Originally Posted By: Belladonna
It's all about money. The public just isn't buying music like they used to. Nashville's only putting out a small percentage of the music they used to. Also, it seems there are more individuals creating music with all the technology available today, so many people can have a home studio. A lot of this music is offered for free on the internet. So there's a lot of people in and around the industry not making a lot of money, they way they used too. I believe a lot of Nashville co-writes is so that their writers get a piece of the action. I know a long time Nashville person who told me as an outside writer, doesn't matter how good you are you're not even going to be talked to unless you come down and team up with one of their own. You are correct in that I also feel it waters down the song. It's like two painters painting an oil painting on the same canvas. I feel the best teams are someone who's good at the lyrics and someone who's good at the music, like Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They may hire other technicians, but those people aren't the creative ones. It is true that a famous singer may take the song someplace it would have never gone and maybe that is worth a cut. Don Schlitz's song "The Gambler" never made it big until Kenny Rodgers sang it, although it was a great song. I do agree that too many of the same type, such as two lyrics writers together or two musicians together distorts the creativity in many cases.

excellent write Belladonna
my experience in this, in the early 90's I took some songs to a studio and recorded them , just my guitar and vocal, made a tape, (you remember those things right) well I took it to Nashville, walked music row putting in the few record co.s publishing firms that would accept it. Went home and didn't expect much, well lo and behold, I got a call from Warner Bros. A&R rep. He had listened to the tape liked and told me to get plugging, that I had potential, he put in contact with another writer in Nashville. I got in touch with him and met him at the blue bird cafe, where he was doing the round mic sing one night. I enjoyed the sit in listening to him and the other writers singing. Long story short I was working a good job, and was not about to quit to go to Nashville to co write songs, probably making no money at it for a while. The writer told me this was the golden opportunity, no one got called like that, and he told me never to say that song writing was a hobby, it was a profession, well it was and still is a hobby, i make my money working and support my family working. So I did not move to Nashville, and you know what? I am glad i didn't, I love working from my home studio with my son doing music they way we want to do it, not being told how. Plus if music becomes work, it loses the beauty to me. Well I have went on enough about this. And so it was.