Victoria Banks Reflects On Her Survival...And Success
I feel a bit like a survivor who is holding on somehow despite the odds. When I signed my first deal in 1998, royalty streams were alive and well.
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I feel a bit like a survivor who is holding on somehow despite the odds. When I signed my first deal in 1998, royalty streams were alive and well. I have seen the decline of record sales and the rise of streaming basically obliterate all other income streams except radio play for commercial songwriters.
There are now only 400 people doing what I do professionally in Nashville when there were 4000 twenty years ago.
I’ve also had to deal with the lack of radio play for female artists in the country genre. Even though I naturally gravitate toward writing from a female perspective, I have had to learn to focus primarily on writing with and for male artists in order to stay marketable.
--- Victoria Banks, Songwriters Association of Canada
Shania Twain at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on July 17, 2026.Fred Thiebaud