Peggy,
I hope you don't feel I am just ';being mean" to you or anyone. I am trying to be as fair and as thorough as I can. I give the harsh reality but then try to show you what fails and why, then what WORKS and why. That is what I am trying to do.
We cover so many subjects here and it can get confusing with so much cross talk and my long posts. A lot of times can forget what we are even talking about. But I read the questions you asked your contact and here are my short answers to those questions:
CONTESTS:
Contests are a nessasary evil. They are out there, a lot of people participate, many of them make a lot of money, some for good causes. Matt, Wags and Keith Dozier won the NSAI contest this year, which is in my opinion is probably the most prestigous of all.
But aside from some prizes, money and a nice little short press fun, they don't have much to do with anything as far as the industry.
CONTESTS ARE BASICALLY THE GAME SHOWS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY.
Hit songs or even songs considered for artists are never chosen that way.
"SENDING ANYTHING IN."
NEVER. No one listens, they are spam email. Even if someone knows you, you are still very far away from the realistic source. The people you are dealing with, while well intentioned are not able to actually consider songs outside of their own, those in their companies, or friends and artists.
Having quality demos is important to represent you, but often just to convince someone to write with you. If you want an artist involved in your songs, you are pretty much going to have to write something WITH THEM. Artists are now conditioned to want their own stuff and their own stuff only. If they join larger companies, publishers, hit writers, record companies, they are going to HAVE to be involved with other people's songs, but those will all be from their inner circles.
So those are my quick answers to your questions.
HOW TO GET STARTED? LOOK IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
MAB