No telling how many times I bought a cd for the latest song or for an oldie but a goodie, and then found out that a completely unknown (by me) song soon became my favorite. It's true you get an occasional clunker, but I kind of like to know why some songs are hits and some are clunkers even when performed by the same artist or group at the same time. Was it poor lyrics, tune, lazy performance? We learn from what goes wrong, as well as what goes right.

My beef with the major producers is they think they have a lock on what is quality. You cannot find some artists out there today because they have been frozen out by the "same sound by every group" syrup that is foisted off as music today. I speak mostly of country producers, but from my smaller experiences with other genres I would say pretty much the same about them as well. Where are the producers who focus on quality lyrics and tunes instead of some idiot smashing his guitar on stage? We need somebody to turn Nashville upside down.