Recording, Releasing, and Performing Cover Songs
Brooklyn, NY
Cover songs have an interesting place in the musician lexicon. The term cover song originated in the early part of the recording era, when record labels’ distribution was often limited regionally. When a song grew in popularity in one region, competing labels in other regions would record and distribute the same song to cover their region. This same practice occurs today, on iTunes. Some popular bands refuse to sell their music on iTunes. When they release a new album, a cover version of the single will invariably appear on iTunes, often by a studio band.
Cover songs reveal much about artists, from their ability to simply sing or play their instruments to their own tastes in music. For independent musicians, cover songs are usually a way to make money, grow your fan base, and a means for creative expression.
Many of the musicians I know and work with play in wedding or dance bands. They are expected to know a long list of popular tunes, and play them exactly as they were originally recorded. These cover band gigs usually pay pretty well, and perform frequently. Steady, paying work is something every musician needs, and this is one way to get it.
For musicians that write and perform original music, cover songs are a chance to add some familiarity to their performances. In fact, one of the best ways out of obscurity is to add a handful of cover songs to your repertoire. While your fans may know the words to all your songs, people that are new to your music will appreciate hearing a familiar song. Furthermore, recording cover songs can help people find your music. This is especially true if you sell music online, as a search query could turn up your version of a popular song. More on this later.
Taking the notion of familiarity a step further, musicians can re-work a cover song to the point it’s hardly recognizable save the lyrics or melody. There are a handful of artists known for their cover versions of songs, usually because their versions are a stark constrast to the original. In this case, the song is often used as a grounds to measure creativity. For example, jazz artists usually know a great deal of standards, which are simply tunes many other jazz musicians have recorded or performed. Because a large part of jazz is improvisation, these standards are the familiar ground on which the creativity takes place.
Performing cover songs is a great way to reach a few new fans, but recording them is a great way to reach hundreds or thousands of new fans. A great deal of musicians make videos of themselves playing cover songs at home and upload them to YouTube or other video sites. This initially created a problem for copyright holders and publishers, because legally speaking, you should get paid for a public performance of a song you wrote. The issue has more or less been cleared up by now, but there copyright holders still have a right to have cover versions of their songs pulled down. In a somewhat ironic twist, Prince pulled his cover version of Radiohead’s “Creep” off YouTube, which left Radiohead, the copyright owner, asking for it to be unblocked.
Many independent artists are weary of putting cover songs on their album because of the hassle of obtaining a license for commercial release. I was among this group of people until I figure out how to use Harry Fox’s Songfile online licensing system. Using this tool, I was able to decide ahead of time what songs could be easily licensed online using a simple shopping cart and check out process before going into the studio. I licensed four songs for my last album for both physical and digital distribution. It requires you to pre-pay for a set number of licenses and tacks on a per song fee, but this is an extremely convenient way to obtain a compulsory license. If you want to record and release a cover song, I highly recommend investigating this option. If you have any questions, consult a music lawyer ahead of time.
If you want to avoid paying royalties altogether, you may be able to find popular songs in the public domain. Generally speaking, these are songs that were written before 1923. Most traditional spirituals and hymns fall into this category. To prove a song is in the public domain, you will need to be able to produce published sheet music that displays the copyright. With the vast number of resources online, this is pretty easy. One other warning here–original arrangements of public domain music can be copyrighted. Before you record a public domain song, make sure you’re not using a copyrighted arrangement.
The benefits of releasing cover songs outweigh the hassle of tracking sales and paying for royalties. The cover songs I’ve released have generated more sales than my original music, either from individual downloads or by leading people to buy my full album as either a download or CD. I’m currently working on a covers album with a friend (and regardless of when you read this article, that statement is probably true). This is simply an easy way to create some steady income as a musician.
I’ll leave you with one tip for releasing cover songs: Get your metadata right! The biggest advantage of releasing cover songs online is that people will find you in search results. Make sure you’ve optimized your key words, and it’s a good idea to experiment with a few searches and see what comes up on various sites. Understand how people search for songs (usually by the original artist, album, and title). Make sure you spell everything correctly.
Good luck!
About the author
Another highly valuable article of yours, Mr. Mizell. Thanks for sharing!
