Songshark

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Songshark is the common slang term for a dubiously-honest music publisher, whose main source of income is the naivete of new songwriters, whom they charge for services a reputable publisher would provide free to their clients. Songsharks aren't concerned with royalties or long-term profit, and do little if any actual promotion of songs; rather, they devote themselves to making a "fast buck" by bilking as many writers as they can, in exchange for demo recordings of their lyrics set to music — usually hastily and poorly made, with hackneyed "melodies". Songsharks sometimes go so far as to compile albums of songs by their clients, which they then sell to those clients at inflated prices, or promise them airplay, which typically turns out to be a single playing at an obscure radio station.

A fictional example of a songshark at work is in The Monkees's TV episode "I've Got a Little Song Here", where Michael Nesmith pays a crooked publisher to accept and "promote" his song (actually one written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart). Another such example is in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard, where Daisy Duke pays to have her lyrics recorded by a Jessi Colter sound-alike.

The best example of a songwriter "getting back" at a songshark is John Trubee's memorable work "Peace And Love" (aka "A Blind Man's Penis"). Trubee sent a hastily-written page of offensive, meaningless drivel to one such publisher in 1976, who provided a melody and studio session (with vocalist Ramsey Kearney) in return for a fee. Trubee paid the fee, accepted the master tape sent back to him, and later released the recording (since he owned the rights to it, under the publisher's contract) as a novelty record on another label. The song eventually became a cult hit.