Song Pluggers Essay

If you’re someone who enjoys listening to the radio, you may have wondered who decides what songs get played on the air. The answer lies in the influence of public relations. It’s a difficult task to please station listeners, artists, and the radio station itself, but the use of public relations can navigate this balance in pleasing as many people as possible through song plugging. Song plugging has been a part of the music industry for many years and it continues to evolve with technology innovation. Pluggers are what get songs broadcasted on the radio in a steady rotation.

The rise of Tin Pan Alley sparked the need for song pluggers. The name Tin Pan Alley refers to a collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated

The more a song is played on the radio and heard by listeners, the greater chance it has to become a part of the public’s consciousness (Knab, 2010). Song pluggers represent a specialized subset of public relations professionals who focus on securing radio airplay for their clients' music (McDonald, 2016). Their primary responsibility involves working closely with the artist or band prior to project releases, using their established connections with station managers, presenters, producers, and influential figures to get their music scheduled on the radio station's playlist or airplay (McDonald, 2016). In this capacity, they act as the vital link between bands, their labels, and radio station managers, producers and

As industry professionals, they possess valuable insights into the current trends on radio stations, the specific stations that cater to the musician’s target audience, and the ability to create effective strategies for successful campaigns (Ogori, 2015). For emerging band or singers, lacking connections can hinder their ability to reach national audiences beyond their local reach. While hiring a song plugger incurs a cost, the investment is justified by the consistent play and exposure it brings (Voogt,