JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Mentor Questions Forum Songpluggers

I am seeking some contacts to respected and successful song pluggers involved with the Nashville music scene...not being in Nashville myself I would like to find someone with a track record who would consider taking on part of our catalog to shop for cuts. Any links or helpful comments are appreciated.

I see you are an ASCAP member. They keep a list of independednt songpluggers. Call the Nashville office. You will have to do the research on your own.

Truman,
Thank you, I have contacted the Nashville ofiice and requested the list...Moker

Moker,
Have you considered doing the "Play for Publishers" at the Bluebird? I spoke to Bobbie Gallup about this as a possible way to get more familiar with the Nashville marketplace and she said it's a good step.

I'm thinking of trying it myself soon.

Good luck,
Heidi

Heidi,
I don't have any trips to Nashville planned right now, I will keep that in mind when I do. Right now I am working on getting enough professional country demos done so I have something decent to pitch to each type of opportunity...i.e: female singer, young male singer, seasoned veteran male singer etc., let me know when you are going, I have a friend who is up there and runs an open mic somewhere on I think monday nights, he runs a couple of great seminars during the year in Colorado and California...and he signed a guy I know from here to his record label last year. The guy he signed is Chuck Nash...thanks again Heidi...Moker

Heidi, is Play For Publishers through the BlueBird or NSAI?

Bill

Hey Bill,
Bobbie Gallup is the one who knows about this. I'm going to have to ask her about it when I'm ready to go. She's a great gal.

Heidi

Bill and Heidi,
I am "assuming" Play for Publishers is through Barbara Cloyd..one of her events.

~~shelia

www.sheliaquattlebaum.blogspot.com
www.gmia.org

Shelia,
Could be....I just remember asking Bobbie about it. I'm sure she can direct anyone to the right person to find out about it. It happens every three months and you have to send in three songs to get reviewed first. Then, they choose the people they feel qualify to go to the event and play their songs for the publishers. It sounds like a great way to listen to what's being pitched out there and to get your feet wet.

Heidi

Barbara Cloyd has her Play For Publishers thing a few times a year. It is very selective, runs for a few days, and has a "tuition" charge. NSAI has a regular evening event for free where you can play songs to a guest publisher. I believe this is the event that Bobbie attends. This is from their website:

Truman,
I got the list from the ASCAP/Nashville office...thanks for the tip...Moker

Hi Everyone,
For the Barbara Cloyd "Play for Publishers" Workshop, go to www.barbaracloyd.com and you can sign up to get an e-mail each time she has one coming up. Usually she'll send out an e-mail a month before submissions are due. She screens them, excepts (invites) 10-15 songwriters to Nashville and you get to play your demos for a 3-6 publishers that she arranges. This is very competitive. I tried to get in once but no luck. Maybe next time.
I'll be going to Pineyfest again this year (Bobbie Gallup's event this Aug. 1-4) and I'll post info on any song plugger info that I get. We met a couple last year and some can be quite pricey... Guess it's got to be the right fit.

BTW, Moker... Just heard demo for "Even the Candles Cried" congrats on the single song contract offer! It's a great song!Best of luck with the pitch!

Nate

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!!

Nate and Bobbie,
Thank you a bunch for your info provided here, sorry I haven't checked back on this thread lately. I do appreciate it...Moker

They played mine past the first verse and chorus!!!!
I got excited. Then they ripped it apart.

It was an interesting day. That day I'd had three songs critiqued twice. The same three songs each time. Both critiquers liked the same song the best. It wasn't the one I thought they would like the most. But it was the one I played at the Thursday night guest critique session.

One of the critiquers said she didn't critique Christian songs because she was Jewish but she did complain about one thing. And she was right. It wasn't about the song but about the lyric sheet.

Moker, I see you received a single song offer by using Song U. Are you a member of TAXI?

ljw,
no, my main co-writer is a member but it hasn't helped much, she says she will probably skip renewal, seems the best way is to be hands on involved in building the network of people who know you, your style, talents, ability, professionalism, etc.
not being in the music town is tough, gotta just keep writing great songs and workit where you can. Why? you had any luck with taxi, I've met the the guy who owns it 3 or 4 times but I haven't been convinced it's the way to go. I know some other writers who have joined, but I don't know any who have gotten a major cut. I met a writer this fall who got a song in a movie through the, That's the only success story from someone i personally know. Thanks for checkin' in...Moker

I just joined (see my background in the "I'm Available" reply (mp3 forum)) but have not got my first set of critiques back. I've been reading their forums recently and it seems as though the success stories are all in getting music placed in film and tv via music libraries. Personally, I won't be satisfied if that's all I ever get published, but surely it could open some doors and add a branch to a songwriter's network. The one major cut success story is "Buy Me A Rose" -- pretty big hit by Kenny Rogers a few years back. 2 kids from the Northeast demoed it on their 8 track and submitted it to Taxi.
I'll give it a year, and see what happens.

LJW

We don't think of Utah as the Northeast

I know personally I like BMI. I have applied for Writer Affiliation and am waiting to hear back from them currently.

Aside from that I would say before you sign anything make sure you have it reviewed by a competent legal practitioner.

Also, beware of ANY company that send you a letter saying they want to "push" some of your songs but want you to pay for any of the costs upfront.

But that is just my take on it.