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Ok...my ears were burning. There actually are two different opportunities..as mentioned here. One is the monthly NSAI Pitch to Publishers night...usually the 3rd Thursday. The other is Barbara Cloyd's READY FOR THE ROW workshops as Nate mentioned. If you sign up and get accepted for one of those, you will get the chance to get your songs heard by 6 Music Row Pros..generally Publishers and A&R folks.

The NSAI nights have been incredibly eye-opening in many ways for me. Anytime you get to listen to the first verse and chorus of about 80 songs in one evening...you get a pretty good idea of where the bar is set in this town...and, if you are willing to be honest about your own writing, you can see just how your material stacks up. Being hard nosed about it..on any given night, you will hear about 70 songs that have been "done forever"...same music, same tired themes over and over. Then, out of the fog, a song gets played and everyone whispers...gee...I wish I'd written THAT one! You see the publisher's eyes light up and they ask "Who submitted that song? Do you mind if I keep it?" Like...duh! LOL No, I just brought it here to tease ya'all!

Both options are great. NSAI costs $150 a year (that may be my renewal price though, since I just got my notice). That means you can pitch 12 songs a year, plus you get the evaluation service and many other services. Barbara's workshops are far more personal where you get the chance to actually form a relationship with a publisher. I think the workshops are $175.

I am not sure if they are still doing it or not, but ASCAP used to offer writers a chance to be part of a 3-5 person pitch twice a year. I did it a couple of times but have not seen it offered since then. Maybe I broke the system?? LOL

Kim-Char has signed some of her songs and mine with a plugger that some of you Pineyfesters had a chance to meet last summer. We decided that a few of ours just needed that extra presence. Will let you know if anything happens as a result. If a plugger asks for money up front, I wouldn't do it. They will have no incentive to actually pitch your material because they are making their money regardless of whether your song has merit or not. Go with the one who asks for a percentage of any cuts they receive. Those folks won't take songs they don't think can get cut. Remember, if their reputation is on the line..at least here in Nashville, they don't want it associated with inferior song material. It is in their self interest to be VERY selective.

IMO Sherrill Blackman is the best in the biz..but he is not accepting any new material these days unless you are one of his regular clients. Even then, your song has to be stellar and so fresh it oughta be slapped! FWIW, he is ONLY taking uptempo female stuff at the moment.

Hugs,
Bobbie

PS. I just checked their events calendar and the ASCAP thing I was describing above is called: ASCAP Song Source. It happens every Wednesday afternoon. You do have to sign up in advance because reservations are limited to 10 people. The next one is July 11. The last time I participated in one they brought in two pros from Curb Music (I now have an open door there). There were only 3 of us who participated that day so we got a lot of extra attention. It was terrific!!

SONG SOURCE
July 11
4 p.m.
ASCAP Nashville
Two Music Square West
Nashville, TN

ASCAP Song Source is an open door opportunity for ASCAP members to receive feedback on one of their songs from ASCAP staff and music industry professionals. Each session is limited to 10 participants on a first come first serve basis.
Participants bring one song on a CD with lyrics to the class and are limited to one session per six months. Song Source is on every Wednesday afternoon starting at 4 PM in the ASCAP conference room, with the exception of holidays and special events. Reservations for the sessions are available through the Nashville ASCAP office at (615) 742-5000.

I don't know if BMI has anything similar or not. I am guessing they probably do.

Here are just a few of the sevices that NSAI offers along this line:
Song Evaluation Service - Members may submit one song at a time for evaluation. Our independent team of published songwriters, carefully selected and trained by NSAI, will evaluate each song's commercial potential and return a recorded evaluation.

"Lyric Only" Evaluation Service - We also offer "lyric-only" evaluations for lyricists.

"Ready-to-Pitch" Service - Any song submitted to the Song Evaluation Service that is judged "Ready-to-Pitch" by the song's evaluator is then screened by the entire panel of NSAI song evaluators. If approved, the song is played for major music publishers and label A&R representatives at NSAI's exclusive Pitch to Publisher Quarterly Luncheon.

Publisher Listening Luncheons - On a quarterly basis, we play the best songs from our Song Evaluation service for a “who’s who” of Nashville publishers at our in-person listening luncheons. Who knows? Your song could be played next!

Clearly...there are a LOT of options out there for all of us...most of which we are probably not taking advantage of!!