Brandon,

I don't know when this thread was started or if you have gotten your answers. But basically you are just giving them reasons to say "No" if every line, every note, doesn't knock them down. Most notably you are up against songs written by the artist or with the artist or inside people that often the song is ABOUT them. A big part of all of this is the "Socializing and relationship" sides of Nashville, and in fact any business.

Mike calls it "people they play golf with" and that is very true. Everyone in this town know each other for years, long before those writing, promoting and recording relationships even start. If you see a new artist coming out, do some research on them and find out where they came from, who were the first people they hung out with, who were their connections inside the business, who supported them when they were brand new, what company are they working for, and you will see many of the roadblocks in your way.
You will usually find out that long before you even heard of them, they were being developed, groomed for years.

Also most of the songs you hear on the radio or on artists recordings are written by people with track record, other provable hits. So the fact is, that tagging a bridge, individual lines, melodies, subject matter, etc. can all get a song rejected very quickly.
And as a long term veteran in this town, I will tell you that almost all the "outside" songs, simply don't measure up to songs written by professionals or have an emotional or other ties to the inside.

Just like yourself if your income and lively hood depended on your relationships, you are simply not going to people you don't know and skip over you friends. It's a mistaken premise from the beginning.

What you are going to HAVE to do if you want cuts, is you are going to have to CULTIVATE them now, to prepare you for tomorrow or many years in the future. Building the relationships, writing with the artists who are unknown now, is really the ONLY way in those back doors.

Your songs are probably too wordy or don;t make the points you believe they do, and someone is trying to give you a reason that you can look at. The fact of the matter it is probably just not up to snuff of what they already have.

Good luck, but it is very common.

MAB