Plugs Entertainment Industry Network
Plugs Entertainment Industry Network is a free-membership, private business networking website for entertainment industry professionals or for those offering professional services to the entertainment industry. Plugs is located in Nashville, Tennessee, the entertainment hub of the country music industry, and is exclusively designed to help entertainment industry professionals learn AbOUT, connect with, and do business with other entertainment industry colleagues. Plugs is a private, online business community that gives professionals a comfortable venue for collaborating on projects or social events in Nashville, across the United States, and around the world.
History
Plugs Entertainment Industry Network was launched in 2008 by Dream Row, a division of Elite Technology Systems Inc. of Tennessee. An Internet-savvy entertainment marketing firm in Nashville, Tennessee, Dream Row consists of marketing professionals, software developers, photographers website developers and graphic designers with many years of experience helping professionals in the entertainment industry market their talents on and off the Internet.
In the early years of social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace, musicians, bands, and others in the entertainment industry were able to effectively use those venues for business networking as well as promoting their concerts, appearances and CDs. Now Facebook and MySpace each has hundreds of millions of members. Their phenomenal growth has created unparalleled opportunities for performing artists and musicians to communicate with fans all over the world. However, it became obvious to Dream Row that the entertainment industry needed a more defined and exclusive networking venue where professionals from both the performance and business sides of the industry could more easily gain visibility, network and collaborate with colleagues in meaningful and productive ways. Plugs Entertainment Industry Network was created to fill that need.
Plugs Membership
As of March 1, 2010, Plugs Entertainment Industry Network has approximately 400 members from all aspects of the entertainment industry, including label-backed artists, independent artists, songwriters, demo singers, musicians, photographers, models, management, promoters, song pluggers, commercial studios, private, home studios, publishing companies, song publishers, and entertainment industry legal specialists. In addition, Plugs members are encouraged to invite other entertainment professionals or professionals in entertainment-related fields to join the network, subject to approval by Plugs. The current membership consists primarily of emerging and independent artists.
Plugs Membership Features
Plugs members have access to a wide array of free marketing tools for promoting themselves and their projects. Their Plugs Profile describes who they are and where they fit in the entertainment industry. They can generate their own content, upload photos, videos, music and incorporate a music player into their profile. In addition, members can generate traffic to their profile by adding the official Plugs graphical badge to promotional content on other websites. People who are interested in learning more about the member can click on the Plugs badge and connect instantly to their profile.
Other popular Plugs membership features include a personal blog, events announcements, member-to-member messaging, and general member forums. For example, a songwriter can upload a new song, send a message to other members, and ask for their feedback. Or a band can use the events feature to announce their next gig and invite members to attend. With Plugs' new RSVP feature, members are able to 'click and confirm' their attendance.
Recently added features include Twitter integration and status updates. Plugs also features five different members on the home page which change every week. In the near future, members will also be able to integrate their photos from Flickr, an online photo and video management site, into their profile.