Recording, Releasing, and Performing Cover Songs
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. A similar practice occurs today, online with digital music stores like 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.
Performing Cover Songs
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 contrast 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.
When you perform cover songs, the writers and publishers are paid through performing right societies such as ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN, or PRS. One way these performing rights organizations (often referred to as PROs) collect royalties is by charging a fee to bars and live music venues. Next time you walk into a club, look for a PRO sticker on the door or front window. That means they are paying their dues so they can have a jukebox, DJ, or live bands that might play cover songs. There are two important things to keep in mind about PROs:
- They collect royalties for public performances, not for the sale of recorded music. That is considered private use.
- As a performer, you do not have to pay performance royalties. These are paid by the venue which hired you to perform. However, if you record your show and sell it as a live album, you will need to pay for the compulsory licenses, discussed later in this article.
Recording Cover Songs
If performing cover songs is a great way to reach a few new fans, recording them is a great way to reach hundreds or thousands of new fans. Just as playing a cover song at your gig can attract the attention of new fans, putting a cover song on your album or EP might encourage people to check out more of your music. One clever approach to deciding which cover songs to put on your album is to choose a somewhat obscure song by one of your major influences. While most people might not immediately recognize the song, die hard fans of the original artist will be more interested in hearing your version. After all, if they are fans of the same music as you, they’re much more likely to be fans of your original music.
A great deal of musicians make videos of themselves playing cover songs at home and upload them to sites like YouTube. This is another great way to leverage the familiarity of the cover songs as a gateway to your music. Initially, YouTube ran into problems with copyright holders and publishers, because legally speaking, you should get paid for the public performance of your song. The issue has more or less been cleared up by now, but 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. This decision gets to be made by the copyright owner, not the performer.
How Do I Release Cover Songs Legally?
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 an online licensing system such as RightsFlow’s Limelight service. 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. You will need to pre-pay for a set number of licenses and there is a flat fee per song regardless of how many licenses you purchase, 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, especially with services like Limelight streamlining the process for independent musicians. 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
Jim, I don’t know how it works for backing tracks, but I’m pretty sure the compulsory licenses are specifically for selling recordings.
3/13/2010
Hi Cameron, do you need to obtain a license or permission if you want to perform someone else’s song on stage live but not to record or publish it?
Thanks
3/14/2010
I obtained a liscence for digital as well as physical copies for a cover tune, how do I copyright my cd. this is the first cover tune i have recorded, my previous 2 cd’s I just took caare of it but since I have the liscense, can I just copyright the whole thing as usual
3/24/2010
Hi Cameron, Can you PLEASE clarify a couple things for me???
Some of the songs I’ve written are inspired by existing melodies, but I’ve written completely new (Spiritual) lyrics…
1)Is it necessary to get a mechanical license for music if i’ve written different lyrics and plan to record it?
2) What if I wrote new lyrics to an existing melody, but it doesnt follow it exactly? Do I need to get “permission/mech lic”? For instance, the song may be similar to an existing song, by melody, but the lyrics and the overall harmony and sound will be unique…. is it still necessary to get “permissiom/mech lic”?
I’ve only sung live and I’m new to the recording & I’m very grateful for your info you’ve posted!!!
3/25/2010
@ Tom – No.
@ Carl – You can copyright the master recording as usual. Even though you didn’t write the cover songs, you still own your recordings of them.
@ A.J. – You should discuss that with a music attorney. I don’t have any experience with that sort of thing. All I know is that without proper authorization, that sort of thing is considered plagiarism.
3/26/2010
Hi there. Thank you for the article. I am new to this whole music business, as it is my 13 year old who is the musician and I am learning with her as I go. My question is….I had set up a site for her on myspace.com. (she is already on you-tube). Given her age, she is only singing cover songs and is not yet writing her own material. It appears My-space deleted the account and I can’t get an answer from them as to why. Would her preformances posted on myspace be considered a copyright infringement? It doesn’t appear to be an issue with Youtube so I am confused.
You seem to have a lot of knowledge in this arena, perhaps you can answer this question for me?
Thank you.
