Hi Brian, If it winds up as 2 forums, a Commercial Lyrics Forum, and an Indie/Noncomm Forum may work. Newcomers will have a choice of category.

This should insure they get the type of critiques that may help them become better writers.

A commercial writer will get critiqued by his peers. That should mean honest critiques in this case.
Noncomm writers see their songs differently. They are probably going to be performing their songs, or have a co-writer who does.
They are easy to offend, and having the right forum for them will enable them to post where their fellow indie writers hang out.

I think it would be intersting to see how the quality of critiques is affected.
Commercial or Noncomm. You know the intended audience by where he/she posted the lyric, and that is helpful in knowing what advice or thoughts the writer is seeking.

I'd post in both because I write both. And I'm sure many here would too.

Sure, many of those who have been around awhile know what a regular is shooting for, advice wise, but new members who visit a single/central forum may only look at the top two or three lyrics before deciding to post. If they write commercial lyrics only, and the top few posts are non-commercial, they may look elsewhere. Presented with choice of posting with like minded writers,they may even post right away.

I think it would work, resulting in more new members better critiques.

Tony