MEDIA
MARKET: Song Pluggers
Songwriters trying to break into the music business must either find a Publisher, hire a Songplugger or Pitch / Record
their songs themselves. A song plugger is basically a song sales person who presents
songs to record label A&R persons, Producers, Artists and Managers with the intention that the song(s) presented will
find a place on the next album release.
Song-Pluggers
business centers around records and films as they play demos of songs for managers, record producers, recording artists, record
company A & R personnel and film supervisors.
Song pluggers know who is looking for material right now and what type of material they are looking for and they have
the connections to get specific songs to the decision makers. For writers who don’t want to tie up their publishing and can’t
afford to hire someone, hiring an independent Song-Plugger is a viable option. Independent
song plugging has also been a good way to enter the music business for someone with good ears, personality and lots of perseverance.
Songwriters pay for the business connections and the experience, knowledge and abilities a song plugger has to get
song material to the major players, and to absorb the rejection that is 99% of the job.
Hiring a song plugger allows the songwriter to do what they do best-- write songs while simultaneously not having to
deal with the almost never-ending rejection that can dampen the creative spirit.
Song-Pluggers are also hired by writers who have co-publishing deals and don’t want to keep all their publishing
rights. Country, R & B and AC Pop music genres are very lucrative
for song plungers as there is a large percentage of these types of music artists who record outside songs.
Most independent song pluggers work on a contractual basis, charge a modest monthly retainer, and get a bonus of any
cuts. Although there is no standard retainer, most song pluggers tend to be flexible in their arrangements. Their fees are based on the catalog,
number of writers and songs. Most successful song-pluggers want a piece of the
copyright with the amount of time they spend, resources, industry connections and commitment to get a song picked up.
Song-Pluggers are also great for artists that do not need the draw from the publisher and money for demos. Some song-pluggers will represent songs without a contract which is known as “uncontracted songplugging.”
