Achieving Anonymity

Last night I did something that I’ve never done before. I stood at a microphone and delivered an acceptance speech for a songwriting award. And not just any old songwriting award – a Songwriter of the Year award.  And not just any old Songwriter of the Year award – a Professional Songwriter of the Year award (as apposed to an Artist Songwriter of the Year award).  Hold your applause.  The award wasn’t for me.  It was for one far more deserving than I.  My friend, Dianne Wilkinson, was nominated for the SGN Music Award but couldn’t attend the event, so she asked if I would accept it for her….if she won.  She honestly didn’t think she would win since she’d never won anything before. Ever. How could that be, I wondered. She’s been a fixture on the Southern Gospel songwriting landscape for decades.  

You see, there are two classes of songwriters. There are artists, whose names and faces are known throughout the industry, who happen to write. Even though some (not all) of them write primarily for their own projects, or mainly in collaboration with more established writers, their ability to “write” becomes as much a part of their bio as does their ability to sing. Some would even say an artist is more legitimate if they can do both, so it's a good marketing move. And then there are some who are far better writers than singers. But all "Artist/Writers" enjoy the same perk - they are instantly recognizable by the fans and the industry, and because of that, their names will be the first to appear on the ballots for Songwriter of the Year....even the ones who are novices at the craft. Apparently, one good song is all it takes to be eligible. That’s technically understandable.  

Then there are “Professional Writers.” These are individuals who don’t stand on a platform night after night, but who supply many of today’s Southern Gospel artists with songs so that they can do just that. Despite their success rate, their names rarely appear on those very same ballots I just mentioned. Makes sense....fans don't award who fans don't know. Unless they read the fine print they’ve likely never seen these names. And with digital downloads steadily overtaking CD sales, it’s even less likely that they’ll know who wrote their favorite song. Radio stations have a hard enough time telling us who sang the last song we heard, much less who wrote it. Of course, the die-hard fan can always learn all there is to know about a project by reading record reviews on their favorite web sites. Well, almost everything there is to know….it seems that many reviewers think it’s only important to list notable writers’ names that lend credibility to the project. Early on in my career, I joked with many of my songwriting friends that we should all have “Ann Dothers” carved on our tombstones – since that’s the way our names so often appeared in print....“This project features songs written by such notable writers as ‘Big Name Artist/Writer A, Big Name Artist/Writer B, Big Name Artist/Writer C….and others.” Can someone please pass a law stating that a press release or an album review must either mention all the writers or none of the writers? To be omitted says that you’re not important enough to mention – plain and simple.

When I think that many of my immensely talented friends (who sacrifice to write gospel music) will likely never be publicly acknowledged for their lifetimes of great work, I’m profoundly saddened. I applaud www.sogospelnews.com and their event, The SGN Music Awards for creating two separate awards for the two kinds of writers I’ve mentioned here. May other award shows follow your lead and do the right thing. The fans can’t be expected to know who toils behind the scenes on their own. I’m just glad that last night I was able to witness the bestowing of “honor, where honor is due.”