9 TIPS ON HOW TO RELEASE A COVER SONG LEGALLY

Although there are plenty of benefits to recording and releasing a cover song (especially for sync licensing), many artists never do. This is usually due to the concern regarding the legalities of releasing a cover of another person’s composition.

However, covering a song legally is not as daunting as one might think. If done properly and ethically, the rewards of such a release can really benefit an artist’s career.

Why Release a Cover Song?

There are a number of reasons why one may want to legally record and release a cover song. First, covering a well-known song, especially a current hit, is a great way to capitalize on an already attentive audience and introduce yourself to a larger fan base.

Not only that, but many music supervisors actually seek out cover song licensing for TV or film. This is something we’ve talked about in the past and you can delve a little deeper into the benefits of a cover song in our previous post on the subject here: “How we placed this song for five figures“. Also, check out our post on How To License Christmas Songs In July.

Below are our top tips for legally releasing a cover song.

1. You Don’t Need Permission to Cover a Song

A common misconception in the music industry is that you need to receive permission from the original composer in order to record a cover version of their song. However, US copyright law makes it much easier than that for artists wishing to cover a piece of music.

This is made possible by a concept known as “compulsory licensing.” Compulsory licensing basically states that the owners of a song can’t deny you releasing a cover song (your own interpretation). However, you must do two things if you wish to go this route.

1.     First, you must notify the owner of your intent to cover the song. Once again, this isn’t asking for permission; it simply lets them know what’s going on with their composition.

2.     Second, you must pay a specific royalty rate per song being purchased or downloaded. The current royalty rate is 12.4 cents per unit for music under 5 minutes, and for songs over 5 minutes, the rate is 2.38 cents per minute (or a fraction thereof).

We’ll dig a little deeper into how to pay this rate and what it covers in our next cover song tip.

2. Obtain a Mechanical License for Online Releases

The royalty rate that you need to pay for covering a song legally is known as a cover song “mechanical license.” This allows you to make and sell “phonorecords” of a song, originally composed by another artist.

Originally, a phonorecord referred to any physical recording of a song such as CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl. However, with the Internet, that term now extends to digital downloads such as MP3s sold on your website or through another platform like Bandcamp.

There are numerous services out there that help you to obtain a cover song mechanical license and pay the required royalty rate. The primary organization doing this is known as the Harry Fox Agency (HFA).

HFA is a massive organization currently handling over 100,000 catalogs for some of the biggest music publishers in the US. Their large network simplifies the process to make it easy for artists to obtain a cover song mechanical license and pay fees. HFA is one option for obtaining a mechanical license, but services like EasySongLicensing.com or platforms like DistroKid make the process even easier for independent artists.

This organization requires you to let them know the number of physical versions being pressed or expected download sales. You then pay the fee for that number up front. So, if you expect to sell 1,000 units, at a 12.4 cents royalty rate you would have to pay $124.

For digital downloads, you’re required to keep track of how many downloads have been made. Once you reach the number of unit sales estimated, whether physical or digital, you will be required to purchase more mechanical licenses and pay additional fees.

Although HFA offers a straightforward way to license tracks, there are cases where they may not be able to obtain a cover song mechanical license.

In these scenarios, services such as EasySongLicensing.com will help you obtain a cover song mechanical license for any song. The catch is that in addition to paying the royalty rate, you’re also required to pay the company a fee.

3. Make Sure It’s Actually a Cover

If you want to legally release a cover song, it’s important to confirm that what you’re recording is actually a cover. That is to say, you can’t stray too much from the structure of the original song.

If you want to easily obtain the proper cover song licensing, you have to more or less stick to the original lyrics, melody, and meaning of the song.

The cover song tips in this guide are targeted at artists doing just that. Parodying, sampling, or making a medley of songs is a different ballpark and the process of legally releasing these differs.

Therefore, before you even begin clearing your cover song, be sure that what you’re recording is legally considered a cover.

4. Digital Aggregators Handle Heavy Lifting for Streaming Release

A cover song mechanical license works great for releases where people will be purchasing the music. However, it doesn’t apply to streaming services. In these cases, an additional streaming license is required.

Thankfully most major digital aggregators such as CD Baby and DistroKid make this really easy.

They offer services that for a fee will distribute your cover song to all major streaming platforms, notify the composer/publisher of its release, pay the necessary licensing fee, and take care of all the other legal red tape involved with releasing a cover song on a streaming platform.

Another major player in cover song licensing and digital distribution is Soundrop. They’re a digital aggregator and music licensor with a primary focus on cover songs.

They license and distribute cover songs for a low fee and provide helpful resources for online releases.

5. Obtain an ISRC CODE

When distributing an original or a cover song, systems need to be able to differentiate your version from others. On top of that, you don’t want your cover song getting confused with others of the same name.

This is where it can be very important to obtain an International Standard Recording Code or ISRC. An ISRC is the primary system in the recording industry for identifying a specific recording, not the composition itself.

Outside of cover songs, artists may use this to differentiate between a studio recording and a live recording, for example.

Digital distributors will require an ISRC code to make sure everyone who should be getting paid from a recording will get paid. In addition, it’s important to embed an ISRC code into the digital download files being sold.

There are plenty of people claiming to issue ISRCs online. However, you don’t want to mistakenly receive the same ISRC as another song. Therefore, only acquire ISRC codes from official ISRC managers.