4/4/2010
I play in a church band. The church is a registered non profit or not for profit organization. We video tape our Sunday services fo avalability on the church web site and edit out the music we play. This is done because our creative arts director is concerned about copywright infringement. I find it hard to believe that it would be infringement by having a band that is not paid for playing (we do this as a ministry and donate our efforts to the church) nor is the church “making money” (profit) by having us perform. If streamed from the church’s website for free our services including the music would we or would we not be infringing and in order to do this have to obtain licences to do so and or pay royalties for the song use? Thanks for your help and opinion.
Fred
4/13/2010
@ Debbie – I don’t really have enough knowledge of the MySpace user agreement to know why they deleted your daughter’s account. It could have been because of a specific song you posted, but it could have been for other reasons too. Sorry I can’t help more.
@ Fred – Your reasoning sounds right to me, but there is a lot of grey area here. Based on what I understand, my opinion is that it would be an infringement to include the music on your church’s website in the context of the service.
4/19/2010
Great article! Glad to see something written about this subject that is clear and concise.
From what I understand, the “Mechanical License” is what you would need to purchase in order to legally place your video cover on YouTube (HFA fee of $15 plus the $.091 per copy). With this formula, and taking into account that the artist that posted the video gets NO PROFIT from each time the video is watched on YT, how could ANYONE afford to actually post a video on YT legally if they have to constantly pay for something that they aren’t making any profit?
I realize that you’ve stated that you could go ahead and post a cover on YT (“chances are you have nothing to worry about.”), but I’d like to attempt to be legit and legal about. :)
Thanks in advance for your response….
-Joshua Pickenpaugh
4/20/2010
Hi Cameron,
I’m from the UK (Scotland), and am planning on releasing an album/EP to cdbaby.com. I’d like to do a cover song, do you know if I can go about it the American way? (ie. through LimeLight). Assuming the publisher/writer is American, and pay royalties.
As cdbaby.com is American, my CDs would be held in their warehouse, and digital versions would be on their servers, so would it be safe to assume that I’m covered? If the publisher and even artist of the original song are American, then the only thing that isn’t American is, well, me!
I can’t afford legal advice, and us Brits don’t have it as easy as you do getting clearance. I’ve been online all night looking for a solution!
Any insight you can give me would be much appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Aidan.
4/21/2010
@ Aidan – You raise a great question here — the publisher/writer don’t need to be from America for them to be licensed/paid on sales/distribution in the US.
If your CD is being manufactured/distributed/sold in the United States, you’ll need to secure a mechanical license for the US (regardless if the publisher/songwriter are from another country), as country of distribution and sale is the key in determining how publishing is paid out. Digital is the same.
Limelight provides one way of handling (http://limelight.rightsflow.com) as you can clear both physical and digital units in advance of release.
4/23/2010
Thanks Alex!
It’s a really tricky issue, and it’s hard to find an answer, but what you say makes sense!
To clarify, the album will be created and copied in the UK, but will be stored, sold and distributed from an American website on my behalf. I think it will be sold on many international iTunes stores (including the UK) as well, so would I need clearance for each individual country?
I’m just being very cautious, as I obviously don’t want a lawsuit on my hands haha!
4/24/2010
I love this website and your newsletter. Thank you for providing such a great resource!
5/4/2010
Hey Cameron,
Good article. However, I noticed that you said “Publishers and writers aren’t due royalties for radio play (at least not in the US, I’m not sure about other countries)”. I think that information is incorrect. If you write and original song and it is played on any BDS monitored station your PRO will collect royalties for that play and you are due it.
5/27/2010
Yeah I just wanted to say I don’t think that information is incorrect I know that information is incorrect as I get paid royalities all the time for radio albeit small I get em :)
5/27/2010
To jump in for Cameron here – perhaps he meant that artists themselves are not responsible for paying out the radio royalties?
You’re absolutely right, that publishers and writers DO receive royalties for radio play. This is what ASCAP/BMI/SESAC are responsible for collecting. What most people don’t know is that the master side (recording) does NOT receive a royalty for terrestial radio play (i.e. AM/FM) while the composition (publishing) side does. There is pending legislation that may change this to compensate labels/recording artists for terrestial radio play.
