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[Update]: Celebration Of Life Service Set For Jimmy Capps

Jimmy Capps. Photo courtesy Marushka Media

[Update]: A visitation and a Celebration of Life service have been set for late guitarist Jimmy Capps.

Visitation will be held Monday, June 8 from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Spring Hill Funeral Home (5110 Gallatin Pike S, Nashville, TN 37216). A Celebration of Life Service will be held Tuesday, June 9 at 1 p.m. at the Grand Ole Opry House (2804 Opryland Drive, Nashville, TN 37214).

[Original post: Wednesday, June 3, 2020]

Jimmy Capps, the genial, white-haired and goateed guitarist who is one of Nashville’s most beloved pickers, died Tuesday, June 2, at age 81.

Best known as the long-time lead guitar player in the Grand Ole Opry staff band, Capps also performed on a breathtaking number of country music standards. He can be heard on “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “The Gambler,” “Stand By Your Man,” “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool,” “Elvira” and “Amarillo By Morning,” among many other familiar megahits.

He is a member of The Musicians Hall of Fame. Capps was saluted in 2012 by the Country Music Hall of Fame in its “Nashville Cats” series profiling recording-session greats.

Born in 1939 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Capps began playing guitar at age 12. By age 16, he was performing on local radio and TV shows. He was just 19 when he successfully auditioned to join The Louvin Brothers band in 1958. He debuted on the Opry by performing “The Knoxville Girl” with the duo later that year. He also recorded with the Louvin Brothers on such hits as “How’s the World Treating You” (1961).

Following military service and a stint in Ferlin Husky’s band, Capps launched his recording-studio career on Music Row. At his peak, Capps was playing on more than 500 recording sessions a year. Although usually cited for his tasteful acoustic-guitar work, Capps was also a skilled electric guitarist. He is considered to be one of Nashville’s finest and most prolific session guitarists in history, alongside Grady Martin, Ray Edenton, Chet Atkins, Hank Garland and Harold Bradley.

Jimmy Capps joined the Grand Ole Opry staff band in 1967. During the following five decades, he performed on more Opry shows than anyone in history.

The Opry occurs on weekends so during the week, Capps collaborated in the studio with the biggest stars of Nashville music. Even a year-by-year sampling of his work illustrates the breadth of his accomplishments – Mickey Newbury (1970), Freddie Hart (“Easy Lovin’” 1971), J.J. Cale (1972), Dolly Parton (“My Tennessee Mountain Home” 1973), Waylon Jennings (1974), the soundtrack of the movie Nashville (1975), Moe Bandy (1976), Ronnie Milsap (“It Was Almost Like a Song” 1977), Johnny Cash (1978), Ernest Tubb (1979), Amy Grant (1980).

That’s just one decade. His session work became even more intense during the 1980s. During that era, Capps could be heard on records by John Denver, George Strait, Tom Jones, Reba McEntire, K.D. Lang, The Whites, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Wayne Newton, B.J. Thomas, Barbara Mandrell, Vern Gosdin, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Keith Whitley, Lacy J. Dalton, The Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers, David Allan Coe, Charlie Rich, Dottie West and a jaw-dropping number of others.

At the annual NARAS Super Picker Awards in the 1970s and 1980s, Jimmy Capps was repeatedly honored as “Most Valuable Acoustic Player.” He also rose to become the Opry’s bandleader. Capps performed in the “house band” for the CMA Awards telecasts for more than 20 years.

He was known as “the master of smoothness” for the way he made intricate picking appear effortless. As such, he was a Nashville guitar institution by the 1990s. That is when Capps recorded with The Statler Brothers, Lorrie Morgan, Gene Watson, Connie Smith, Conway Twitty, The Florida Boys, Loretta Lynn, John Conlee, Ed Bruce, Ray Charles, Hank Locklin, Riders in the Sky and T. Graham Brown, as well as dozens of newcomers of the day.

In addition to the many listed above, his guitar can be heard on the records of such Country Music Hall of Fame members as Roy Clark, Jean Shepard, Eddy Arnold, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Charley Pride, Faron Young, Don Gibson, Bill Anderson, Charlie McCoy and Dottie West.

