Matt,

An interesting part of your studies might be to RESEARCH hit artists, songs and the people BEHIND the scene in those artists and songs. Go look at Prince and see the people who started with him at the beginning. I believe you are in Minneapolis. Go to the clubs he started out in. Go to a book store or library and look at books on him. You will see the same people around him at the end that started with him in the beginning. Now there are many variables, as artists change labels, etc. but Prince was very loyal, so it should be instructive.

In Nashville, every day at resturants, bars, special events, you will see hit writers, established writers, etc. all going around town with new, younger people under their wings. They don't have to look ANYWHERE to find these people because they come from everywhere, all seeking a break. They all play writers nights, and if they are good, their reputation spreads, as they write and perform with more and more people. Everyone are trying to get to the hit writers, and those also are usually out doing shows, special events, benefits, social gatherings,etc. It is a very small town, and everyone knows about everyone long before the outside public knows about them.

It is the thing most people from OUTSIDE a music market don't ever understand. They are all focused on the SONGS, and completely skip the RELATIONSHIP. Without the relationship, the songs are just something else that is put on the Internet and disappears.

SONGS have to have an ARTIST. Another interesting thing about my recent foray at the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME is watching videos of songs and artists that didn't do much, and then the same song being done by the marquee artist that propelled it forward. Seeing Big Mama Thorton do YOU AIN'T NOTHING BUT A HOUND DOG" and then seeing Elvis do it. Same with BLUE SUEDE SHOES. Music is ARTIST DRIVEN, NOT SONG DRIVEN.

The music you talk about, "alternative" is much the same thing. There is an entire "Seattle" section in the Hall of Fame. Those guys were the first to actually GIVE AWAY music on the Internet in order to get their fans into their shows. That set the pattern for what we have today. College kids, who are usually broke, were able to get the music they loved for free. The alternative people like Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, later Green Day and others, had no radio format. So giving music away was their idea to get it to the masses. And for the era of the ninties, it worked. People did go to shows.

Now, people don't even have to go to shows. There is live streaming, people can view anything they want from their computers or cell phones and I pods. There is no longer any reason to pay for music in any form. Great for the public. Sucks for musicians and artists.

Basically it is the era of FREE music, and people figure that out sooner or later. Now, there are the people at the very top of the heap, the mega stars, and the small independent people creating their own niches around them. There is not an "in between." The era of the "Songwriter only" is over.

As I have said over and over like a broken record, if you want any involvement in this business, you are going to have to create it yourself with people in your area. The rest is gone.
Sorry, but that is life. There used to be a huge industry with horses, wagons, buggys, horse feed, saddles, equipment, buggy whips, etc. Those were replaced by the automobile, airplanes, and a different era.

The "songwriters only" have been replaced too. It is a natural evolution and something that happens whether we want to admit it or not.

MAB