5/27/2010
Yes, you are both correct. Pardon my mistake in that earlier comment. What I meant was that the person/company that owns the rights to the master aren’t due royalties, as Alex pointed out. Thanks to both for clarifying!
5/27/2010
Let me guess this straight. If I want to experiment with the melody or motif from another piece, arrange the bars differently and release it freely as an influenced creative work, I’ll have to pay whoever I was influenced from or deemed a criminal?
That makes no sense to me. How can someone own combination of notes and demand payment whenever it is played again in the same order? They didn’t create the music, they just arranged it. Arranged according to the best applied music theory which again, no one owns. I would imagine you couldn’t patent music scales or a chord progressions the same way you couldn’t patent colours.
Am I mistaken here, or have I just discovered a way of printing money by copyrighting the G-scale?
5/27/2010
@ Adrian – I think you’re mistaken, or just trying to make an argument against copyright in general. This article is simply here to help people feel more comfortable about incorporating others’ music into their repertoire.
5/28/2010
Different side of the question…
As part of a gospel vocal group, we have made 50 albums and a dozen or so live or music video VHS/DVD over the past 40 years…also continue to do about 50 concerts a year.
Majority of songs are cover tunes, for which we have paid for mechanical and sync license as appropriate to record and sell.
We have the problem of ‘fans’ ripping videos from our DVDs, or sneaking a video camera into a concert…then posting to YouTube…or using a song from one of our CDs as background for video posted to YouTube.
We would like to be able to issue take-down notices for many of these (particularly those that were encoded or videoed poorly), but are not quite sure what we ‘own’ to make the request.
What do we ‘own’ about our own videos, public performances, etc, when we are not the copyright owners of the original songs?
Any ideas?
5/31/2010
@ Dave – There are two different types of ownership here, and this is how I understand things based on what I’ve read about similar cases. You’ll have to try and find a more specific explanation in the YouTube user agreement.
1) You own the videos from the DVDs. Those are effectively your recordings and you would have a position to issue a take down notice.
2) You do not own videos made by people in the audience, however, you may own the copyright to the song in the video if you wrote the song. But as you said, it’s mostly cover songs, so the writers/publishers of those songs would have to issue the take down notice.
In my opinion, this sort of thing will never go away and you’ll spend a lot more energy fighting it than it’s worth. In most cases, I bet the fans simply don’t understand what they can or cannot upload to YouTube. Creative content in the digital age is not valued like it used to be, and stuff gets copied all the time (it happens to my music, my articles, videos of my performances, etc… I get where you’re coming from).
One thing you may consider is making YouTube videos yourself. Then you’d have quality control, and they’d be the definitive versions of your gospel choir’s performances. More importantly, you could control the messaging on the video and advertise your CDs, DVDs, concerts, etc.
YouTube is a powerful promotional tool. Just something to consider. Good luck!
5/31/2010
@Cameron,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. After I posted last night, I got rather obsessed about tracking down more information and found the following:
We CAN ask for takedown of unauthorized videos of our concerts…
Even though we are not entitled to any royalties for ‘distribution’ of recordings of our live performance (though song writer/publisher is), the performance itself qualifies for copyright protection, as bootlegging is considered “Unauthorized fixation and trafficking in sound recordings and music videos”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00001101—-000-.html
…but what scared me more about all this is the growing trend of disabling YouTube accounts of those that have uploaded their own covers of other’s songs. (We have some with over 300,000 views)
Good info on this just posted a couple days ago: A talented acoustic guitarist has posted a number of recordings of himself playing popular songs…which include links to his website where he sells DVDs that show exactly how to play each song (he has paid for appropriate mechanical licensing for the DVDs).
http://adamrafferty.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/critical-info-for-youtube-musicians-who-perform-cover-songs/
5/31/2010
@ Dave, thanks for sharing your findings!
I guess YouTube should be more forthcoming about what their users may legally upload to their site. They could say, “You may not use music in your video that you did not write or obtain permission to use.” Anybody can understand that. However, that would eliminate a good chunk of their users’ content, which would significantly hurt their traffic.
Adam Rafferty’s post is a good read. I recommend everyone that’s come this far in the comments should check it out.