A new generation of country fans has been charmed by Jimmy Capps in recent years thanks to his regular appearances on RFD-TV’s Larry’s Country Diner. That’s where he was billed as “The Sheriff.”

Fellow topnotch musicians Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner have all praised Capps as an influence.

Capps was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2014. The State of Tennessee honored him as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2015. He published his autobiography, The Man in Back, in 2018. At that time, the rehearsal space backstage in the Opry House was named The Jimmy Capps Music Room.
Capps is survived by his wife Michele and three sons.

Music Industry Reacts To Death Of George Floyd With Grassroots "Black Out Tuesday" Campaign


Following the May 25 death of George Floyd, music companies have joined a growing grassroots movement calling for Tuesday, June 2 to be observed as “Black Out Tuesday.” Numerous companies in the music industry have joined the movement as protests have been held in many major U.S. cities, which also included Nashville, Tennessee.

A post, along with the hashtag #theshowmustbepaused, has gone viral, prompting companies to release their own statements of support on social media. As part of the campaign, companies will pause work on this day to “reconnect with our community.”

“Black Out Tuesday” has been deemed a day to unplug from normal business operations to collectively reflect on what can be done to put meaningful change into action. It’s also a day to stand in solidarity with the Black community to fight racial injustice and inequality.

Among the many companies taking part are Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Big Machine Label Group, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Warner Chappell and others. See listing below.


Some of the companies that have publicly stated they will be observing “Black Out Tuesday” include:
117 Entertainment Group
Academy of Country Music
Americana Music Association
Adkins Publicity
ASCAP
BBR Music Group
Big Deal Music Group
Big Loud
Big Yellow Dog
Big Machine Label Group
Blackbird Audio Rentals
Blackbird Studio
Black River Entertainment
BMG
BMI
CAA
CDX Nashville
Centricity Music
CMT
Compass Records
Concord
Country Music Association
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Country Radio Broadcasters/Country Radio Seminar
CRB/CRS
Creative Nation
Curb/Word Entertainment
Creative Nation
Downtown Music
EA Music
G7 Entertainment
Given Entertainment
International Bluegrass Music Association
Live Nation
Marbaloo Marketing
Mediabase
Monument Records
Music Choice
MusicRow Magazine
NSAI
peermusic
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
Red Light Management
Reservoir
Rhythm House
Richlynn Group
Riser House
River House Artists
Rounder Records
SESAC
Sony/ATV
Sony Music
Spirit Music Group
Still Working Music
Tri Star
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Publishing
Viacom/CBS
Visionary Media Group
Warner Chappell
Warner Music
WME

Weekly Radio Report (5/29/20)

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BREAKING: Longtime Songwriter Hotspot Douglas Corner Closing Permanently


Nashville’s Douglas Corner Cafe, a longtime favorite spot for music lovers and songwriters, will close its doors for good, according to owner Mervin Louque.

Louque made the announcement on Thursday (May 28) via a video on Douglas Corner’s official Facebook page.

Louque opened Douglas Corner 33 years ago, in 1987, alongside businessman Rick Martin. Since then, the 8th Ave. S. venue has become a place where artists including Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Billy Dean, Blake Shelton, John Berry and more held early showcases. The venue’s regular songwriter showcases have drawn regular business for years.

According to the Douglas Corner Cafe’s official site, Garth Brooks held his first fan club party at the venue, performing with his band. He presented Louque with the printing plate that was used to make the Fan Fair posters for the event—that plate still hangs on the wall at Douglas Corner.

Others who have performed at the venue include Eric Church, Keith Urban, John Prine and more.

Douglas Corner has been closed since March 15, as have numerous restaurants in Nashville as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Unlike other venues, its doors won’t be reopening.
“This has been a hard decision and a lot of prayer has gone into this. I came off the road many years ago from doing engineering,” says Louque, who served as a recording engineer for years before opening Douglas Corner, with credits including The Bellamy Brothers, Barbara Mandrell and more.

In the video, Louque thanked the club’s servers, sound techs, and more who helped operate Douglas Corner on a day-to-day basis. “It breaks my heart, but there comes a time when we all need to move on and do other things and that’s my time now…I’m proud of the legacy this place is leaving,” he said.

