This practice, which has long been disparaged in the established music industry, was also known as song sharking and was conducted by several businesses throughout the 20th century in North America.
[1] Those who sent their poetry to one of the production companies usually received notice by mail that their work was worthy of recording by professional musicians, along with a proposal to do so in exchange for a fee.
The recordings were then duplicated on 45 RPM vinyl singles or on individual cassette tapes, or released on compilation LPs with other song poems.
Tom Ardolino of NRBQ curated an LP and several compilation CDs of material taken from his personal collection (The Beat of The Traps, The Makers of Smooth Music, The Human Breakdown of Absurdity, & I'm Just The Other Woman).
His work, along with the efforts of others such as Phil Milstein, musicologist Irwin Chusid of WFMU radio, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Bob Purse, James Lindbloom, and Penn Jillette, has allowed song poems to reach a level of notoriety unthinkable in their own time.