11/22/2008
Hi Cameron,
Assuming that I record a cd of cover songs and pay for the licensing, would I then be able to sell cd’s from the stage on a ship? I am a solo giutarist and I play to tracks. I also read in the licensing section that it is for doing business in the US. Do the licensing laws vary at sea? Also, do the cruise lines generally even allow you to sell a cd while performing on their ship?
Thanks,
Dan
12/4/2008
Hi Dan –
Cruise ships usually allow you to sell your CD through their gift shops. Sometimes they take a cut of it, sometimes they don’t – depends on the line. If you are a guest performer and play on the main stage you can usually sell and sign your CDs in the lobby afterwards.
If you are playing one of the lounges you can often have your CD out in the lounge available for purchase – but I think this also varies by cruise line.
Some guys make good money selling their CDs on ships. I met a guy on my last cruise that made an extra $600 a week selling his CD.
12/4/2008
Hi Dan,
I can’t really answer your question about licensing laws out at sea. I do know that publishers will still want their royalties though, and it would be safe to assume that you need to pay those for whichever country in which you live and have the CDs delivered to you.
I wonder what bands do that tour other countries and sell CDs on the road? There might be some similarities to your situation if their album includes any cover songs.
Copyright laws and royalty percentages differ slightly by country, and for some songs, there may be different publishers representing various territories. This all depends on the deal signed by the artist, and not all deals are worldwide.
It’s something I’d really like to see addressed on a global level, because anybody can sell anything to people all over the world online, even if they’re not physically traveling to different countries as you may be.
12/4/2008
There are some legal peculiarities on ships as well. I think while at sea you are expected to follow the laws of the country in which the ship makes it’s home port (it’s always written on the back of the ship). But I think you’re also expected to follow the laws of your own home country…but that seems awfully complicated…I guess I don’t know the answer either.
12/4/2008
Count me in among those who avoided recording cover tunes until he discovered the Harry Fox Songfile service. It’s awesome.
Two things I’ve learned from licensing digital downloads through Songfile: first, download licenses are currently only good for one year, so be careful how you “time” your license purchases so they don’t expire before you’ve had the chance to sell the downloads. (I’m not sure why they have this stipulation — seems a bit silly, I hope this changes in the future.)
Second, the HFA licenses I’ve purchased this year have a clause that restricts me to stores with servers that originate in the USA. That could affect your choice of stores to sell through. I’m not sure how to find out, for example, if iTunes UK vends its files from servers in the UK or US; the former is disallowed by the license terms.
Agree it’s definitely worth the hassle :) I legally released two cover songs this year and plan to do an EP in 2009.
12/29/2008
Hi – thanks for the great post.
My understanding is that a compulsory mechanical license will enable the new artist to record a previously released song, sell it on CD and make it available for purchase through digital download. All of this can be done without any prermission from the original label, publisher or artist.
But what if I want to make a video of the covered song and post it on myspace, youtube, etc.? I don’t think that is covered by the compulsory mechanical. Do i need to obtain permission from original artist / publisher in order to post a video legally? Does anyone know what process this would entail
Thanks!
1/16/2009
Thanks for this great article, I was thinking about doing a covers project a while ago and this information has got me thinking about it again.
I’ve been doing the maths and I think I see a problem with the iTunes model.
iTunes pays the artist $0.10 per download, but the current statutory mechanical royalty rate is $.091 (9.1 cents) per song per unit.
So an artist would make less than 1 cent per sale on a cover version sold through iTunes.
So if you sold 1000 downloads you’d make $10.00.
Than seems rather paltry or have I missed something?
1/23/2009
Actually, iTunes pays the distributor or label $0.70, and then the artist makes a cut of that. I use CD Baby, and they take a 9% cut, leaving me about $.63, so after paying my royalty it still makes it a decent profit percentage from the retail price. Other services like Tunecore just charge a yearly maintenance fee but then pay the entire $0.70 to the artist.
One thing to add, thought. Harry Fox does charge a $15 service fee to license a song, so distribute that cost across the number of licenses you purchase up front as well. It definitely adds a hidden cost on top of the statutory rate per sale.
1/23/2009
Ah … thanks Cameron.