CMA Reveals Voting Schedule For 54th Annual CMA Awards

The Country Music Association has revealed the ballot schedules for both the 54th annual CMA Awards, as well as the 2020 CMA Broadcast Awards. The eligibility period for the 54th Annual CMA Awards is July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. All balloting is officiated by the professional services firm Deloitte.

First Ballot: The first voting ballot will be sent out July 2, 2020; the first ballot closes July 13 at 6 p.m. CT.

Second Ballot: The second ballot will be sent to CMA members July 31, and second-round voting will end Aug. 10 at 6 p.m. CT. The final nominees in each of the 12 categories will be announced later this summer.

Final Ballot: The final-round voting will determine the winners for the 54th annual CMA Awards, and will be sent to CMA voting members on Oct. 1; the final-ballot round of voting ends Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. CT.

Applications for the 2020 CMA Broadcast Awards are now open for submissions for categories including Broadcast Personality, Station and National Broadcast Personality of the Year at broadcast.CMAawards.com. The deadline for submissions is June 17, 2020 at 5 p.m. CT.

CMA Broadcast Awards are presented for Personality and Station of the Year in four categories that are determined by market size (Major, Large, Medium and Small), as well as CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year.

All CMA Broadcast Awards entries must reflect performances and events between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020. CMA’s panel of judges will be able to view and evaluate each entry online.
CMA Broadcast Awards winners will be notified in early October and recognized at The 54th Annual CMA Awards, which will be held in November in Nashville.

Nominees and winners for the 2020 CMA Broadcast Awards and The 54th Annual CMA Awards are determined by more than 7,200 professional members of CMA, which is the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music, established in 1958.

Weekly Radio Report (5/22/20)

Click here or above to access MusicRow’s weekly CountryBreakout Radio Report.

DISClaimer Single Reviews: Brothers Osborne, Little Big Town, Florida Georgia Line, And More

Brothers Osborne. Photo: John Peets

So many of my favorites checked in with new music this week.

My personal playlist always has room for anything that Little Big Town, Kip Moore, Brothers Osborne and Gone West put out. This week is no exception.

Any one of them could win a Disc of the Day award. So could FGL or Dan Smalley, for that matter. I’m going with the unstoppably talented Brothers Osborne.

Hand a DisCovery Award to Ashland Craft. She sounds like a star to me.

BROTHERS OSBORNE/All Night
Writers: John Osborne/TJ Osborne/Andrew DeRoberts; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: Trampy McCauley/All The King’s Pens/WB/Songstein/Songs in the Key of Claire/Patriot GamesDTCM/DTCM Ave., ASCAP; EMI Nashville
– TJ is at his sexy, growling best on this rhythm-soaked stomper. John’s lickety-split guitar solo is an ear tickling wonder. Deserves massive airplay.

ASHLAND CRAFT/Trainwreck
Writers: Randy Montana/Channing Wilson; Producer: Jonathan Singleton; Publisher: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing/Super LCS Publishing/Heart Scarred Songs/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.; Big Loud Records/50 Egg Records
– There’s no denying her smoldering, sultry voice. The slow-burn ballad has enough built-in heat to barbecue your dinner.

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE/Second Guessing
Writers: Andrew DeRoberts/Benjamin Simonetti/Brian Kelley/Corey Crowder/Ester Dean/Geoff Warburton/Griffen Palmer/Ryan Tedder/Shane McAnally/Tyler Hubbard; Producer: Corey Crowder/Tyler Hubbard/Brian Kelley; Publisher: none listed; BMLG
– This won on the TV-contest show Songland earlier this week. It’s a stately ballad with hooks a-plenty and a slow-waltz groove that’s swoon worthy. Canadian songwriter Palmer also co-wrote Keith Urban’s current “Polaroid.”

ACID COWBOY/High Desert
Writers: Ross Francis/Jordan Chini; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Acid Cowboy
– Love the stage name. The track is kinda swirly and dreamy, which matches the lost-in-love lyric. The main drawback is that the echo on the vocal is laid on too thick.

