OK I can see what you;re saying to an extent, but how do you judge whether someone is writing something because that's what they want to do or just because they want money. Who's to say Snow Patrol wouldn't have gone in that direction anyway whether or not they did find success. You say they wrote bland ballads because people bought run, but they wrote run in the first place which to me at least is a bland ballad. It just doesn't really seem worth the effort thinking about, people will like it or they wont, what it sounds like is a lot more important than why it was made. And do you have any evidence that cover versions sell more than originals?