A song-plugger was a piano player employed by music stores in the early 20th century to promote and help sell new sheet music, which is how hits were advertised before quality recordings were widely available. Typically, the pianist sat on the mezzanine level of a store and played whatever music was sent up to him by the clerk of the store selling the sheet music. Patrons could select any title, have it delivered to the song plugger, and get a preview of the tune before buying it.
Musicians and composers who had worked as song pluggers included George Gershwin [1], Ron Roker, Jerome Kern and Lil Hardin Armstrong.
Later, the term was used to describe individuals who would pitch new music to performers, with The New York Times describing such examples as Freddy Bienstock performing a job in which he was "pitching new material to bandleaders and singers".[1]In 1952 Ernest Havemann wrote:
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 plus 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."[2]
Song plugging remains an important part of the industry. Record labels and managers will actively search for songs that their artist can record, release and perform, especially those that don't write their own material.
Song plugging is not a science and many companies approach the role differently. Essentially the key objective is to connect songs with record label A&R.
The process of song plugging is ultimately about creating leads and sourcing good quality songs. The song plugger would typically charge a fee for their services.