LITTLE BIG TOWN/Wine, Beer, Whiskey
Writers: Jimi Westbrook/Karen Fairchild/Kimberly Schlapman/Phillip Sweet/Sean McConnell/Tofer Brown; Producer: Little Big Town; Publisher: none listed; Capitol Nashville
– This is quite a change of pace. The foursome sets aside its vocal harmony trademark and adopts a chanted, unison style for this densely produced, rowdy drinking song. The rhythm track stomps along and trumpets stutter in the background. Highly inventive.

GONE WEST/Slow Down
Writers: Colbie Callait/Jamie S. Kenney/Justin Young/Jason Bradford Reeves/Canelle Leverett Reeves; Producer: Jamie Kenney; Publisher: none listed; Warner Tamerlane/Carver/WC/MRMD/Songs from Outer Space; Triple Tigers
– Delicious listening. This rolls like a semi on a straight stretch of interstate. You can almost feel the wind in your hair. I love, love, love this record.

NOAH SCHNACKY/Comeback
Writers: JT Harding/Lindsay Rimes/Noah Schnacky; Producer: Dann Huff; Publisher: none listed; BMLG
– Over-produced country pop for teen girls.

GABBY BARRETT/The Good Ones
Writers: Emily Landis/Gabby Barrett/Jim McCormick/Zachary Kale; Producer: Ross Copperman/Zach Kale; Publisher: none listed; Warner
– Her vocal is too compressed, and the track isn’t very “country.” But the song is solid, and the sentiment rings true.

DAN SMALLEY/If I’m Being Honest
Writers: Mark Addison Chandler/Daniel Eric Smalley/Davis Benjamin Corley; Producer: Keith Stegall/Brian D. Maher; Publisher: none listed; Big Machine
– Warm and friendly. It has a conversational troubadour quality that is mighty attractive. The lyric really stands up on close examination, too. Very promising, indeed.

KIP MOORE/Crazy For You Tonight
Writers: Kip Moore/Westin Davis/Eric Daly; Producer: Kip Moore; Publisher: none listed; MCA Nashville
– The vocal snuggles up next to you and breathes in your ear. He has long since proved himself as a rocker. This intimate track gives him some lovey-dovey starshine.

Nashville To Enter Reopening Phase 2 On May 25, Including Live Music

Nashville Mayor John Cooper has announced that Davidson County will enter Phase 2 in its “Roadmap for Reopening Nashville” on Monday, May 25.

“This Monday, May 25, we will move on to Phase 2 of reopening Nashville,” Cooper said in Thursday morning’s briefing. “All public health metrics have shown satisfactory results.”

Phase 2 of the plan now includes verbiage that restaurants and retail companies can open at 75% of capacity (while maintaining social distancing), and live music can be phased back in at restaurants, with no more than two performers on stage at one time. Social distancing protocols must also be observed among performers, with a minimum of 10 feet between performers and customers. No dance floors are permitted, and all equipment must be sanitized between users.

Additionally, small gatherings of 25 or fewer people are allowed, with strict social distancing protocols implemented. These gatherings can include parties, weddings and meetings.

The Metro Public Health Department also stated on Thursday (May 21) that there have been 26 new cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County within the past 24 hours, increasing the county’s number of cases to 4,530. One additional death from COVID-19 was announced in Davidson County (a 91-year-old female with underlying health conditions), raising the death toll in in the county to 51.

Kenny Chesney Signs Global Publishing Agreement With UMPG

Kenny Chesney. Photo: Ross Copperman

Kenny Chesney has inked an exclusive global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). The move reunites Chesney with Troy Tomlinson, who left Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville last year to lead UMPG’s Nashville division.

Chesney—who recently made his ninth debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s all-genre Top 200 albums chart with his latest project Here and Now—has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Chesney has won four consecutive Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year Awards and Male Vocalist of the Year and nine Country Music Association Awards, including four Entertainer of the Year Awards and Album of The Year for When The Sun Goes Down. He was also the recipient of BMI’s President’s Award in 2016.

Chesney said, “Troy Tomlinson has been part of my creative life since I was a young dreamer hoping to capture some life in songs. To be reunited with him, as well as to work with Jody Gerson and the entire team at Universal Music Publishing inspires me to keep reaching for those same dreams, seeking truly special songs as a writer and an artist blessed to bring other people’s songs to the world, too.”

