Guys,

No one has much of a chance and it has been that way for years. The people that make their own chances are the ones finding and working with artists before they get known.
Music has always been a one on one type affair. One on one with the audience, one on one with the artist to whomever he or she is dealing with. Finding ways to be a part of that one on one experience is the trick. When artists become famous, other, more highly placed or politically connected people become part of the one on one relationship.

In 64' the Beatles redefined the nature of the realtionship within the artist/writer. Most of all forms of music have followed suit, the last hold out was really country. blues, rock, pop, rap, hip hop, alternative, world, folk, etc. are ALL self contained, that is, they don't accept outside material.

We are now in a world where we run into the "inside cut.' That is what is normal now. And in order to get past the inside cut you either have to find an artist who does not write, or write something better than what they are writing themselves.

And it is not just us. The other day a friend of mine had a meeting with the head of Sony publishing in Nashville. That is the biggest publishing company in Nashville and one of the biggest in the world. His comments have echoed what every publisher, song plugger, hit and amateur writer have been saying for some time now. You are simply not going to get an artist to take an outside song over his own unless that song is amazing. And even if it is amazing, sometimes the ego, chances to get it even heard, are just not there. Which is why you have to expand your songwriter's universe.

But hey, we all have the internet. Everybody is talking about getting millions of hits on their videos and You tube, my space, Face book, etc. We all have the chance to get our music out there like nothing before. It has never been easy. But there has never been that opportunity before. It is the glass "half empty or half full."

MAB