What advantages do cover songs have on your way to advancing your music career?

What do The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift have in common? They all played cover songs at the beginning of their careers. For many artists, cover songs are the training wheels on the way to their own musical identity. After all, you learn from the best when it comes to acquiring a good and solid songwriting structure or a sound knowledge of music theory.

That’s why today we’re looking at the advantages of cover songs. And there are quite a few. But of course there are also a few things to consider. Guidelines for music distribution, for example. Or the rules of the game for social media. Questions like: What do you earn from it? Can I generate new fans by covering songs? You can find out all about it in this article. Let’s start!

Independent artist and cover song Interpret: both are possible

These days, it’s easy for musicians to feel like they have to keep their fans up to date in order to keep up and stay in touch with their audience. But writing a song takes time. It’s not just waiting for inspiration to strike. There are many steps in the writing process. The lyrics have to be written. The melody has to be recorded or produced. The arrangement is shaped, discarded, reshaped.

It can easily take a few weeks, sometimes months, before a song is ready for release. Not all songs can be written in half an hour. Being “real” might be too “real” for your community or future community if you spend half a year telling them about your process of creating a song. In order to gain visibility and increase workflow during this creative phase, it makes sense to dedicate yourself to cover songs, especially as a newcomer.

As listeners move more and more from albums to playlists, it’s becoming increasingly important to release new music frequently in today’s fast-paced music industry. In between your own releases, it can be immensely helpful to cover other people’s music in your own way – keeping your skills sharp and ensuring that inspiration doesn’t die down.

Covering also helps you with your own songwriting

Whether you’re an experienced songwriter or just starting to find your own voice, covering songs will help you learn the art of songwriting through the skills of others. Because in order to be able to cover songs, you have to break songs down into their basic elements. By breaking them down, you learn things like song structure that may have seemed random to you before. You can sharpen your sense for melodies, phrasing, arrangement and what can I say, music theory is not entirely unimportant either. You can really sharpen your knowledge of keys, chord progressions and bars. Once you’ve mastered all these elements and then put them back together again, you’re moving through an effective songwriting workflow.

Once frowned upon, now zeitgeist: the cover

Covering songs has always existed, but it didn’t have the “value” of a self-written song. Just 10 years ago, covering songs by other musicians was something that most musicians didn’t consider, especially if they were making alternative music. Now, cover songs have become an important part of modern music. Playlists are full of cover versions, some of which are more successful than the original version. Instagram and TikTok have also established the “sing-along culture” and pop culture would be unthinkable without it. A cover song that you upload to a platform can therefore be the PR turbo boost for a career.

Platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music play an important role in the fact that many previously unknown musicians have been able to make it big through cover versions alone. You can also tell your fans the story of your inspirations, influences and aspirations with a good cover.

Research and song selection – a smart move

The song you choose and its popularity can play an important role – if it’s well known, people are much more likely to listen to your version than a rather unknown song by an unknown artist.

However, choosing a song that has been covered many times is not necessarily the best choice either. Fans may be less interested in such a cover as it can be seen as repetitive, unoriginal and even a calculated move. Therefore, it is important to find the perfect song for a cover version. It’s definitely worth spending enough time looking through the archives of your favorite artists and their songs or exploring music streaming platforms to find a popular song that fits you and your artistic brand and personality.

Around 120,000 new songs are uploaded every day. Of course, this also includes many cover versions. Big, more recent hits are naturally covered more often. So dedicate some time to researching previous cover versions of songs of your choice. In this way, you not only avoid copying, but you may also discover an opportunity for yourself to do something better or more unusual than others.

Am I allowed to cover just like that?

In Germany Cover versions are unobjectionable if the author is a member of GEMA. Otherwise, permission is also required here. Works that are listed with GEMA are released for cover versions due to GEMA’s obligation to contract. Only covering a new popular song is usually not allowed, as there is a waiting period for the release of an unlicensed cover – and this tactic tends to ride the wave of success of the original. There is no set time frame, but generally a popular song is allowed to be covered once it has been on the market for a few months or falls out of the top 100 charts.

But what exactly defines a cover song?

A cover is defined as a work that uses the same lyrics and melody of the original song. It may be in a different genre than the original, but it has the same melodic and lyrical content as the original song. A cover song is not a sample, remix or interpolation of an original song. All covers must be uploaded with the exact title of the original to be accepted. To release a cover song on Spotify or another streaming-exclusive platform, you would upload your release as usual to your distributor, such as recordJet, and then check the appropriate boxes indicating that you are uploading an audio-only release of a cover song.

Want great cover versions?

We all know Valerie by Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson, but “Valerie” is a cover version. Originally released by the English indie rock band “The Zutons”, it made it to number 9 in the UK charts. Just one year later, however, Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse took on the song and enjoyed worldwide success.

The Canadian band “Walk off the Earth“, a five-piece creative, unique but until then unknown band, made waves with their cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know”. Until their video, in which all five band members played a guitar at the same time. The Viceo, in which all five band members play a single guitar at the same time, brought them a viral hit in 2013. Since then, they have released several albums and even more videos that have gone viral, such as their cover of “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran and “Hello” by Adele. They have been guests on major TV shows with their interpretations, such as “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.

Licensing cover songs is easier than you think

The good news first: it is possible to publish cover versions, remixes and edits via recordJet, for example. Online distributors like us can now get you the relevant licenses and take care of the paperwork for you, making licensing cover songs a walk in the park. However, where you have to obtain the necessary rights depends on whether it is actually a cover or an adaptation.

This means that as soon as you change more than just a few chords on a music title, your cover version becomes an arrangement and the rights cannot be obtained from the collecting society (e.g. GEMA), but must be acquired directly from the composer. We recommend that you consult a lawyer to find out whether or not you need permission from the author. This way you can be sure that you will not be sued. As soon as you have clarified all the formalities, you can start publishing.

When publishing cover versions and remixes, you should always credit the lyricist(s) and composer(s). You can read about this in detail here.

On platforms like TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms where derivative content isn’t necessarily monetized, you don’t have to worry about showcasing your cover songs. UGC or user-generated content is not equated with a cover song, so they can create a loose interpretation.

Do you earn anything from the cover song?

Do not expect any royalties for cover music published on YouTube or other social media. All income goes directly to the music publishers and the owners of the sound recordings. In rare cases, it can also happen that a cover song is blocked on YouTube or even removed at the request of the copyright holder.

Do you need a license for a cover song?

You need a mechanical license for a cover song if you want to upload it to download stores such as Amazon Music and iTunes. Otherwise, you can upload your cover song directly to streaming platforms using the exact copyright information provided by the original songwriters and publishers.

Conclusion: Cover songs give fans a new first impression

Cover songs also provide a great opportunity to grow your catalog and reach new fans with familiar songs (to which you add your own touch, of course). While cover songs don’t guarantee an increase in your streaming numbers, by creating a familiar first impression with potential fans, they can grow your fanbase in the long run and bridge the gap between your own releases.

Many artists would love to step back for a few months to write hundreds of songs unhindered, but unfortunately, few of us have that luxury. If you haven’t released anything in a while or want to feed your catalog a bit, you can use covers to promote your upcoming release or fill out an album, EP or mixtape.

Covers keep old songs fresh and give you a chance to reach a new audience for your own music while paying homage to those who inspire you. Plus, it’s always a good exercise for you as a musician to get out of your bubble and approach songs through the perspective of others.