It's not crap, Cheyenne. It's fact with few exceptions. Unless you can email Kenny Chesney's producer your guitar/vocal living room demo, you need to fork over a grand. I've heard plenty of demos of hit Nashville songs and they were indistinguishable from the final cuts. They even tailor the demo singer to the artist they intend to pitch to. That's what discouraged me about Music Row, the expense. Hell, the songs themselves were nothing special at all. You need to kiss serious ass and pay through the ass on top of that. For a born dissenter with shallow pockets, that ain't for me.

Some love the Music Row system and good for them. But if you don't fit in, don't despair. The money isn't what it used to be and if you don't crave the validation, you don't need the headache.

Nashville demos etc:

https://www.soundclick.com/bands3/default.cfm?bandID=431939

other demos:

https://soundcloud.com/wabash-cannibal

Amazon Kindle books by Robert George you may enjoy:

1) Americana

2) Teenage Graceland

3) The Will to Be

4) Fort Mystery

5) Wheel Sea

6) My One True Love