This may be thread creep but I am curious.

Let me start by making the unequivocal statement that an artist should be paid for his/her work. If you write a song you deserve to be paid when someone else profits from that piece of music.

That being said let me ask this. What is it that a NAME brings to a piece of music that the rest of us cannot. Jane Singer Songwriter may write a great little song that is very popular on the coffeehouse circuit but when Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, or Bruce Springsteen records it suddenly it's dynamite. What have they done that Jane couldn't do? They obviously make the bucks on that song and owe a protion of that money to Jane but is there some intangible that needs to be considered?