badmartialarts wrote:This is a question that suddenly assailed me. Why is it that songwriters get pretty much no fame unless they are in the bands they write for, and then only as musicians?
Do songwriters go on tour, and have promoters make posters with their name on them to hang all over the place, so that the tour is a money-earner?
Does the songwriter appear in the music video that goes to MTV, VIVA, etc?
Is it the songwriter's voice that comes over the radio, singing the lyrics?
When it comes down to it, nobody involved in the chain of value transmission has a vested interest in songwriters being famous. The musician is the "face" of the music (ever since Milli Vanilli, anyway -- and in this case the real musicians also never got any exposure out of the deal, because it was the "face" of the lipsynchers being promoted), and the "face" is what is promoted to sell the product. No promotion, no fame.
--K