Tomlinson, Chairman and CEO of UMPG Nashville, added, “I met Kenny when he was 24 years old. He played me 4 or 5 songs in my office on his guitar. I remember the vivid lyrics. I can still recite them today. We have enjoyed lots of success together and lots of fun times and lifelong memories. I am grateful to continue to represent him and his music and look forward to delivering outstanding opportunities through UMPG.”

Mechanical Licensing Collective CEO Kris Ahrend Talks Serving Songwriters, Preparing The Industry’s Next Generation [Interview]

Mechanical Licensing Collective CEO Kris Ahrend.

In January, it was announced that Kris Ahrend had joined as CEO of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), which was formed following the passage of the Music Modernization Act in 2018. In 2019, the Register of Copyrights designated the MLC as the non-profit organization responsible for administering blanket mechanical licenses to digital services such as Amazon Music, Apple, Spotify and Tidal, and for distributing those royalties to publishers and self-administered songwriters.

The Nashville-based MLC recently announced a slate of executive hirings to help Ahrend lead the organization, which currently includes 20 employees, with plans to ultimately form a team of nearly 100 employees.

“The MLC represents one of those changes that transforms the music business, once every generation or two,” Ahrend says. “You have to go back to the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to see the last kind of moment where our industry changed. Sound Exchange later came into being as an organization that helped to really transform an aspect of the business. The MLC will be similarly transformative. I’m very privileged to be asked to lead an organization that is going to have the potential to drive that transformation for our industry and the next chance to do that might not come for another 15 or 20 years. I didn’t want to miss the chance to be part of that change.

“Every songwriter in the country and many songwriters around the world will ultimately be getting paid a portion of their revenue from an organization based in Nashville,” he says.

In November 2019, the MLC and the Digital Licensing Coordinator reached a funding deal, in which the MLC receives $33.5 million in startup costs and an initial annual assessment for 2021 of $28.5 million, with costs divided between the licensees. Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, the MLC will begin to issue and administer the blanket licenses. The collective has teamed with mechanical licensing administrator Harry Fox Agency, building upon the HFA’s database of musical works data to streamline the process of matching writer and publisher information with corresponding sound recording data to make sure songwriters and publishers are paid the full amount they are due. Songwriters can also receive unclaimed funds from the various DSPs. In order to collect royalties collected from DSPs by the MLC, music publishers and self-administered songwriters, composers and lyricists will need to register with the MLC in order to access their data via the MLC Portal.

Ahrend launched his career as a law clerk for the Western District of the Virginia District Court and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, before joining the Intellectual Property & Litigation Group of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York. He entered the music industry working for Sony Music’s law department, and later in the business and legal affairs department at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, before joining Rhino Entertainment as Sr. VP, Business & Legal Affairs. In 2013, he joined Warner Music Group as Sr. VP, Recorded Music Rights Administration. In 2016, he was promoted to President of U.S. Shared Services and led the development and launch of Warner Music’s Center of Excellence for Shared Services in Nashville, coordinating operations for 15 functional teams for Warner Music’s United States-based publishing teams, labels and corporate divisions.

Ahrend spoke with MusicRow about the work the MLC is doing and what basing the organization in Nashville means for Music City.

MusicRow: The MLC is set to begin administering blanket mechanical license agreements, and the collection of royalties for independent writers and publishers, on January 1, 2021. Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected that timeline in any way?

Ahrend: It has changed the way we have done lots of things. But from the timing perspective, we are still on track to be ready for that January 2021 license availability date. We have not contemplated in any way seeking to change or push that back. We will be ready. We’ve made extraordinary progress in a short period of time, under circumstances that, by any definition, are not normal.

MR: In what ways have your previous roles at Sony, Rhino, and Warner prepared you to lead the MLC?

Ahrend: Every step of my career helped prepare me for the role that I now have at the MLC, in ways that I never could’ve imagined. Because up until a couple years ago the MLC wasn’t even an idea. My early career as a lawyer helped me understand the legal foundations of our business. We are in essence a copyright industry, and whether it’s on the publishing side, or on the sound recording side, everything we do is underpinned by that foundation of copyright. At Sony, I did publishing deals, new tech deals, considered trademark issues, record deals—the full panoply of legal issues that we face in our industry and got a good grounding in those.