After I posted my comment, I realised that the source I was using to get the price wasn’t iTunes itself.
It was …
http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/docs/baffling_itunes_royalty_calculation.pdf
1/23/2009
Hi Mikel – that PDF is from MIT? I’m not sure where they got their info, but I get the $0.63 Cam mentioned. It’s really quite a good cut if you think about the cut musicians were getting on record deals prior to CDBaby.com.
1/23/2009
That PDF looks like it’s based on the rate iTunes was paying shortly after it’s inception, or around 2004. Not only has the rate changed as I noted before, but I also don’t understand the rest of the math.
Look, if you’re doing things yourself, you’ll make a bigger cut. The more people you involve, the less you make, though perhaps you might sell more. That’s a call we should all be so lucky to make at some point in our careers.
1/24/2009
Hello. If found the article very helpful in understanding licensing, but I have a few questions:
1) Using the harrfox licensing service, about how much would you say it would cost me to license about 8 songs that were (give or take) about 6 minutes long–all jazz?
2) After I license a song, do I have to keep paying the artist? or is it that once I have paid, I now have the rights to record the song and I don’t have to worry about paying again?
-Charles
3/5/2009
What is the process for performing the cover songs? Who (if any one) do we pay for those cover songs?
Thanks for any help on this one?
MALIN
MALINthevocalist.com
5/20/2009
cameron,
thanks for a great article series! very helpful stuff for aspiring musicians in a turbulent time.
i have a question regarding cover songs: is it legal to record and digitally release a cover if you don’t charge anything (use a file-sharing service like rapidshare or limelinx)? since there is no profit at stake (much like the youtube videos) my hope would be ‘yes,’ but it’s really just a guess. can you shed any light?
7/20/2009
@Charles – You can calculate the rate at HFA, but I think it’s $0.091 up to 5 minutes and $0.0175 additional every minute after, rounded up (5:01 = $0.1085). And you have to continue paying royalties for as long as the song sells, and for every copy of the song that is sold.
@dave – Even if you don’t charge anything and use the track as a promotion, you are still supposed to work something out with the publisher. When I worked at a record label, the label would often try to negotiate the rate with the publisher to save money. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. As an independent artist, it’s more difficult to have that kind of leverage, but at the same time it might be less of a concern for the publishers. Proceed at your own risk, but don’t try to play dumb. That kind of information is available online and you’ll have a hard time making your case.
Again, I’m not a lawyer, everyone should make sure they understand this for themselves or hire a lawyer to help you before recording cover songs!
7/20/2009
Hi Cameron,
As the others have said, this is an excellent article. In particular, I’m interested in learning more about one part that you mention:
“A great deal of musicians make videos of themselves playing cover songs at home and upload them to YouTube or other video sites. This initially created a problem for copyright holders and publishers, because legally speaking, you should get paid for a public performance of a song you wrote. The issue has more or less been cleared up by now …”
Can you let us know how it’s been “cleared up,” and perhaps point us to some information documenting that?
Thanks!
8/20/2009
YouTube now allows copyright holders to make claims and have content removed:
http://www.youtube.com/t/dmca_policy
In some instances, such as major record labels or publishers, instead of pulling content they can choose to monetize it by adding advertising to the video page and collecting money from clicks or impressions (or however people make money from ads).
If you make a video of yourself playing somebody elses song, chances are you have nothing to worry about. If that song starts getting millions of views, it might attract the attention of the person who wrote (or owns) the song and then they can decide whether or not to file a claim with YouTube.
All in all it seems like a rather tedious process and at best, but it gives content owners that want to restrict use of their copyrighted material an option to do so.
8/20/2009
Thanks for all the good advice Cameron.
I’m trying to figure out the most economical amount of digital downloads to acquire a mechanical license for. I actually called Harry Fox Agency yesterday. They told me that if I purchase a license for say, 50 downloads per song and then have to renew the license, I’ll be charged another $15 processing fee per song. That means I’d have to sell about 20 downloads per song (at .70 cents each) just to pay for the processing fee again. Since I have no idea if I’ll sell anything, that seems less good. Since I have to pay for the songs upfront and I don’t know how many songs I’ll sell it’s hard to decide how many downloads to pay for in advance.
Do you have any advice?
