of the old business model. We think it is a good time to be a copyright owner if you can adapt to new ways to exploit and market your music.

What would you want every songwriter – past and present – to know about their copyrights?
That legacy and assets are two separate issues. No one can ever take your name off of a song you created. What your song means to an audience can, and will, never be taken away from you. That is your legacy. Your copyrights and royalty streams from those works are your assets. You have to be able to manage and utilize your assets without thinking that it affects your legacy.

Choose one: accordion, bagpipe, or calliope.
You have so many options with a calliope. It’s hard to trick out an accordion or bagpipe.

Learn more about Copyright Recapture by visiting their website at http://www.copyrightrecapture.com

Congratulations to George, Will, and all the other fine entries in our contest. You can view them all below!

I think I smell a tradition starting here….

Remember you can only vote once! (Oh, and don’t forget to hit that big ol’ VOTE button at the bottom, otherwise we won’t get your vote.)

[VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WINNER!]

A huge thank you to everyone who entered. We loved them all!

We sent this graphic out to our email list earlier today promoting our Holiday Jingle Contest, but it was just too good to not share with everyone. Happy holidays!

Put your songwriting chops to the test and write us a holiday jingle… you could win $500!

Media and entertainment deals got just$2.2 million — or less than 2 percent — of the reported $123.5 million that venture capitalists invested in Tennessee companies over two years through mid-2011

The article goes on to discuss how health-care startups – perhaps the most active area of entrepreneurship in Nashville – is still raking in the dough. Nashville is not Silicon Valley, of course, but with such a high concentration of great talent and so much in the way of entertainment, it can be disheartening to see that VCs opt for comfortable options.

Have a read of  the article and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Visionary. Relentless. Revolutionary. Ruthless. Passionate. Definitive. Perfectionist. Confident. Trailblazing. Leader. Bellwether. Mogul. Seer.

There are a lot of ways to describe Steve Jobs. And his passing reminds us just how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go. In this business of music, perhaps no other person has been so influential and important in the last decade as Steve.

We will miss him, for all the good and all the bad, and the indelible mark left on this industry by someone who had the courage to truly think different. Please feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Tom Waits career is as long as it is diverse. The old troubadour has collaborated with artists from Primus to Gavin Bryars to Kronos Quartet. His songs have been covered by Rod Stewart, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Norah Jones… the list is far too long to post here. And that’s not to mention his work with director Francis Ford Coppola, or opera director Robert Wilson.

Tom Waits is, and always will be, one of the truly great American songwriters.

His recent music goes on the offensive, bringing noise and distortion to the forefront – and his newest track, “Bad As Me,” from the upcoming album of the same name, is no exception.

Have a listen, and let us know what you think! And as always, if you have requests for Thursday afternoon tunes, just let us know.