A song plugger or song demonstrator is an individual who promotes music to

musicians A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

record labels "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

, and customers. Song pluggers work for a music publishing company or operate independently. The function of the role has evolved as advances in

music technology Music technology is the study or the use of any device, mechanism, machine or tool by a musician or composer to make or perform music; to musical composition, compose, music notation, notate, playback or record songs or pieces; or to Music infor ...

changed the music industry over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries.

History

Sheet music plugging

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a song plugger was a

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

or piano player employed in the early 20th century by

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made ...

, music stores and song publishers to promote and help sell new sheet music. Prior to high-quality recorded music on

phonograph records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

, sheet music sales were the sole measurement of a song's popularity. Music publisher Frank Harding has been credited with innovating the sales method. Typically, the pianist sat on the mezzanine level of a store. When patrons wanted to hear the music before buying, a clerk would send the music up to the demonstrator to be played. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, those who worked in department and music stores were most often known as "song demonstrators", while those who worked directly for music publishers were called "song pluggers." Notable musicians and composers who had worked as song pluggers included

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

, Ron Roker,

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

, Lil Hardin Armstrong,

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal life Mills ...

, and

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

. Film executive

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

had also been a song plugger.

Rise of recorded music

Later, the term was used to describe individuals who would pitch new music to performers, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' describing such examples as

Freddy Bienstock Freddy Bienstock (April 24, 1923 – September 20, 2009) was a Swiss-American music publisher who built his career in music by being the person responsible for soliciting and selecting songs for Elvis Presley's early albums and films. Early life B ...

performing a job in which he was "pitching new material to

bandleaders A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a British dance band, dance band, band (rock and pop), rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such ...

and singers". In

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' writer Ernest Havemann noted the following:

There are about 600 song-pluggers in the U.S.; they have their own union; they are powerful enough to bar all outsiders; and they command fees up to $35,000 a year orth $ todayplus unlimited expense accounts. Their job is to persuade the record companies to use songs, put out by their publishing houses, and the radio station disk jockeys to play the records."

Modern day usage

Song pluggers remain a part of the music industry, serving a similar function to a professional manager by promoting new music to recording artists and record labels. They are often hired on retainer, and can work for a record label or operate independently.

References

Bibliography