Is it too crazy to hope that there is a reliable site that lists the most downloaded cover songs so I’d have some place to start calculating?
My CD has 10 cover songs on it but perhaps I wouldn’t get the digital license for all of them.
thanks!
8/27/2009
Hi Cameron,
Regarding cover tunes, I contacted the Harry Fox agency yesterday. They told me that if I purchase a license for say, 50 downloads per song and then have to renew the license, I’ll be charged another $15 processing fee per song. That means I’d have to sell about 20 downloads per song (at .70 cents each) just to pay for the processing fee again. Since I have no idea if I’ll sell anything, that seems less good.
Any advice on how to determine the most economical amount of digital downloads to pay for in advance?
Is it too crazy to think there might be a site out there that lists the most downloaded cover tunes so I could calculate which cover tunes on my CD I should get digital licensing for?
thanks for your help.
8/27/2009
Deb,
The cost per license is so small, I recommend overestimating. If you buy 50 licenses + the processing fee, you’re looking at about $20/song. If you do 200 licenses + the processing fee, the total cost is about $33/song. If you’re buying 50 at a time, you’ll spend $60 on fees alone to cover the 200 downloads. You’ll avoid wasting money if you overestimate.
It’s impossible to know how many tracks you’ll sell. If you have no plans to promote your music and it’s just going to sit on iTunes, then you won’t sell much. But if your cover songs are well done, you have quality recordings, a fan base, and some sot of plan to make people aware of your music (there are tips all over this website), then you’d be surprised at how well cover songs can do online.
Good luck!
8/27/2009
I need to know what or who do I contact to record another artist’s song. We are a Christian Band and would like to record a few cover songs to add to our next CD. But I don’t know who to contact to get this permission. We even rewrote a skynard song to Christian Lyrics. Can you get me headed in the right direction.
Thank you
Randy Bradley
8/30/2009
Dear Cameron,
Really helpful article. I am in the UK and was just looking to find out what would need to be done if I did a blues album using some Robert Johnson tunes and some done for Muddy Waters and I noted that they are not yet in the public domain (I am doing my debut album on Scottish folk using mainly Burns so loads are already OK to use).
So am I right in thinking I will need to go to the equivalent UK body to do what you did through HF? Seems they are not as handy as your lot- I don’t think I can work out how to get permission for Crossroads Blues, (I Just Want To) Make Love To You and such like. We don’t seem to HAVE a shopping cart. :( I am confused. Seems I have to work out which library to look at and I actually think the libaries are for production music, you know- finished pieces. Waaah!
Since I am also writing my own stuff I will be registering with PRS anyway but I am not sure how to go about the cover song usage.
Oh, by the way- I had my cover of How Come You Don’t Call Me pulled from YouTube back in 2007 together with Esmee’s and hers is back. Mine is still “rejected” and I still have a strike against my account. Seems it is not ALL “fixed” there! :(
Kind regards frae Scotland,
Brigid Mhairi
10/3/2009
Hello Cameron,
If you are not selling a CD with cover songs but just giving them as gifts, do the songs still need to be liscenced?
Mary Beth
10/21/2009
@Mary Beth – I can’t give advice on legal matters, and I don’t know when it’s safe to NOT pay royalties. When in doubt, you should pay them (and then you’re clear to sell the songs if you’d like). In my experience, any time a cover song is distributed, commercially or promotionally, royalties are supposed to be paid.
10/22/2009
how do we, want to ask permission from the original artist, or do we, can, record a cover song without permission? what possibly ‘happen’ to me if i record and produce a cover song and publish it online (either for free or sell)?
10/26/2009
If I sign up with CD Baby do I personally still have to get permission to do a cover or do they take care of this?
10/27/2009
Ok.. So I got my mechanical license from Harry Fox agency, recorded my cover nd I’m ready to release it to iTunes. My question is: How do I legally promote my song.. ?
Can I submit it to a radio station for air play? (They pay BMI and ASCAP…)
Will a radio station play my cover song since I have a mechanical license for it?
Thank you.
10/29/2009
As you mentioned, radio stations pay for the performance, which happens to be the only fee for such usage. Publishers and writers aren’t due royalties for radio play (at least not in the US, I’m not sure about other countries). In my experience, commercial radio stations (in the pop/rock/alternative genres) don’t play cover songs very often. Of course, getting play on those station is tough anyway.
