Douglas,

It is just one more part of an ongoing process. A lot of people from outside Nashville think that everybody in Nashville get things for free, get paid for music, etc. That is not always true. We generally sacrifice family, jobs, financial success, etc. to move here. There are so many people here doing the same thing making a living at music is actually very few and far between. And for the most part, almost anyone getting into the music business have done the same workshops, seminars, paid for the same critiques as most outside people do. They have just moved forward from it.
What determines a professional is generally his or her standing in the communtiy. Many don't want to do critiques as they feel their opinion is not worth it. No one has to do anything. Most people who do song critiques are currently involved in the industry and understand current trends, what is overdone, etc. And that is a lot of the situation. Sometimes it is not that a song is good or not. It might have just been done a lot and a wave of interest in that type of song has past.
One of these examples would be in topical issues, such as war, politics, etc. The outside writer might not have heard that many of those type songs but closer to the source, there may have been hundreds or thousands of them and that "train has already left the station." so one of the bonuses of a paid critique might be that, to save you that precious publisher appointment from bringing in things they cannot use.
Publishers today see less and less people that they don't know since they are so overwhelemed with friends, co-writers, relations and product. So actually they don't really give much in the ways of critiques any more. A song is either right or not. It is called a "pass." And that is what most songs get.
Getting a critique from an objective source often takes away the personal aspect of critiques and give a business like assesment. Some opinions might be biased or even from other areas that might not be relevant to you. I would have absolutely NO idea what the Montreal market would be like, so it would pay me actually to have informed comments from someone who participates in that market currently.
That is why most people who get critiques online or with things like services and sources or even make trips to a place like this. And since the Internet has so much informtation it is relatively easy to find out who is shooting straight and who is jerking someone around.

MAB

Last edited by Marc Barnette; 04/21/09 08:29 PM.