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Jim
It is no secret that you are very passionate about this business but I have to disagree with you about today's music.
Now I won't comment on anything beyond Country because that is my interest and the only thing I have actually seen in person. If the music in your preferred genre is crap then maybe you need to listen to something else.

The Publishers and Artists are searching for great songs. It is a day in day out process.
I have heard about 75 songs being pitched to publishers this week. Both of those Publishers have had a couple Number one Hits in the last year or two.
The songs they were hearing were good but they were not GREAT. they were average good. Of the 75 or so songs I heard three or maybe 4 deserved a second listen. One might make it. But I really doubt it.
One of the Publishers shared this...He had listened to about 200 songs this week alone. He had not picked one yet.
Now that was just two publishers. There are many more in Nashville looking for the next Hit. There are Publishers all over the world looking for the next Hit.

Now if it was just about money they could have taken any one of a dozen of those Average Good songs and threw some great production with triple AAA session players on them and, Viola, money in da bank. Or why even bother listening to new writers. Why not just write the songs themselves.

Aside from the lyrics being just so-so. I didn't hear more than a couple of decent melodies. Only a couple of the songs sounded like today's top 40. Most were dated and no way would they get cut today much less be a radio single.

Hell, Dylan's New album Modern Times never saw any air time as far as I know. If it did I never heard it and all you guys are putting Dylan on some high plane above the reast of the world. Well he might be but the album never got any air play.
And it does not matter how good it was if no one heard it.

I can only wish that I write something as good as Live Like You Were Dying(Tim McGraw) or Moments(Emerson Drive)
If those songs are crap then I don't know what good is.