Article "Inside the dirty business of songwriting"
 

This came up on another forum. I thought it was an interesting read for any aspiring songwriters

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/...ng-1234946090/

Very interesting read! I’m not surprised though!

Same as it ever was, pretty much. There's a trickle-down, as well. It's not at all unusual, at least in my town, to get "paid" for performing or engineering on a demo or indie record with a small percentage of the songwriting. I've done this a lot and never made a dime. I've gotten a few free beers out if it, but I've probably bought more.

I'm not surprised either . I have a friend at a publishing house in Nashville and he has worried about it for long time.

Unfortunately Hunter Tompson said it years ago and may well be correct.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench - a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs."

I seem to remember at lot of the Rock bands of the 60's and 70's got taken advantage of by sleazy lawyers and producers to the tune of being left with virtually nothing. OTOH as an artist in a different forte, I can tell you many of the artists I know typically don't have much business sense.

You left off the last part of Thompson’s quote!

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”

To think that Elvis could have sang Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" but Col Tom Parker cancelled the event because Dolly wouldn't give Elvis half of the publishing royalties. Good for her. Elvis probably didn't even know what was going on.

Thanks for sharing!

That's what I was thinking too! Was it the colonel that originally told Elvis he had no talent or was it someone else?

Yes, I read that article! I didn't know all that stuff was happening, but considering the financial pressure on performers because of the shift toward streaming, I understand how this situation has evolved.

What a shame...

- Glenn