I’ve written other articles on this site about things you can do to help your music sell, and when it comes to iTunes, a good cover version of a song often gets noticed on it’s own merits. I don’t think any of my cover songs have had radio play, but they’ve helped me earn a decent chunk of change. Hopefully you’ll have a similar experience.
Good luck!
11/1/2009
Really interesting article. I have another question though. I have recorded a cover song and want to post it on my site as a FREE download. Am I allowed to do so without permission? It is not a straight forward cover – but instead I have reworked it slightly and added extra instrumentation, etc. So therefore, is it classed as a new recording?
I’m not standing to make any monies or profit from it and have no intention of performing it live.
Thanks in advance!
11/10/2009
As I mentioned in a previous comment, when in doubt, pay royalties. Any time a cover song is distributed, commercially or promotionally, royalties are supposed to be paid.
Also, the copyright we’re talking about here has to do with the composition itself, not the arrangement or master recording (if these terms confuse you, just do an online search and you’ll learn the difference). If you record and distribute another person’s song, regardless of any variations you might make to the arrangement, you must still properly credit the songwriter(s) and pay royalties.
11/10/2009
I have never heard of Harry Fox’s songfile. I assumed that any covers that were on youtube were violating copyright law. Thanks for the information!
11/30/2009
Just so everyone knows the risks: I had placed a streaming only cover song on myspace and facebook. The copyright owner found it (search is his friend, I guess) and demanded a license. The specifics of the fee for a streaming download are written for commercial sites (Pandora, et al), not individuals on a social networking site, and are essentially impossible to decipher. But the statutory penalty for EACH violation is $350; don’t know if that includes streams or digital downloads, or CDs, because the language is murky.
So the answer is, we came to a small mechanical license agreement for PRIOR streams and/or downloads, and I pulled the song down .
So, they can find you, and they can demand payment. In this case, it was a lawyer representing the copyright owners estate; since he’s a lawyer, he can file a suit or demand and it would cost much more than what I paid him even to answer it.
So: even for posting covers for streaming , free downloads, or CD given as gifts to your family (not immediate family: that’s excluded), get the license. That said, I don’t even know how to get a streaming “listen only” license: HFA doesn’t do it.
12/1/2009
This is a very informative article. I still have a couple of questions. I will be releasing an album with 4 original songs and 4 cover songs. I will be playing shows and distributing my music at the shows. I know that I will need to obtain a mechanical license because I’m pressing cd’s and a digital license because I will be putting the album on internet stores (I-Tunes etc..) but do I need to obtain some sort of license to be able to perform these covers live at venues? Thank you!
12/3/2009
I seem to have a problem finding out the copyright issues of a covers band playing covers live rather than recording them. I know this happens a lot and noone bats an eyelid, but I am seeking corporate sponsorship for the band and the company will be wary of the legal niceties. My band is lives in the uk.
12/11/2009
Dani – A band does not need to pay royalties of any kind to perform a cover song live. The original songwriters get paid for public performance (which might be a band covering their song, or their song being played by a DJ at a wedding) via Performing Rights Organizations like ASCAP, BMI, or in the UK, by PRS. Those organizations make their money by collecting fees from, among other things, venues that host live music performance. I’m not familiar enough with the exact process, but from my understanding of these things, a band does not have to pay royalties to perform a cover song live.
12/11/2009
Hi mate, can please tell me how and where can i get the licence to release a cover for the song “Cancion del mariachi” – Los Lobos, From the movie Desperado?
Many thanks,
paulo.
12/23/2009
Cameron-
I’m a amateur pianist and have recently found myself addicted to uploading videos of myself playing or covering copyrighted material to youtube. I’ve found the entire quest is greatly improving my skills as a musician. I’m a bit paranoid about copyright infringement however. It seems as though the best solution to avoiding copyright infringement would be to obtain a mechanical license from harryfox but it seems like $15 per song is almost not worth it. Should I give up and discontinue my uploading or am I confused on the pricing of harryfox?
