The system probably is unfair, really. Clout rules.

The hardest thing for me to accept is that most people aren't all that interested in the greatness of a song...they just want to sing along. It bothers me that the only #1 US hit that Chuck Berry ever scored was for "My Ding-a-Ling". Please. How is that fair?

But the good thing about the system is that it usually takes the most dedicated, dauntless people to reach the top. To me, the idea of just writing something at home, sending it off to a star, and then getting rich for it, is also unfair. It's the kind of unfair I wish I could experience! But when I think of all the great writers who sacrifice everything to be in a music town, working their butts off for that cut...seems wrong somehow.

But the truth is, everything we're talking about is in the process of falling apart anyway. Recording studios are closing, labels are folding, and no one wants to buy music...they just want to have it available. The bad side of all this is obvious...but the good side is that a lot more of us can experience smaller tastes of fame and fortune via the internet. You can make a living on your own, doing it your own way, beholden to no one but your own fans. You just have to collect them.

http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman