Of course there is not a plague of songwriters. To think otherwise is to believe there are a chosen few and only they shall be heard. Let anyone who has composed songs or music for that matter do their stuff and give them full rein. Audience reaction will tell the tale in the long run and a natural filtering process will let those that are good enough to rise to the top. This applies to most produced things in life. The bigger problem; who is prepared and qualified to sit in judgement of the composers and how best to offer criticism and advise them?