1/11/2010
To my knowledge, Harry Fox’s Songfile system can only license for audio recordings, not video. That’s known as a sync license. As far as I know, and this is by no means legal advice, you don’t need to worry about licenses if you’re just uploading your videos to YouTube.
1/11/2010
I’ve read the past posts and wondered if you knew anything about the ability to stream online with no option for download. I would assume that since nothing is transfered and no revenue is created by the website at all, that royalties would be void. Let me know if you have any info on this.
-AK
1/21/2010
Ryan, I don’t know enough about the current streaming laws to be much help. Here’s what I do know:
There are different types of streaming out there, such as on demand or internet radio, and the rules vary. Also, if the site has advertisements, it’s creating at least a little revenue. In some instances that ad revenue is divided and paid out to the content owners based on a percentage of streams (but not necessarily in the form of royalties to the songwriter). In very specific instances, I don’t think any money is owed.
I’ll try to get up to speed on this, though one reason it’s so unclear is that the law can’t keep up with the technology, so there may not be a black and white answer.
1/26/2010
Hello,
I’m going to be doing a concert soon. I would like to do a few cover songs from other artists. I don’t plan to make a released cd of the music, but I do want to sell the dvd of the concert. Are there any particular licenses or anything that I would need.
1/28/2010
Brian, if you sell a video performance of a cover song, you will need to get a sync license. There is no statutory rate for a sync license, so I recommend hiring a music lawyer to help you negotiate the fee.
If you’d like to know a little more about sync licenses, read this:
http://musicians.about.com/od/qz/g/synclicensing.htm
1/29/2010
I am a drummer and I like to play along to songs and record them on tape. I can record them as long as I do not intend to sell them? Is that how the whole royalites thing works? I wish I could play at clubs but cannot find a band in Denver.. I like classic rock and some of todays music. Also how is it for us older guys to find bands ??
2/8/2010
Hey Cameron,
I am a relatively unknown musician, trying to do more with my music. Have a fairly large following on YouTube (pazzmanmusic) .. But really want to record a CD with my own original music.
I want to avoid any hassle of popular cover songs, but want to have some on there. Therefor I want to go the route of Royalty Free Music.. 2 songs I know I want to record are: Man of Constant Sorrow, and I Know You Rider… I am pretty sure they are both in the public domain…
Do you know of any lists of popular traditional music that is free from copyright?
Thanks for this blurby friend!!
Mike
2/26/2010
@ Ed – If you are just recording the songs for your own enjoyment, then you do not need to pay royalties.
@ Mike – Check out the Public Domain Information Project for lists of public domain and royalty free songs: http://www.pdinfo.com/index.php
2/26/2010
Hey Cameron,
Great info! I have a quick question. I have a band that plays at a church and the church does pay the licensing fees for live performances (I believe through BMI) We want to record a live album that would have mostly originals but include some cover songs on the album. What other kind of licenses would I need to obtain for something like that?
Thanks!
~Jordan
3/6/2010
Is it legal to add lyrics to a cover song? There is a song I would like to record, but I want to add a verse that I have written to the end of it.
3/10/2010
@ Jordan – The church is paying performance royalties, which are collected by performing rights societies like BMI or ASCAP. When the music is recorded, you need the compulsory licenses as discussed in the article.
@ Natasha – Sorry, I don’t know the answer to that one. You should try contacting the publisher or a music lawyer before you do that.
3/12/2010
Hello Cameron,
Thank’s for the replies that you have offered to others. I have one question that would seem to be topic related concerning HFA and PRO’S. My question to you is as follows…
I would like to obtain a “complusory mechanical license” from HFA to record only drum and bass guitar tracks to some songs that they hold the publishing rights to, burn them to a CD, and use for back-up accompaniment to enhance my sound as a solo performer in live performance situations such as small bars and resturants. I would not be sampling anything, as these parts would simply be recorded by myself on my own multi-track recorder to the best of my musical ability. Also, all of these songs would be ones that are in the ASCAP and BMI reprotoir. Do I personally need a “performane license” from Ascap AND BMI for myself as a musician in conjuction with the mechanical rights license from HFA, or is that already covered by the business venue if they already obtained the “performance license” from the PRO’S? Great website, very interesting! Thanks.
3/12/2010
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