Nashville has long nurtured its status as the "Music City," thanks to a wide range of venues and a steady stream of performers exported from the city. When acts such as Jack White, the Black Keys and Carrie Underwood move to the city to be part of the scene, it builds up up the "Music City" vibes even more. But a great feature from The Tennessean demonstrates that things aren't so rosy outside of the ht records. The city has lost more than 80 percent of its professional songwriters during the last 14 years.
That number comes from the Nashville Songwriters Association. A number from Billboard: Last year featured an all-time low for music album sales. As we have sometimes been quick to point out, listeners are turning to streaming services more and more. But, as performers such as Aloe Blacc and Garth Brooks have been quick to point out, the record label contracts with services such as Spotify don't compensate songwriters well enough to justify a career. Blacc wrote the most played song in Spotify history, Avicii's "Wake Me Up!," yet he reported making less than $4,000 from the deal. He can support himself on such numbers but songwriters behind less successful hits cannot.
The Tennessean indicates that the average songwriter works on a year-to-year basis, often waiting for a certain point on the calendar to find out if they'll still have a job as a songwriter. Many hold jobs on the side, working as producers or playing locally with their own acts, but many are sticking with those side jobs as more steady sources of income as the call for songwriters gets quieter.
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