At Rhino, the catalog business is all about understanding the economics of the deal. If you release a hits album or a box set, how much are you spending to create that product, and will it be profitable? So, that gave me a good understanding of the business process. Rhino helped me better understand the connection between what we as companies do, and the creators with whom we do that. The music business, regardless of what part you’re in, can be boiled down to companies making two promises to creators: The first is they will help to cultivate their creativity, and that’s the piece that gets the most attention. But the second is that we will pay those creators for their creative output under the terms of the deals we do with them. At Rhino, I saw first-hand the impact that we had on creators, when we do that well or not so well, and it’s ultimately something that enables those writers to continue to write. I got to deal with so many artists that had relationships with Warner over the years through our catalog, from Aretha Franklin to Led Zeppelin, and hundreds in between, and when you speak with artists you really appreciate how important that second promise is to them, and to their livelihoods.

MR: What attracted you to this role at the MLC?

Ahrend: The ability to work at a company where the sole mission is aligned with what I do was incredibly compelling. When you work in the industry, there is often an inherent tension between those two promises because in any company where resources are limited—as they always are—the company has to make choices. Do you invest in A&R or do you invest in a new royalty system? At MLC, our sole focus is on making sure that songwriters are paid. At Warner Music, I was able to envision what an organization will look like, to hire a team of people that deliver on the objectives that you’ve set out and, and to see how that can have an impact on the lives of creators. That experience of building something was incredibly compelling to me. I jumped at the chance to be able to do that again with the MLC.

MR: You are working with Harry Fox Agency, and building upon the database they have already established. How will that process work?

Ahrend: We are working closely with them in every facet of our operation. Data is something that can always be improved; data is rarely static. We are not only assembling a database of musical works and sound recordings that exist today and associating those works with the recordings, but also capturing data for all the new musical works that are being written and sound recordings being made, so there is a constant stream of data. The partnership with HFA helps us get to those starting lines of a race that never ends.

The MLC is unique in that our board that governs us consists entirely of people who represent the stakeholders we will serve. We are essentially an organization that is managed by songwriters for the benefit of songwriters, and managed by publishers for the benefit of publishers. It’s really important now for songwriters and publishers to understand that our success depends in part on each of them playing their part—looking at their own data and helping to make sure it is as accurate as it can be. We will ultimately be a small organization; it would be impossible for any organization of around 100 people to take on the task of managing that level of data. But if everyone is engaged, we will be far more successful.

MR: The onus is on the writers and publishers to make sure the information they send to the MLC is correct. How is the MLC Portal optimized for their use—particularly smaller or more independent writers and publishers?

Ahrend: We are looking at launching the portal in the third quarter of the year. That will give us all time to look at the data and work to improve it.

We want to get to the place where we can roll out the portal, and get people to register with the portal so they can set up in our system. In many ways the portal is designed to help the smallest publishers and those individual stakeholders, those individual songwriters to manage their data. We expect they will be the ones to interact most regularly with the portal, whereas with our larger publisher company partners, it will involve more interactions at a system level.

MR: The MLC has a training/educational program set up for new hires. Can you talk about the purpose of that program and how it is integrated into the work of the MLC?

Ahrend: For those new team member roles, we wanted to be really intentional in how we bring them into the organization. Everyone that we hire will participate in a training program that will last several weeks, which will give them a broad-based education in the fundamentals of the industry that will be relevant to the roles we will ask them to fill, so they are better prepared to start doing that work.

We also think that makes the MLC an appealing option for them. We are looking to hire the best and the brightest, but to do that we have to do our part by offering them a compelling experience from the beginning. Offering this level of training will be compelling for people who are looking not only for a job, but for an experience that gives them opportunities to grow and put them on a career path.

MR: What does it mean to you for the Mechanical Licensing Collective to be based in Nashville?

Ahrend: What’s so wonderful for Nashville is that it’s unquestioned that Nashville has been a hub for music for decades. In recent years, we’ve broadened to include far more than just the creative aspects of the business. The MLC is as much a technology and a data company as we are a music company, so for us to be able to play a big role in helping Nashville take that next step forward in this evolution to be the broadest possible version of a Music City we can be, is really exciting and really meaningful.