As a serious songwriting hobbyist, I've studied the music law as it pertains to songwriter royalties, artist royalties, etc. for several years. My findings can be summed up quite simply... the record companies and the RIAA are WAY out of control. Right now, I get great enjoyment out of playing and singing the songs I write (as do others I pay them for), but I'm afraid selling my material will damage my passion for songwriting. Not to say I won't, but I haven't submitted anything I've written over the past 5 years to anyone so far. If I were to pursue it further, my mission would be to bring that enjoyment to others. Making a modest supplemental income to my main job would be a motivator as well, but a distant second to the true spirit of music... creativity and sharing. Given the current music licensing trend, we'll have to figure out who invented music. Then, all royalties will go to the heirs of his estate! Somebody's going to be REALLY rich!