Dan Mulligan is a record label executive living in New York City who is estranged from his wife Miriam and struggling to keep up with the changing music industry. After being fired from his job, he goes on a drinking binge which leads him to a bar in the Lower East Side where he encounters Gretta James. Gretta is a young and fiercely independent songwriter who has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend and songwriting partner Dave Kohl, a successful musician who had an affair with one of his producers. Captivated by Gretta's music, Dan offers to sign her to his former record label, and although she initially refuses she reconsiders the offer and agrees.