Check out the video below for a quick run-down on ISRC codes.

6. A Music Video Requires a Sync License

When you release a cover song as an audio recording and obtain a streaming license or a cover song mechanical license, there’s still more red tape involved if you want to legally release a video of the song. Videos for cover songs also require a synchronization (sync) license.

Obtaining this can be much more involved than the cover song mechanical license. You need to go straight to the music publisher or composer for their permission.

You then submit a formal request and get quoted a licensing fee to use the song. Even if they agree to your request, the fees may be high.

For platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram Reels, major publishers often have pre-negotiated licenses, but this doesn’t replace the need for proper sync licensing if you’re monetizing directly.

There are services out there to assist you in this process, but this may be the least of your worries, depending on the situation in which a video is being released. More on that in the next two cover song tips.

7. YouTube and Its Content ID System Are Your Friends

If a sync license is required to put a cover of a song to video, you may be wondering how all the artists made famous from covering pop songs on YouTube obtain one.

The short answer is that they don’t. There technically is a risk to posting a cover song on YouTube, but the most likely scenario is that the original artist will just claim the revenue and let you leave the song up.  In short, this means you probably won’t make a lot of money from posting cover songs on YouTube, but you can build your audience by posting songs that people are already searching for.

So, what is YouTube’s Content ID system and how does it work?

YouTube has a system known as the ‘Content ID’ system, which is an automated system that helps copyright owners identify where their content is being used and to gather the revenue earned.

What this means is when you upload a cover song to YouTube, the Content ID system’s automated algorithm will determine whether the song you uploaded is a cover song or not, and if it determines that your video contains music from a song that is associated with a Content ID, it will claim the video for the Content ID holder.

The most likely scenario is that the copyright holder will allow you to showcase this content, but they will be taking all of the money earned from it. 

In order to be able to claim the revenue for yourself from a cover song, you will need explicit written consent from the copyright holder(s).

One thing to be aware of is that there is a small chance that if the copyright owner does not like your video that they may issue a copyright strike and have your video removed. Luckily, this is rare, but unfortunately, you probably won’t know until it happens.

If a copyright strike occurs, note that they are temporary and typically expire after 90 days. Ensure no additional strikes occur to avoid account issues.

8. How Music Supervisors Handle Cover Song Licensing for TV & Film

As mentioned in previous posts, music supervisors love using cover songs for TV and film. This is for a number of reasons, but primarily it’s cheaper for them to pay you what’s known as a “master use fee” to use your version, rather than use the original version often owned by a major record label.

A sync license and fee payable to the publisher are still required to place (or “sync”) the music to any form of video; however, in this scenario, it’s the job of the music supervisor to negotiate with all parties involved and pay the necessary fees.

The great news about this is that legally placing your cover song in TV or film will cost you nothing. As long as you own the master recording of your cover version, the placement could actually make you a fair amount of money!

9. Harder Areas to Release a Cover

A lot of the laws surrounding copyright were put in place at a time before the Internet or before society had a full understanding of its relevance in the industry. Because of this, there are some grey areas when it comes to using a song on certain online platforms where licensing can be tricky.

These include platforms that don’t pay out any royalties to the artists such as SoundCloud, Facebook, or Instagram. In addition to this, if you intend to stream the song on your personal website or wish to use it in a podcast, further licensing and permissions are required.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have improved their licensing deals with major labels, making cover uploads more accepted. However, copyright detection systems can still mute or remove content. Be cautious and understand platform-specific rules before posting.

We could dedicate an entire blog post of its own to this topic, so we won’t delve too far into the details. If you don’t want to jump through all the extra hoops to legally clear a cover song for these scenarios, stay away from releasing them on these platforms. At the very least, educate yourself on the risks that may be involved when doing so.

Conclusion

There are plenty of benefits to releasing a cover song legally but it’s important to consider all the legal matters before you do. Although it may seem like a lot at first, the process of clearing a cover is really quite simple.

Remember that anyone can cover a song without permission as long as the proper license is obtained.

• A mechanical license is required for selling songs online or in physical format.
• When releasing a cover on streaming platforms, let a digital aggregator take care of the legal matters.

All of this is awesome for music releases, but there are additional things to consider when releasing a cover song with a video.

• You would need to obtain a sync license to release a cover song to video.
• However, if the video is being released on YouTube, their Content ID system may have you covered.

Finally, if the cover song is being sent to a music supervisor for TV or film, you probably don’t have to worry about the sync license. In this case, it’s the music supervisor’s job to take care of the negotiations with you and the publisher.

About Sync Songwriter

Sync Songwriter was created by Chris SD, a JUNO award-winning music producer.

Our mission is to not only help independent artists and songwriters learn and understand the sync licensing world but to also help them build relationships with music supervisors.

Our goal is to teach you how to be a sync licensing professional and then introduce you to top music supervisors looking for music.

We can show you what you need to do and more importantly, what not to do when preparing and pitching your songs to music supervisors. We’ll also show you how to find the right sync placement opportunities for your music.

Music supervisors looking for music are the gatekeepers of the songs that make it into TV shows, films and ads.

At Sync Songwriter, we introduce you to some of the industry’s top music supervisors because building relationships is vital to your success in sync licensing.