5/31/2010
I saw that same article about YouTube pulling covers and disabling accounts. One of the more interesting comments was about a band that just does interesting covers and how they obtained a mechanical license and completely ignored the sync license. Problem is neither would technically cover a Youtube upload anyway although if you managed to negotiate a sync license it would be doubtful that the party would then ask for a take down. Again the music industry is not prepared for the next wave of sites such as social media, they barely have gotten used to digital downloads. YouTube should just charge a flat fee to anybody that uploads a cover either by yearly subscription like Ascap or per song like a mechanical. Such a simple solution would never occur due unfortuatly. What’s funny is either way it would work because YouTube tracks every view of any video.
6/8/2010
Cameron,
Great article!! Concerning Adrians comment on copyrighting the G-scale, isn’t the copyright for only the melody and lyrics and not the chord progression/arrangement (or whatever is the proper terminology; I’m a music novice actually)? Also, do professional recording artists or AR people pay for cover song arrangements (I’m pretty good at arranging but sound like a dying pig when I sing)? And if so, would I need to obtain any necessary agreements or would they take care of those things?
Thanks,
6/11/2010
I understand the complexities and grey area of Youtube hosting covers of copyrighted material. The issue lies in Youtube financially benefiting from the traffic generated by the videos of the covers, while the original creator receives no financial compensation. Youtube allows the posting of these videos, because they are working within the guidelines set forth by Grokster vs MGM and Sony vs. Universal which allows for technologies to exist if they are “capable of substantial noninfringing uses” as long as the technology doesn’t clearly foster infringement. That been said, Youtube sits pretty as long as they take down videos if requested by the original copyright owner.
That brings us back to the question: What if you host your covers on your own website (absent of any type of advertising that would be generated by traffic) and only offer streams? What about Beck’s Record club: http://www.beck.com/recordclub/. Since you can’t download these covers and only stream, I wonder if Beck is required to acquire any licenses.
6/23/2010
Apologies….I’m not sure why I keep on including this giving it away for free or “non-profit” argument. Not receiving any money doesn’t have anything to do with copyright infringement. It is however, an argument for fair use, which is another can of worms living in a grey area.
So to amend my question above:
Since you can’t download these covers and only stream, I wonder what licenses (or just permission) Beck would be required to have. As far as I know, Harry Fox does collect royalties from web steam
platforms…http://www.harryfox.com/public/userfiles/file/Licensee/HFARoyaltyRatePR10-2-08.pdf
and this might also apply (taken from Harry Fox website)
Limited Downloads & Interactive Streaming
Licenses for limited downloads and interactive streaming can be obtained through our bulk licensing process. If you are interested in obtaining such licenses, please contact newmedia@harryfox.com. Please note that in order to satisfy your obligations pursuant to licenses for the distribution of limited downloads and interactive streams, you must be able to report information such as service revenue, subscriber information, content costs, and applicable performance royalty expenses.
6/23/2010
Karl, the short answer to your question is, regardless of how the music is played, shared, streamed, sold, or downloaded, if you didn’t write the song then some form of royalty is due to the publisher and composer.
The use of audio only is considered one type of license, and the use of audio synched to a video (be that a live performance or music video) is another type of license. And to the best of my knowledge, there is no statutory rate for audio or video streams like there is for permanent audio downloads. I don’t know how there could be when, even on subscription services that pay for use of master recordings, virtually no money can be made from streaming music. At least for individual artists. The major labels forced streaming services like like Rhaposdy (or even MySpace) to pay handsomely for access to their catalogs, so whether or not they make much money per stream is almost irrelevant. And I’m sure the major publishing companies were somehow involved in the deal as well.
What this really boils down to is the law can’t keep up with the technology. And I believe the only way to get the law to catch up is for all of us to keep using the available technology in creative ways to gently pushing the limits en masse. I wouldn’t encourage blatant misuse or outright theft of others’ creative property, but until somebody can reasonably explain to me how a video of a girl singing a cover song in her bedroom is taking food off the copyright owners’ tables, I say keep using the technology available. Especially if it helps you sell cover songs that you’ve legally licensed.
6/24/2010
Hey man great article!
I have recorded my own version of the hymn Amazing Grace which was publised in 1979. I’m pretty sure this is in the public domaine so this means I can sell digital downloads of my version on itunes without taking any further action, is this correct?
Cheers
Ashley :)
6/24/2010
Hi… Love the information on this page thank you!
I have a question, I had some cover songs on my bands website so the people interested in seeing/booking our band can hear what we sound like. I was contacted (threatened) by ASCAP with “further action” if I don’t pay for the copyrighted songs. I have since removed the offending material (songs) and hope this will stop any further action. I am not in a hugely popular band maybe 50 shows a year we do not sell CD’s / DVDs at our shows.
I take it that my band dose not have to pay money (royalty’s) to perform cover songs in the venues that hire us, it is the responsibility of the venue/purchaser to make sure they have the correct license. What is the name of the license they are to obtain?
Can I have a list of the cover songs we perform live on my website?
Thank you for your time.
7/21/2010
So If I was to cover a song, (any song) and wanted to put it up on myspace or something of that nature, purevolume, whatever, I would have to pay a royalty even though Im not trying to make money off it, or let people download it for free?
Just to cover a song and let people LISTEN to it, I have to pay royalties? is that correct?
7/27/2010
hey brian im a funk musician from indonesia, and i read that reverbnation.com can distribute my song to itunes. but im doin song remake a.k.a cover of old school funk. can i straight up submit/sell my music to itunes? does itunes automatically take care the price & license? thanks. i am really wanna know if theres a place where i can sell my covers without worrying about the copyright things. thank you. all the best.
8/12/2010
quote: “a band does not have to pay royalties to perform a cover song live.”
How about if someone records this LIVE cover performance and put it on YouTube? Does that violate any copyright?
regards
Ray
8/20/2010
cam,
u are the freaking JC of indie artist! thank u on behalf of all of us everywhere.
i am going to record an audio book of your bog, for myself to listen to on bike rides and for my kids to learn this stuff. do i need to get a lic?
FYI – people please read this article and posts before u ask a ? thanks
-theugene
8/20/2010
@ Eugene – Glad you’ve found all this info helpful. By all means, you can make an audio book for your own personal use, but we’d ask that you not distribute it without discussing with us first. Thanks for asking!
@ Everyone else, please read through the comments, there’s a ton more info in the discussion not covered in the article itself.
8/23/2010
Just a comment that all these social sites should be paying ASCAP fees just like the bar where I play once a month. They pay royalties so I can perform cover songs which bring in patrons and make them money. YouTube is no different – they are a venue bringing my performances of cover songs to a public and generating revenue via advertising. They should be paying the fees, not the performer. Not how it is; but it’s how it should be.
8/23/2010
Hi Cameron,
Great discussion and most helpful.
I had a question about recording popular cover tunes.
I am thinking of recording and releasing a digital download
CD of Frank Sinatra-style cover songs.
I am noticing that many of these highly popular songs have also
been recorded by many other artists, some of the songs I am researching
come up in I-tunes with over 100-200 versions, many of them by top name singers.
My question is, how on earth would my cover version stand out over
those recorded by the many top name singers that come up in the searches?
It seems unlikely to me that many people would purchase a download sung by, say, Harry Smith over Ella, Sammy or Dean?
Or are these songs so immensely popular that just the sheer volume of searches are going to result in decent enough sales to justify the time and expense of recording, licensing and marketing?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
thanks for a great column!
Mark C.
8/28/2010
@ Mark – You bring up a good point. If you’re releasing a bunch of cover songs just to be found in search results, you have to compete with all the more popular versions of the song.
I’ve noticed that as my cover songs sell better, the rise in the search results. Also, if the album title matches one of the song names, that particular song has more weight for that search. Of course, that only helps if your album is already selling or somebody searches for the song that happens to be the title of your album.
The truth is, you’re now more or less in the same boat as everyone that releases original music, and there are no real shortcuts. First you have to focus on simply making a great album, and then focus on how to market it. Promote it at gigs, put links on your site and social networking profiles, make an iMix or two, etc. As the songs sell more over time, the search traffic will pick up and help your recordings continue to sell.
Good luck!
8/29/2010
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